First gradings

[Nick_UKWC]

How difficult is your first grading?

 

What kind of skill level do you need to pass them?

 

Have you ever known anyone fail it?

 

I ask because we have a student of 6 months who's coming up for his first grading and frankly I don't think he meets the (pretty low) standard required. But I don't think he'll fail it either.

 

Of course I don't mark the grading, I'm just a low level student myself.

[italian_guy]

I had two experiences one in Tai chi chuan and another in Karate.

 

In Tai chi chuan the first grading exam has a standard form (Fundamentals, Ba tuan chin, and first quarter of Yang 108 movement form), the exam is just as demanding as a regular lesson, with the added tension due to the exam but this depends on individuals, usually nobody fails because the head teacher does a pre-selection, who is admitted very rarely fails (unless total catastrophe), however the pre-selection is somehow strict, who does not meet the requirement wait for other 6 months.

 

In karate there is no pre-selection but the (even if remote) possibility of failure exists. Here they give also a score to each candidate so you know how far are you from excellence or from bare sufficiency. The test is divided in three parts Kihon (basics), Kata (forms) and Bunkai (interpretation of the forms) , from the second test they add also kumite (sparring).

[aefibird]

The first grading in my karate association isn't very dificult at all. Generally, people pass - although I've know a couple of failures, mostly due to very bad nerves and forgetting everything. There's a pre-selection of sorts, but not an official pre-selection test.

[Kicks]

Have you ever known anyone fail it?

 

At our last belt test (in December) we only had two students testing for their first dan in TKD. Both failed.

 

Their forms (kata) were weak and they showed no spirit. They knew their sparring and hapkido combinations but didn't show power and snap. Theit free sparring was good.

 

They did their break after several tries and removing two boards (they were supposed to do a knifehand down chop through 5 boards).

 

One struggled through his TKD history, the other (an adult) made excuses that he's been too busy with work.

 

I haven't seen either one since then.

[sAtelitte]

Our school is a bit strange (exaggerated) in its gradings. You start with no sash, then white, yellow, orange,...., black. The highest ranking student has orange. He's been training there for several years but it's just so difficult. When i tested for white at the end of the test i came very close to the point where i had to vomit because i was physically exhausted. Fortunatly i pulled through and passed.

 

As for the test itself, it starts with a 3km run, when you arrive it's 25 push-ups, 2 push-ups with just left arm and 2 with right arm, about a 100 kicks after that, then all the basics and froms (takes about 45min), then a 2min horse stance, some chin-na and then breaking some roof tiles as an iron hand test. All of this is without any pause.

 

For yellow you basicly multiply everything by 2, with more forms and basics. Most people change school after they got their white sash, i'm considering the same.

[Nick_UKWC]

Tough standards for a first dan, and rightly so, what about the beginners?

[Kicks]

When I tested for 1st dan there was about 8 of us testing together. All was going well, quite well, when it came to breaking. The first 7 of us broke our boards (knife hand down chop). Then the 8th guy came up (he's a hot dog, a show off) and he was supposed to do the knife hand down chop through two cinder blocks. He asked, uhm..told, our Grand Master he wanted to do 3 instead. Well, the Master blew a gasket! It was like an insult to him. This old Korean Master had all 8 of us start the test over beginning with the most basic form and work your way up. If you made the slightest mistake you failed. I went the farthest and got to the 7th form when a 4th dan caught me for having my knife hand sightly bent on an overhead block. Remeber, this is after I had already done a day of testing!

 

The bottom line...everyone failed that test because of one. He failed us in front of the whole student body and parents. We had to attend every class the following week and then retest the next weekend in private.

 

What a humbling expierence.

[karatekid1975]

The first grading in my karate association isn't very dificult at all. Generally, people pass - although I've know a couple of failures, mostly due to very bad nerves and forgetting everything. There's a pre-selection of sorts, but not an official pre-selection test.

 

Same here. My first test in TSD was actually hard. I started in October (2000). Stopped for a month do to illness, then went back after Christmas. I had to learn three forms, one step sparring, self defense techniques, all the basics, ect all in a month and a half. I did it, but it was nerve racking (I was very new to MA at the time).

 

My first TKD grading was actuall easy. One form, one steps, and basics. That was it.

[Kicks]

When I first read the opening post on this thread I thought the question was about testing for first degree black belt. I'm sorry. I hope my horror stories didn't give to any negative vibes about your first ever test in the martial arts. You'll do fine. All the schools I know of won't let you go out there for your first test and embarrass yourself, because you just might not come back. So they know that you are ready and you will pass. A good school won't just pass you to pacify you, they'll prepare you and let you test and pass on your own, but you've already proven yourself before the test. So go, relax, and have fun.

 

Good Luck!

[Nick_UKWC]

No worries Kicks, thanks for the stories

 

I'm not worried about passing my first grading at all, just hoping to get a good mark (over 85% - the pass point is 70%)