After much dedicated training, Neil Ellwood was awarded Shodan recently by Sensei Kidby who would like to pass his congratulations to Neil along with all our other students from CFTS.
Neil has been totally dedicated since he commenced training. By the time he was red belt he was already training twice a week. Within just a few months his training had risen to three or more times a week. When asked why he was training so much by another student in the changing room at Newport once, he replied, "It's a lot cheaper than going down the pub". I am confident that this has not been the driving force in his motivation towards Shodan. Of late Neil has been training up to five sessions a week a fact which became apparent throughout his grading.
Congratulations must also go to David Gray, Sian Kidby, James Murphy and Keshiv Kaushal who, on the same day, took their Shodan confirmation grading. Under current EKGB rules all students must retake Shodan once they hit their sixteenth birthday. It is no secret that Sensei Kidby does not agree with this policy; in fact, he is working to try and change the ruling, since he feels it is unjust to ask a student to retake the same grade they have already held for a number of years.
However all candidates gave an exceptional account of themselves and fully justified their adult dan grade status.
Well done everyone!