Slow

My start in Karate was slow.

My wife and I joined in the Fall, and by Christmas it was testing time. I was worried, but we both passed to our spiffy Yellow Belts. By the time training started again in January, the instructor was gone and the club had folded.

Tried a club in another town, and then a Shotokan class started near our home. Exactly one year after our start, we started again.

Again, Christmas was testing time and we got our second Yellow Belts.

My wife left Karate about then, and I continued on.

By March, the students were all expecting our next test but it didn't happen. Not in April or May either. June was the last month before a Summer shutdown, but still there were no tests. The instructor just never got around to it, and one doesn't pressure a Sensei.

Getting an Orange Belt should take about 6 months. I'd been in Karate for a year and a half, and was still a Yellow Belt.

During the Summer shutdown, I drove the 150km round trip to Dawson Creek to train on Sundays. At the end of August, I repectfully and politely asked Sensei if I could test. He said, "sure", and I passed.

After that, I was off. Did 3 belts a year until all the levels were done.