HDKI Kyu Exam Results

Arata Uchida Uta Uchida Eriko Uchida Tommy Zhao Roukaya El Houda Kishan Shah Rafael Costa Thaila Cruz

Ava Wilcox Ashley Yuan Bruce Hou Emily Dutton Olivia Postel Ricardo Harripaul Athena Zheng Angel Chan Renata Costa Olga Lattarulo Sophia Pena

8th kyu 8th kyu 8th kyu 8th kyu 8th kyu

7th kyu 7th kyu 7th kyu 5th kyu 5th kyu 5th kyu 4th kyu 3rd kyu 3rd kyu 3rd kyu 3rd kyu 3rd kyu 2nd kyu 2nd kyu MIT MIT MIT Boston University Harvard University

Harvard University UFMS / Brazil UFMT / Brazil Wellesley College Wellesley College Boston University University of Toronto Wellesley College MIT Boston University Lesley University Harvard University Boston College Wellesley College

Congratulations!

to everyone who promoted this summer! I am proud to see the improvements in skill and spirit in all of you from the training throughout the summer. I hope all the students look back at the goals you set at the beginning of the summer and see what you were able to achieve. This is also a good moment to set some new goals for the fall semester, and write them down. We can then look back at what you wrote in December and see how far you reached in the fall semester.

I also wanted to communicate which students that impressed me the most in 4 different categories of kihon, kata, kumite, and spirit/attitude. These students stood out for their particular demonstrations of capability of each following category.

Kihon - Bruce Hou (Boston University)

Bruce demonstrated a very impressive understanding of hand-foot timing, hip vibration (shindo kaiten). The hand speed shown was due to the proper synchronization of the legs, hips, and hands was excellent. Well done Bruce.

Kata - Angel Chan (Lesley University)

Angel demonstrated a wonderful Tekki Shodan in her promotions. She showcased a very solid understanding of slow, controlled movement as well as fast, agile techniques throughout the kata. Very impressive hip movements in terms of rotation and vibration. Well done Angel.

Kumite - Olga Lattarulo (Boston College)

Olga had the most focused demonstration of kumite in promotions. She demonstrated an agile dodge off the centerline (tai sabaki), and proper compression-expansion (tai no shinshuku) from the block into the punch. Each technique she dodged, she drove from the back leg to move back into the opponent and deliver a punch on the target. Well done Olga.

Spirit / Attitude - Eriko Uchida (MIT) and Emily Dutton (University of Toronto)

Eriko has been training for only 2 months so far with us, but demonstrated a very impressive growth in such a short amount of time. Each week, we added new techniques she needed to learn and each week she took on the new challenge without complaints. Yoko geri is one of the toughest kicks to understand, and she demonstrated well beyond beginner level technique at her first promotions. Well done Eriko.

Emily has been adapting very rapidly to the mechanics of Shotokan Karate and growing very quickly in rank. During her exam, I was most impressed with her spirit and attitude. Every adjustment or addition to the exam I asked, she was able to incorporate and demonstrate better and better technique without any self doubt. The ability to listen to guidance in a nervous environment of a test is a skill and she did very well and her quick growth is a testament to this. Well done Emily.