A Queen On Trial

This was such an absolute bore.

Pierre thought as much, but he didn't want to admit it as such. He remained relaxed, however, as he sat upon a chair near the table where the examination board sat. Two men, one woman. All-clad in black blazers and dull beige trousers. It was pretty much the usual affair as he scanned the room. The gradings were taking place, and people were filtering from different stations after having done their part. Many 1st Kyus come with hopes of graduating from the shitty brown belts and into the realm of the Dan Grades. Or in layman terms, black belts. Considered a prestigious honour in Japanese martial arts (that is if you didn't get it from an Mc Dojo), it takes much hard work to even get to that point. The French-Canadian didn't expect to see this many brown belts, not by any stretch of the imagination. The last time he was a 1st Kyu, there weren't more than ten people within a grading. This grading was even more than that. Granted, some were transferred from different schools, yet still recognized by the same federation. Pretty much Asia and Europe seem to have a good relationship and parts of Canada too.

Pierre, for his part, wasn't wearing something that matched the examiners. That was more because he wasn't an examiner, to begin with. He was rocking a full dougi set, bringing a blue one to separate himself from the actual candidates. Since there weren't many English-speaking natives in the land of the rising sun, Pierre was brought in to assist. Despite there being a large number, it was among the odd numbers so someone would be left without a partner, which wouldn't help when they get to the nage-no-kata. The Quebecoise felt he was pretty much done after 'that certain incident which shall not be brought up'. He never got to achieve his dream of being an Olympic contender, but some doors close and some doors open. The French-Canadian has yet to get past that, however, as his previous matches could attest. He honestly hoped that no one in this dojo would recognize him, either from France or his recent stunts in Kyoto.

But in his attempts to keep things low key, he had gotten bored. Mentally he had checked out as groups came and went. Thing is with Judo; there are two ways one can graduate into another grade. One was the competitive route. Competitive skills examinations generally occur after the contests at a dan grading. They will go through the sections in the order calling out the names of the techniques, for the personal choice segments they will ask you what set you picked, and will then call those out one by one, after the examination, they will tally up the score(each demonstration is marked from 1-10). If you passed(190+/270), they'll let you know and send off the form and your licence if you already completed the contest portion. Then there was the technical route. In Pierre's case, he had an area examiner that had done all of his kyu grade exams come into the club to do it. The Quebecoise's experience was that they know it's only first dan, and don't expect perfection. A lot of it is down to the examiner's discretion. One can spend ages reviewing the A-Z of Judo so they would know all of the required throws, yet they only asked about standard ones. He found that you do get marked better for big clean throws, so it helped to have a Uke that doesn't mind taking falls, and not being too gentle with his techniques.

Fact is, there is a route for anyone. Those that prefer the practical side of things and those that prefer the theoretical. The problem was that it was mostly theoretical, Pierre yet to have seen a competitive spar from the two. Even when they try to do the theory, most of them either flop the basics didn't know how to pronounce certain words (which certainly gave a few natives some cringeworthy moments) or, as one guy did, not remember basic history which you are taught at yellow belt.

All in all, the French-Canadian was close to physically checking out. At least until he found that he would soon get some action, the last set would step onto the tatami, bowing to the officials and the four corners. One thing that caught his eye would be seeing one candidate was missing. The next thing that did was seeing some woman. Probably because of the lavender-coloured hair that stood out from the rest, but he is pretty liberal when it comes to what people do to their appearances. Or to put it bluntly, he couldn't care less about what they do. But she stuck out like a sore thumb. Might be the distance but she seemed...tall. The guy next to her seemed like a lean person so she must have had some height to her. He wasn't quite sure as to why this woman caught her attention, but he quickly dismissed whatever thoughts he had initially. Perhaps she could hold her own when they go into Nagewaza...

Today was a pretty special day for Nora: the day she would have her chance to graduate to a 1st Dan in judo! Or “black belt,” as she had to say to friends and family for any of them to understand. She hadn’t spent her life longing for this, exactly. But she had practiced and worked hard on her judo over the years. Today’s exam was a chance to earn recognition and validation for that hard work, and she was excited for it.

Eventually it was almost time for her turn to come. Bare feet carrying her onto the tatami along with the others in her set, Nora briefly made eye contact with the man next to her, smiling and briefly nodding his way to silently wish him good luck. Patiently waiting while others were called up first, she felt the familiar feeling of eyes on her. It was something she had gotten used to feeling a long time ago, but still something that rarely escaped her. A sideways glance, and her eyes met those of an examiner who wore a blue gi unlike the others. It was hard to tell if he was checking her out or just found her a peculiar sight. More often than not it was the former, but she had had some of the latter too. Regardless, she offered him the same friendly smile and nod she had just given the man beside her a moment ago.

Nora had fun watching the others before her in their own Nage-No-Kata showings. The time flew by fairly quickly, and soon her name was finally called. Calmly containing her eagerness, she strode onto the mat to the same place each other Tori had begun in their exams. Now she just had to wait for the Uke she would be throwing around...

Pierre made no effort to hide that he was, in fact, looking at the lavender-haired woman. She was quite the sight to behold and stood out from the others. Partly to do with the hair, but also how tall she was. Of course, it’s not as if tall women didn’t exist, but it was something he’d notice when she’s as tall as some of the men here. His eyes would scan the rest of the 1st Kyu hopefuls once she would give a smile and a nod. To her, she’d probably wondered if he’d acknowledged her or not.

The minutes go by, and the French-Canadian watched the hopefuls get into their Nage-No-Kata. Of course, there were a few that were nervous and made some mistakes, something that Pierre could see whilst glancing at the examiner’s notes and markings. Some were poor, some were alright and just coasting the pass mark. The pairings went and gone, and the barefoot tapping on the floor indicated that he was indeed bored. Eventually, the last one would be picked, and it was the same woman that he’d saw from earlier. His eyes scanned on who would be partnering up with her. Two other guys were there, ready to perform. The Quebecoise couldn’t help but take a passing interest at the woman. This one might be the only one where he’d actually pay attention to.

