Zorbasan

usually our schools last session for the year is the grading. and we have some demonstrations by black belts and then get pizza after. this year however was quite a long grading so we skipped the demos' which i was pleased about cos i didnt feel like doing a TKD breaking demo after grading to 2nd Kyu in shotokan.

sounds pretty odd that you wait at all. at all schools i have trained out, belt presentation was done on the grading day

ous sensei usually keeps belts in stock.

congrats to your son, how old is he out of curiosity? not familiar with the styles, what did the test involve?

the two trees may be different, but you still dont pick the fruit of any of them until its ripe.

test was as follows heian sho dan bassai dai basics - combinations for gedan berai, agi uke, uchi ude uki, soto ude uki, shuto uki, oi tsuki jodan and chudan, san bon tsuki) then 4 directional punches. dunno if other schools do it, but its pretty cool. then combos for mae geri, mawashi geri and yoko geri. then moving foward with mae geri, yoko geri, mawashi geri and ushiro geri in 1 move. then the same 4 kicks with 1 leg on the spot. kata of choice (i did heian yondan). followed by bunkai of heian go dan. then the kumite, ippon kumite was 3 each of oi tsuki jodan and chudan, mae geri, mawashi geri yoko geri and ushiro geri. then again on the other side. then jiu ippon kumite, same as above but no ushiro geri. and finally bassai dai again.

its probably their name for somethign that is pretty standard, or its something they have come up with as a training tool. i havent heard of it myself.

whoops, forgot to come back and that i passed. all in all was happy with the grading. was an improvement on the last one, but still can improve more. 4 months to 1st kyu hopefuly

i thnk knowledge is the key. not just saying "this is how to do it" but "this is why we do it this way"

im currently doing shotokan and ICHF Hapkido. Shotokan is great for striking moves, but i like the locks and throws of the hapkido.

thats great to hear. sounds like he just needed a confidence booster.

the other thing you might find is that he just needs a break from it. im surprised that he has stuck with it for that long at this age, which is a credit to you and your son. just wondering what grade your son is, is it possible that the older people of his grade are able to do things that he isnt due to his age? that may also be a factor

i have done both WTF and ITF (at different times) and the ITF school was far more interested in the technique than the fighting ability. infact the school i went to did not allow us to enter competitions. said it was an art, not a sport.

ive done it for a little while, but i wasnt a fan of the schools style of teaching. plus, its the kind of art that you need to have a high level of fitness before starting it.

in the words of bill cosby "i didnt do anything, but i apologise"