Anyone ever seen a red belt do this....?

[swooshfinn]

Last night in my KSW studio we had two red belts test for brown belt. (FOR THEIR PROTECTION, AS WELL AS MINE, I WILL ONLY IDENTIFY THESE RED BELTS BY THEIR FIRST INITIAL AND THEIR GENDER)

 

Towards the end of the testing (about an hour and forty minutes into a two hour testing), they sparred 5-6 opponents for a minute each. Most of the opponents were black belts, but I was thrown into the mix just to see what I could do as a brown belt. By this time, all the students testing were exhausted, including the red belts.

 

First up was A. (Male), I sparred him as his second opponent. Everything went really well, I did a good mix of punches and kicks and kept him on his toes moving him in different directions. As well did the black belts that were sparring him.

 

Then came K. (Female). It was decided that I was first up against her. We started ok, a couple of light hits, I was mainly going with punches, she was mainly doing kicks. I really dont know where the first "hard" (well it was harder than anything we were throwing up to that point came from), but she threw a hard punch in towards my left eye, catching the bridge of my nose and the eyebrow. I returned the favor with a good jad inside on the torso, and she returned that with a quick jab to the other side of my face. Kwan Jahng Nim seperated us for a minute to make sure we were alright, and then we went right back to the sparring, staying light for the rest of my minute. K. then goes against the Junior Jyo Ko Nim Champion from the Saint Louis Tournament, my studio's best chance for Adult division Jyo Ko Nim champion that we had for the Saint Louis Tournament, another very good Jyo Ko Nim/ EMT, and finally our Pu Sa Bum Nim, one of my best friends and the one person I have to thank for getting my involved with KSW.

 

By this point K. was completely worn down and looked like she was about to give up. Most of the class, a close knit group made up of liberal art college kids were strongly encouraging her on. The rest of the class followed suit and tried to keep her spirits up and going. All of the sudden, she losses it, and starts chasing Pu Sa Bum Nim around in a frenzy. In retrospect it was a pretty good little tantrum off the adrenaline rush she was getting. But she was so worked up, she couldn't breathe! We spent the next minute or so trying to get her to control her breathing and relax so she could continue.

 

Personally, I had never seen anything quite like that in the studio, and will be surprised if she gets a promotion, because I have to say I wasn't impressed with her determination and performance throughout the testing.

 

I know being the last thing that everyone saw, especially in front of everyone that was testing, and being the only thing going on at that point, this incident will leave a lasting impression on all the black belts and Kwan Jahng Nim.

 

This just leaves me with the impression that she isn't ready for brown belt, and if it was up to me (which it isnt, thankfully) I would leave her at red belt.

[DLopez]

Can't say I've seen that before, but I have seen people react strangely when stressed and pushed to their limit.

 

Sounds like she just had a bunch of pent up emotions from the testing, like anxiety, exhaustion, maybe some frustration, and she just couldn't hold it all in any more.

 

It doesn't sound like she gave up throughout the testing, and I think it's questionable whether her "attack" on Pu Sa Bum Nim was out of disrepect, or if she just lost it and couldn't control her emotions anymore.

[Legion]

did she win the fight ?

[swooshfinn]

heck no! she could barely stand on her own halfway through it

[SBN Doug]

Can't say I've seen that before, but I have seen people react strangely when stressed and pushed to their limit.

 

Same here. This IS what testing is all about. Testing your mental control when your body has been pushed to exhaustion.

 

The promotion is debatable. If she performed all the material correctly, I would probably give it to her. That sparring is a little excessive, compared to most of the schools I've visited, for brown. She's got plenty of time to continue working on it.

[swooshfinn]

Well lets say forms and techniques could have been a little crisper and cleaner, and some of the kicks and hand techniques could use quite a bit of improvement, and Kwan Jahng Nim is looking at their ability to break, looking at a complete picture of everything, since he has been out recovering from cancer.