I had to stop and check out the boats as they clunk-whished past me on the river Cam. It was a nice settling noise which eased my nerves a little…
After having met up with the other grading candidates we chatted on the train to London and tried to remain focused. We each had our ways of handling the nerves but mostly we didn’t try and swot up, but simply relaxed. Jonathan’s cast iron concnetration was broken by a “silk” finish on a car he saw. From that moment on he couldn’t hink of anything else. I think he’s in love. 
The grading went without hitch but during the warm-up I thought Iwas going to expire! This was when the nerves really kicked in. Luckily my grading started fairly soon and I didn’t have too much time to wait and think about gaps in my knowledge. As it happens the other two kenshi in my group seemed to have more gaps than I! At first this seemed like a blessing and boosted my confidence (even though I wanted them to do well too) but soon it became apparent that grading with others not so prepared can be a challenge in itself!
The grading flashed by with only a few hitches for me but we helped each other through and I felt good when it came to an end. The train journey home was full of relief and I wished we’d had a couple of beers…
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