Today I had the opportunity to photograph a rare shodan test at the Chudokan Dojo in Windsor Ontario. The test will give the rank of Shodan (or first degree black belt) in Yoshinkan Aikido, and these testing dates only come twice per year.

This year, the Chudokan Dojo had 4 participating students. Two were testing for Shodan, while others were testing for higher ranks. All in all, it was a very eventful day where many Aikidoka put forward all their energy to show that their years of study have paid off.

Sensei Kevin Blok (Blok Kyoshi) not only tested his students on physical techniques. He asked them questions on the history of Aikido, and where certain movements came from in order to see if they had studied the art and not just shown up to class. This made the test something that pushed his students to their physical, mental, and spiritual limits.

I’ve highlighted a few photos below, and a gallery of 50+ photos is at the end. Please share and enjoy, and congratulations to all the participants of today’s event. Osu!

Many Aikido students (Aikidoka) showed up for the Shodan Testing.

Weapons testing is required as part of a Shodan test. In this photo, Aikidoka Joe M. and Mike S. face off.

Aikidoka Alex (Michigan) demonstrates that Aikido movements can be done in traditional Seiza (kneeling) position as well as from standing.

Part of testing is that you teach Blok Kyoshi exactly how to perform a movement as if you were teaching it to a new student of Aikido.

The last part of the test consists of a Randori - a multi-person attack in which you must defend yourself from all attackers.