Though unexpectedly, he’d get something even more. The examiners picked Pierre as the uke.

That was interesting. A sideways glance and a raised eyebrow to the examiners as he was quite surprised. The French-Canadian would smile before getting off his chair and jogging to the mats, bowing before he’d enter, as it is custom. He’d give his bow to the Tori before stepping forward. This woman had to come to him to start. And from there, he’d see first hand what she got.

Nora offered no sign as to whether or not she was surprised by Pierre’s selection as her Uke, but it certainly didn’t bother her. The small smile on her face and the poise she continued to hold said that much, at least. She said nothing as he came to join her on the mat, only bowing just as he did before stepping forward as well.

She advanced toward him, and once she was within the proper range her left hand came up to grab Pierre’s sleeve by the elbow, while her right hand took hold of the lapel of his uniform. From there she’d take one steady step back while leading him with her, and then another just like it. The next step began the same, but part of the way through it she dropped her left knee down while making a precise pull on Pierre’s uniform, using her leverage and his momentum to try to flip him over onto his back. She’d maintain a hold of her grip on his left sleeve through the throw, releasing it only once the motion had been fully completed.

Hoping her execution went well, Nora would then stand up and get in position to face Pierre again.

Hard to read, huh. Pierre didn’t mind it as much; it just made the guy much more curious as to what she’s really like. At the very least, the lavender-haired woman showed that she was professional. Or maybe she was showing respect towards someone that outranked her. Regardless, she was more focused on the exam rather than how charming he was.

Nora advanced towards him; strides of confidence is what the French-Canadian saw as he moved towards her. She wasn’t awkward, which showed as she has gotten her grip on the thick dougi. He had already known about what was to happen, so Pierre followed her lead. She is a 1st Kyu, so Nora should know what she should be doing. Although he remains relaxed, he’s still here to pick out faults.  

One step, two steps. Pierre adjusted to Nora’s rhythm, taking notice of where she was placing her feet also. It was necessary, especially in the first stage. The Quebecoise felt the pull on his jacket, and he followed the momentum. Considering how many times he was thrown, Pierre didn’t need to worry about hurting himself. He flipped his whole body before landing with a smack. A controlled landing, shown with how he smacked the mat to alleviate the impact. He pursed his lips before giving the nod, rising back up just as Nora does.

Nora was pleased to be off to a good start, but did well to maintain her composure so as not to disrupt the flow of her test. This was just the start, after all, and there was much more to do still. The next several throws went similarly well. Nora was poised, calm, and followed through her techniques as precisely as she could, each time dumping Pierre on the floor at her feet. The most difficult one involved briefly getting Pierre onto her shoulders, but even those she felt she did well with.

Next came a different technique, which involved sweeping the legs rather than flipping Pierre over. She started a few feet away from him, then confidently stepped in to close the distance from her side. Nora grabbed hold of the lapel of his uniform with her right hand, and the sleeve of Pierre’s right arm with her left hand. Two steps were taken to her right, and as a third was about to be taken Nora swung her left foot in to sweep both of Pierre’s feet out from under him, maintaining hold of the sleeve she had grabbed onto as he fell at her feet again.

Hmmm…not bad, not bad.

Usually, it can be easy to go into cruise control and not overthink his movements simply when it comes to doing this sort of thing. Pierre knew what to expect, as he has been in that spot Nora is now. He also knew the traps that so many black belt hopefuls would have once they were in that stage. She’s not so full of herself, which was good as Pierre didn’t want to start covering for their mistakes. The lavender-haired lady wasn’t underprepared either and showed that she practiced.

Strong too. Unknown to Nora, Pierre was being a bit cheeky and slightly sandbagging on the fireman carry throw. But she didn’t buckle or clumsily drop him to the mat. Pierre knew how to break his fall easily, but he was impressed with something. It would be unbecoming for him to outright sabotage, but she’ll go places. Or maybe she has…

A few throws later, and then came de hashi arai. Something so simple yet easy to mess up if you don’t know your steps. In a way, it’s like a dance, making sure to move in tandem with the partner. He felt the confident grip of his lapel and then began to move with her. One step, two steps, the third was about to begin, until his eyes moved down just for a moment, seeing the nails colored and smooth, perfectly pedicured. Even though the Quebecoise saw it, there was still that lapse of concentration as her soft foot swept his. Luckily, instincts saved the day, and he slapped the mat with his lone hand. Once you’ve done it many times, it’s all muscle memory. He let out a deep exhale, not noticing he was still staring at the ones that took him to the floor before beginning to climb to his feet, adjusting his dougi.

Anyone in the room who so much as blinked or wasn’t paying full attention might’ve missed it. But for the briefest second, Pierre had lost focus, staring downward just as Nora’s foot had come in to sweep his legs from under him. Nora had noticed, but might not have given it much thought if not for what happened next. The man had landed safely, but didn’t get right back up, his eyes staring right at her pretty feet.

Nora did nothing to bring any extra attention to it. She just stood there and waited for him to get up, that same, unreadable smile on her face greeting Pierre once he was facing her again. As if nothing happened, she continued on as planned and took hold of his lapel with the same grip as before, only with the hands swapped in their positioning since they would be moving the opposite direction.

Once she was ready - and when she felt sure he was too, Nora took the same just going back the other way this time, before swinging her right foot this time out to sweep Pierre’s legs and dump him on the floor. And though she had said and done nothing to openly suggest it, she was very curious to see where Pierre’s eyes would be focused this time.