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This post was originally published as an article in a dedicated KarateForums.com Articles section, which is no longer online. After the section was closed, this article was most to the most appropriate forum in our community. The other day I was having a jiu-jitsu discussion with a good friend. I got him into Brazilian jiu-jitsu about 6 years ago and he has since earned his purple belt. He brought up the point that he feels testing is a bit silly in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Rather, he felt that Professor Pedro Sauer should just watch us roll and decide from there. Further, he wasn't sure why Professor Sauer wants to see some moves and not others. I thought it was an interesting topic and thought I'd share my views both on why to test a person and why certain moves are selected. To many who came up in the traditional martial arts, such as me, this may be a silly question. I advanced through the ranks in Chuan Fa, Shotokan, and Aiki jujitsu. I tested for all my ranks. So when I had to test in BJJ, it did not seem weird to me. However, as time passed and my BJJ knowledge grew, I learned that not all instructors have testing. In fact, it's quite common for an instructor to simply stop class, promote the student, and then get back to work. This is due to the "aliveness" of the art. Day after day you share blood, sweat and tears with your teammates in an effort to make your techniques work against a resisting partner. Some believe the ability to defeat others at or above your rank should be the only mark necessary for promotion. Others believe that competition performance should be the indicator for promotion. This article will present the purpose behind both testing and why certain techniques are selected over others. I will point out the importance of understanding the fundamentals behind the techniques you use, as well as reasons to test and not to test a student in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Why to Test I propose four purposes behind testing a student in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The first is when you are the promoting instructor, but not the regular instructor of a student. Professor Sauer is an excellent example of this. I've trained with him a lot, but not regularly. Tony Rinaldi is my regular instructor. Before Tony earned black belt, all promotions had to go through Professor. Since he didn't see me (or the others testing) on a regular basis, it only makes sense for him to take a look at my knowledge base and skill compared to his expectations. Therefore it only makes sense to test the student. The second situation is similar to the first reason. The main exception here is that in watching the skill sets of the students, Professor Sauer is able to get a handle on what Tony is teaching and how he approaches his teaching. So, in this instance, it's really the instructor being tested through the students. Professor Sauer is the head of a gigantic association with over 100 schools from China to Iceland. It's easy for standards to slip in such a large organization. A great way to wrangle in the standards is to require testing with techniques that demonstrate your standards. When the students are not up to par, the instructor is not up to par. The third example is a confidence booster. Sometimes a student doesn't feel comfortable moving on to the next rank. I've personally seen students purposely no show for a test just to avoid earning a new rank. Completing the test successfully is a great way for a student to realize they actually are ready and gain some confidence in the process. The final reason is similar to the second; consistency and fairness. One of the fastest ways to lose your student base is to appear as though you're playing favorites. By testing every student you are able to maintain consistency and fairness for every student. When Not to Test When the promoting instructor is also the regular instructor for the student, it doesn't always make sense to test. The instructor trains with and observes the student on a daily basis. He knows what the student's skill set is and where he needs to improve. Unless, as previously mentioned, the student has a confidence problem there is no reason to make him test. I can think of a student of mine who will have a blue belt thrown at his head once I earn my black belt. What to Put into the Test For Professor Sauer, he and Rickson Gracie sat down and decided what would go into the test. The moves they selected and the way they are done were chosen very specifically. This is not because the way we do them is the highest percentage or the "best" way to do them. It's because they wanted as many "fundamental" concepts and "basic" moves as possible. You can see Professor Sauer demonstrate his requirements here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66u3YSxf8Zg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_ZdoqU3JAk What Does "Fundamental" Mean in This Context? The shrimp would be a fundamental movement. That is, it's a movement that, while it has a specific technique attached to it, is also used and required in many other moves. If you watch the way Professor Sauer performs the beginner's armbar from the guard, you'll see he puts the foot on the hip, raises his hips, pivots about 90 degrees, pushes the face, and then brings the leg across to lock in the armbar. This is not because it's the "best" armbar. It's because it gives him the opportunity to see both the armbar and the fundamental movement of placing the foot on the hip of an opponent to lock him in place as well as the ability to pivot with the hips off the ground. The foot placement and pivot with hips lifted are fundamental movements. He now sees two things: you have good fundamental mechanics and you know how to get to the armbar. At the beginning of the second video, Professor Sauer talks about passing the guard. Notice that he puts as much emphasis on the fundamental concepts of posture, and not letting the opponent get the legs into the game, as he does the pass itself. The examples of fundamentals are throughout the whole test. Rather than just looking at any armbar or any guard pass, the two masters built in the fundamental mechanics of Brazilian jiu-jitsu as well. What is a "Basic" Technique? The basic technique is the most stripped down version of the technique. In addition, they are the more high percentage techniques that you would hit on someone with little or no training. That's an important point as jiu-jitsu's primary design was originally a fighting system to cope with various situations and styles of fighters, most of whom had little to no knowledge of grappling. Therefore, you won't see much in the way of open guard/half guard/twister side control and so on. Not because they aren't good or effective, rather because they are mostly the way one skilled grappler tries to defeat another skilled grappler. A competition oriented association may disagree on this point, but Professor Sauer is not competition oriented and doesn't put as much emphasis on one student being able to defeat another student. He was more concerned with the ability to perform techniques for self defense. While the moves themselves are very basic, I would think most people would have to admit that these are the moves you hit the most. You may set them up differently, but they usually end with these moves somewhere. If you haven't watched the video, you'll see things like armbar from the guard and mount, cross choke, scissor sweep, sit up/hip bump sweep, kimura, Americana, stack pass, how to mount and how to maintain side control among other moves. He selects the sweeps he does because they are easy to do slowly and still demonstrate the understanding of how a sweep works. That is, move the opponent past his base, or move the base from under the opponent. No matter how much spinning, inverting, gripping, pushing or pulling you do, it really is just about base in relation to center of gravity. Lastly, the techniques must be demonstrated slowly. The reason for this is simple. If you can't do it slow, it's really going to suck when you try to go fast. Moreover, it gives him a chance to correct small details that might get missed with speed. The final component of the test is to watch the students spar a little. But it's usually only a few minutes and he really doesn't care who wins or loses. He's more concerned with seeing that they are attempting to use technique, rather than just muscling through the opponent. In summation, while testing in Brazilian jiu-jitsu is not always a necessity, it ensures consistency, fairness, proper mechanics and understanding of how moves work. Testing allows both the instructor and the student to see where they stand and where to improve while also giving the student a bit of self confidence.

