Gradings In Karate - Why Put Yourself Through It?

I passed another grading - green belt! I'm probably not alone in finding gradings a little frightening. It is odd that people choose to do a hobby that puts them under pressure and makes them perform in front of others with the potential to fail - but most students of martial arts do exactly this. During a grading (or exam) you have to demonstrate your knowledge of the basic moves, set combinations of moves, pad work (hitting and kicking against a pad held by a partner), sparring and kata. Kata I love, but it becomes much harder and less enjoyable when you are performing alone in the middle of the dojo with everyone else looking on! Regardless, I did it about as well as I can anyway, so I was pleased. What I was most pleased about though was my sparring. I really struggle with this and I'm easily the worst in the class - until recently..... About two weeks ago I "fought" two men and was better than both. Now firstly, I must say that sparring is not fighting, it's very controlled and only the trunk is the target zone with the contact being light. Clearly either bloke could have just clobbered me hard and that would have been that. However, within the rules of sparring, I was better. The first was a white belt, just started. "So what" you may say, but I had assumed all men were just good at that sort of thing - apparently not, my limited skills were sufficient! The second encounter was with a brown belt. Yes, brown. He was new to the club and had previously trained in a club that never did free sparring (weird) and was quite unable to cope with the speed of free sparring. I'm sure he'll catch up soon, but what a confidence boost for me! It taught me that I must have learned something and with my new found confidence, I'm not too bad. My usual partner, who I've affectionately named King Kong since she's five inches taller than me and considerably stronger, was amazed. So was I. I actually scored points against her! I'm also less worried about getting hurt. I'm not sure why, time perhaps. Anyway, gradings are horrible and anxiety provoking with the potential to be embarrassing, but when you get thought one you feel good because you have achieved something openly and in front of everyone.