Brown & Black Belt Tests..

[Scotoe]

I was wondering..what tests are harder in your styles? The black or the brown. In my style the brown was harder for me. The brown belt test is a test of attitude, persistence, and will power. You have to go through "hell" to get through it. I had to fight straight for 30 min. I fought either a black belt or a brown belt every 3 min. And they were different everytime so they were fresh and not tired, at full speed. However, there was little to no contact. I thought is was a good test, because it showed me what my limitations were and it gave me a better insight to what kind of person I had become. Keep in mind this was only a small part of the test. Where as my Black Belt test was more of my sensei saying that I have reached the level of Black Belt and giving me the belt. I am interested in what your tests are like.

[Chibi]

Our shodan test has 30 min of full contact fighting, including karate, grappling, judo and whatever else you can do. Aswell as kata, kihon and nunchaku.

[swooshfinn]

Supposedly brown belt testing is tougher than black belt testing, although, I must be a fluke, because I think that I got off way too easy for my brown belt test.

 

The night I tested for my brown belt, there were only two of us testing, a girl going for her yellow and me for my brown. That is why my brown belt testing was so easy, I only had to spar her for a few minutes, not the usual 8-10 minutes that is typical for a brown belt testing.

 

So I know I will have a much harder black belt testing than brown belt testing.

[WapCaplet]

I just graded for my brown belt about 2 months ago and I'm pretty sure my black belt grading will be much harder. Color belt tests are open to the public and our association generally has about 20-30 students grading for each color belt (many more at the lower levels). We had to do our kata (tekki shodan), kihon and kumite. The sparring was 1-step with a partner and included 6 or 7 basic attacks and defenses. Our association is family based so there is little to no contact in the main classes/gradings, which makes things much easier by the sounds of it. There is a special kumite class you can take that uses full contact, but you have to wear special gear.

 

Anyway, the black belt gradings are not open to the public and they are done individually, as opposed to group gradings like the colored belts. The colored belt tests last about 15-20 minutes where a black belt test is divided into two sessions over 2 days. I haven't had to go through it yet, but it sounds much more grueling than the brown belt test was. Our association also has three levels of brown so I have two more "brown belt" tests to take. Maybe looking at all three together would make the brown belt test seem harder than black, but I'm still sure the black belt will be the toughest. Don't have to worry about that for another year or so at least.

 

Wap

[karatekid1975]

In our school, I think the black belt test would be harder. When you test for high red (same as your brown), you test with the black belts. They have to do everything the BB's do, except spar two on one and they don't go through hell .... I mean, power camp first.

 

The power camp is basically 8 hours of hell. You have to run a mile and a half in 12 minutes. I heard that the warm up for the actual camp is hard (it's not just running). Spar a whole punch of times, do forms over and over and over, ect. If you don't make it through this camp, you don't test (they have the actual test a week later).

 

I haven't got there yet. When I ask a BB about the power camp, I just get a ghostly look LOL.

 

EDIT: Wap, that's weird. You can't watch the BB tests? My school you can, but we can't watch the power camb, so I guess it's basically the same thing.

[aefibird]

I felt that my 1st kyu brown belt test was harder than my 1st Dan black, although I wasn't feeling well when I took my 1st kyu, so that probably had something to do with it.

 

My school's blackbelt test is much longer than the brown. Blackbelts testings are only open to be watched by 3rd kyu brown and above, as well as the families of those testing.

[shotochem]

The power camp is basically 8 hours of hell. You have to run a mile and a half in 12 minutes. I heard that the warm up for the actual camp is hard (it's not just running). Spar a whole punch of times, do forms over and over and over, ect. If you don't make it through this camp, you don't test (they have the actual test a week later).

 

I haven't got there yet. When I ask a BB about the power camp, I just get a ghostly look LOL.

 

EDIT: Wap, that's weird. You can't watch the BB tests? My school you can, but we can't watch the power camb, so I guess it's basically the same thing.

 

I wonder what does all that running accomplish? Is it going to make your techniques any better. IMO testing should be about your art and the techniques within it. If I wanted to run all day I would join a track team.

 

I know there are some who would say that its all about a certain degree of physical fitness being a requirement. If you train regularly and have tested through the ranks and are able to do your forms and techniques.

 

Why run a couple of miles? There are quite a few guys that are not in as good a shape as me that could probably throw me a beating if they tried.

 

I've dropped 50lbs. since starting to train regularly and I doubt I could do all that running. I never get gassed out in the toughest of classes 2hrs+and outlast people 1/2 my age. I train and fight hard. If running were on my gradings would I not be worthy of my rank or make me any less the karateka???

 

If I'm attacked I don't need to be able to run 2 miles I need to defend myself. My old knees just hate running. As well as any excercise that I find may be damaging to my personal health.

 

Fortuately we do not require running. We just have to be able to know and do every technique and form up to the level of testing in whatever amount and combonation the instructor chooses. The instructors have a testing guideline but can ask you to perform anything they choose. Sparring is either free and or pre arranged which consists of every defense technique up to and often next rank right and left sides. There are no breaks and the higher the rank the longer the grading and the more creative they get.

[karatekid1975]

I'm not sure why my school does it. It is kinda weird since we have a physical test every belt level (to see if we are physically better than the last, I think). It may be a good question to ask Heidi (ninjanurse). She is in the same system as me and also a 2nd dan. She would know. I'm still knew to all this (different curriculum since before I came back).

[Luckykboxer]

well in my school we have 3 levels of brown and then black belt.

 

for the first brown belt level they have to fight 10 rounds...

 

it is really the most fighting done at any belt rank until Black Belt.

 

for Black Belt, for mine anyways they brought in professional kickboxers, and grapplers, and I fought at every distance and every sport style including boxing, kickboxing, karate, grappling.

 

I dont even remember how many rounds it was, but my Black belt test was a two day test with all kinds of physical aspects the first day then every single last piece of curriculum from white to black the second and the fighting was the last thing we did.

 

Also at Black belt there was no holding back by my opponents in the fights I swear someoen told them.... knock him out and you get an ice cream sunday

[Law072]

in my school the black belt test is the hardest. all the old masters of the school show up to watch the test. in the words of my teacher "the black belt test is basically when all the black belts try to make a brown belt quit"

 

it consists of full contact sparring, many push ups, ground fighting, a review from everything you have learned since white belt, use of kali escrima, and the use of swords.