MA school really time orientated

[dear john]

one of my instructors says that a few of my techniques are akready at

 

1st degree level, and another instructor has started to really nit pick at most anything i do (i asked her to )

 

plus i know a lot of the curriculum for several belts ahead of me

 

and i know all of my next belt curriculum.

 

it just seems to me like i would much rather have an instructor who will push me really hard and move me ahead a little faster. in the end it is not really the belt i want, it is the knowledge, every belt higher they teach you more stuff, but i learned all the stuff and mt technique is getting good. but know for the past week i have learned nothing.

[AngelaG]

Maybe they are also testing your dedication? If it's too easy and advancements are too quick most people will stay, raise the pressure a bit and watch people start to fall by the wayside. If a black belt was easy everyone would have one!

[italian_guy]

The thing that I find strange in dear John story is that a school allows you to test every week.

 

In all schools I've been, there is a definite period (usually one months before the actual test) when the entire class focus with the preparation of the exam and this happens only twice or three times a year. For the rest of the year we do not care about exams we just care about learning and improving our technique and our fitness.

 

I think that school that makes exams too often focus too much about the grading process, that should come IMO in due time and with the due importance (which is not overwhelming).

[AngelaG]

I assume you mean every month italian_guy? At my dojo there is also the opportunity to grade every month. However we do not concentrate on the grading basics all the time (in the adults lessons, the kids do tend to get a bit more of it), unless there is a monster grading session coming up. We are encouraged to practice this stuff in our own time. It just means that you don't have to wait around in a belt you have out grown skill-wise. If anything it is because we don't care about the exams that it is not made into a massive deal a couple of times a year.

[longarm25]

let you instrustor be the judge of when you are ready generally they have a a more impartial opinion

[dear john]

the thing is , is that she is very partial with the whole time thing. she sets peoples dates for BB like 3 years before hand. i was told that there use to be more master instructors(5th dan) and the required time thing wasnt really inforced but when two of them left things changed as it was believed that one person could not decide whether or not a person should moved ahead more quickly, but on rare occasions it has been done.

[ps1]

Dear john,

 

First: What's your hurry? Think of it this way... wouldn't you rather be a really good purple belt than a weak brown belt? Rank, essentially, means nothing.

 

Second: It's great you are willing to share this info with us, however, we are not your instructor and can do nothing to help you. If you are as good as you say you are, your instructor will know this. She will respect your opinion. TALK TO YOUR INSTRUCTOR!!!

[ps1]

ps: I'm not assuming those are your ranks, I just used them as an example. I don't mean any offense by them.

[gojuchad]

dont worry to much about your belt color, my advice is to go to class everytime they have it, train on your own every chance you get. This is when you will see real improvement, look for it within your ability not the color of your belt.

[Jinxx0r]

One of my coaches once told me that you should start worrying when coaches stop talking to you and they stop nitpicking. When they're correcting you and showing you your flaws, it means they CARE about how you're doing it. When they stop doing it, or don't do it at all, it doens't mean you're good... it means they don't really care how you're doing it.

 

It shouldn't take a calendar to determine if you're ready to move on, IMO, but organizations have to add them to keep unscrupulous instructors from advancing people without some practice time. My training is part of me, so time and tests are of no consequence.