Link to my older videos. Some have over 50,000 views. https://www.youtube.com/user/sgtjonesiniraq/videos?flow=grid&view=0&sort=p

LOL. I have a ton of videos out there. Here's my most recent:

Solid post!! 2nd!!

The grip is different. O-goshi has a your arm around the opponent's waist. Koshi tends to be over the shoulder.

Lots of great ideas here. Thank you.

Beautiful images. They really don't say much about the art as some are clearly for show, but it's still beautiful photography.

Thanks for the follow-up!

It's easy to come up with in-house events for my youth students. Ninja nights, Magicians, nerf parties ect... But what events have you found are successful for your adults students?

I'm not sure where to find one. I have a buddy that has it. I reached out to him for you. That said, my opinion is it's not very good. There's alot of "mysticism" type stuff in it that's just plain cultish. Making sure your chi is right with the moon and stuff. I would never drop $1500 for it.

It's fun to train. I recommend it. I've been to several seminars on the art. It actually dates back quite a while.

I'm really planning a very small event, I don't expect more than 20 people or so to be interested. My university is pretty small, and in my experience only a small percentage of people are interested in martial arts competitons. My business is small when you compare it to Microsoft. A single person can destroy your entire life. Again, I don't know ANYTHING about rules and laws where you are. In the U.S., doing even a small tourney without proper consultation would be foolhardy at best. If you're taking money for service (They pay to compete), it's a business and should be treated as such.

There is alot of conflicting information in both power and snap. Depending what research you end up finding, you'll see different formulas used. Some include impulse, some force, some power, some torque. There's very little consistency in how power it measured when it comes to martial arts techniques. You'll find even less consistency when it comes to snap. As a writer, this will frustrate the heck out of you. When it comes to martial arts and the development of power, much of it is simply hearsay and conjecture. EVERYONE has seen research or read research or knows someone who researched but no one can really site it. Most of what people tell you is hypothesis, at best. This is someone with over 30 years in training and an educational background in biomechanics, anatomy and physiology. Good luck, my friend.

I can only go based on what we do in the US. In the U.S., not having legal counsel on an event like that is the same as bringing all of your possessions and giving them to all the participants. The legal counsel will write up all of your release forms and make sure everything you do is on the up and up. Probably $1000 worth of work. Divide that over 300 competitors, it's an additional $3.00 each person to ensure they can't successfully sue you. You may be right about the insurance of the event location. They may have some of their own. But it could be limited or only cover certain things. Check with them to see what their requirements are for you to carry insurance. The only other think I'd do is have an accountant (or tax professional of some sort) look over how you handle the revenue from the event. I know you're thinking of it as a martial arts venture. But you really need to look at is from the perspective of a business venture. Even if you're not looking to make much out of it, you need to be sure you, and more importantly your family, are protected from liability.

