My Aikido Shodan test

Do you want to see how an Aikido Shodan test looks like? Well, this is your opportunity!! You just need to keep reading for a little bit ;-)

We had a 2 days Aikido and Iaido seminar taught by Shihan Ricardo Corbal.

Yesterday, after two really nice and crowded classes, we had some kyu and dan tests. And I tested for the Shodan degree (1st black belt in Aikido).

This is the conclusion of a long journey... or, actually the beginning!

I started to practice Aikido in 1999 under Sensei Oscar Medina. And I practiced there for about 5 years. But for several reasons, included the tragic death of my Sensei and friend in a traffic accident, I discontinued my practice. Then, a lot of happened in my life, and after several years, in 2016 (yes, about 11 years later) I restarted to practice again in Córdoba Aikikai (previously known as Kogarashi dojo) under the teaching of Sensei José Delgado and Sensei Eugenio Fernández, and more recently also under the teaching of Sensei Nico Coll. I practiced the whole 2016, but 2017 surprised me with a lot of international and national travels, so I re-restarted again in 2018.

So, after about 7-8 years of discontinued practice, I finally was ready to test for the Shodan degree.

I want to thank a lot of people who helped me in this phase:

• Sensei Oscar Medina, who introduced me to the art of Aikido and became one of my most beloved friends (I miss you!)
• Sensei José and Sensei Eugenio, who opened me the doors of Kogarashi and re-introduce me in the Aikido practice. Those two guys are wonderful human beings and friends
• Sensei Nico, who recently joined José and Eugenio to start a new journey called Córdoba Aikikai (Sensei, thanks for being my uke in the test!)
• All the Córdoba Aikikai community, a lot of people who are transiting their own paths in Aikido helping each other on a daily basis
• Shihan Ricardo Corbal, who kindly provided us with this teachings and took my test (thanks for the post-test tips, I will work hard on those points to make them better)
• Daniela, my love, who is really supportive and helped me in all this process

OK, this is video, in case you want to see some action ;-)

As I said before, this is just the beginning of a new phase in my Aikido practice and I am pretty sure I will enjoy it!