Congratulations on qualifying. I'm sure you'll do great, regardless of the date. Keep us posted!

When I teach, the bunkai is taught before the kata. So, starting at white belt, the student learns bunkai to Taikyoko shodan. Then the student learns Taikyoko shodan.

When it comes to legality, you're going to need to contact an attorney. Be sure you hire one that has experience in this type of thing. You'll need to purchase insurance. The insurance company, in large part, will limit the types of rules you can use.

Is it important...yes, of course. Do people make a bigger deal of it than they should...yes, of course. In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu I take alot of falls. Over my time I've learned that there are three things you can do to make them not hurt so much. 1. Tuck your chin to your chest (unless you're falling forward, lol). Not much is worse than hitting the ground only to have your head bounce off the mat (or floor) directly afterward. 2. Do not reach for the ground. Gravity works and the ground will find you just fine. You'll stub fewer fingers and receive fewer injuries this way. 3. When possible, maximize the surface area that hits the ground. The smaller the part of you that hits the ground, the more chance for injury. Slapping off helps a little with this. In the end, it's my opinion that the endless repetitions of ukemi that many people practice are nearly pointless. It needs to be practiced in action, not statically. This is speaking to ukemi in terms of breakfalls. If you're talking about ukemi in terms of accepting a strike, that's another discussion all together.

It happens all the time. Not often overtly. My first Karate instructor was a police officer. He wouldn't even let you come in the door if you had a record he was uncomfortable with, let alone grade you to black belt. He always got to know anyone that was a senior rank in the dojo. In Gracie Jiu-Jitsu it's a similar case. We believe your students are a reflection of you. If a student doesn't, in generalities, share your beliefs when it comes to morality, you shouldn't promote them. Here's a video of Relson Gracie discussing it:He discusses it in the first 5 minutes or so. So, yes, it happens all the time.

I certainly understand your position there. Hopefully the school grows for you.

If they're a competent fighter, them starting fights is a problem regardless of what colour belt they wear. Granting someone a rank doesn't change their abilities, it merely recognises them. How is it different from someone coming in from a different school in the same style? It's different because that rank it tied to the school. Guilt by association; if the person wearing the rank has poor character, the school who gave it to them must have poor character. Name any place that has a good reputation and will hand rank to anyone who only has the skill to possess it regardless of how long they've trained or how well they know the person.

I'm actually in the process of writing a book (instructional) for my ELITE class. I do believe I'm going to "steal" this idea. Please, I'd love to give credit to the instructor who says it. Are you willing to provide his name?

This is spot on! Exactly correct. That's why this... ...is not correct.No one goes anywhere and gets promoted on skill alone. Not in Karate, not in BJJ, not in Muay Thai... it just doesn't happen.

About him not being qualified his primary student has won Nationals 3 times. My sensei has won countless fights. And that dojo is the only place within a 6 hour drive were I can train. And theres only 3 kids in my class me the girl and a guy the rarley ever goes. Theres a brown belt and my sensei. As a general rule, the number of students in a school is a good indicator of the quality. Of course, there are exceptions. There are some out there that truly don't want a large school and only accept a few students. Those instructors usually teach out of their homes and not in groups. "Winning nationals" is a very subjective thing these days. There are literally hundreds of tournaments throughout the US each year that call themselves "Nationals." If I counted all of them then I am like a 30 time national champ. I was young once and bought into all this kind of hype, but 30 years of martial arts training has taught me better. I'm just handing you a piece of my experience. I don't know where you live, and there's no reason for you to divulge, but martial arts schools are very common. Even in very small towns, there are usually two or three. But who knows, if you live in a very rural area, he might just be the only game in town...which draws further suspicion as to why his school would be so small. I'm sorry that my posts about this are negative. But there's no way I'm going to agree your instructor is a qualified teacher, or even a well adjusted human being, if what you described in your OP is the full story. My recommendation is to get out and try wrestling until such time that you are able to find a better place to train. At this point, your instructor has taught you that assault of a weaker person is okay. It's not. It's bullying and it's wrong. Again, my $0.02

I just checked it out. It's ok, but a bit dry. But, hey, for the price...it's pretty nice. I like this one myself. http://mabizu.com/ But it is a $30 monthly fee. Comes with access to a special facebook group with tons of experts too. I really like it.