Have you ever heard about a student failing a belt test?

[parkerlineage]

I very much agree that a good instructor will not generally allow a student to test without being ready.

That said, sometimes, if you have a student that is absolutely positive they're ready, and won't listen to you when you say they're not, we let them test. And, of course, they fail, because they're not ready; this humbles and teaches them.

I failed my purple belt test the first time. My instructor failed his orange belt test his first time. Obviously, not everybody who fails drops out - and they might even end up better off for it.

Peace;

Parkerlineage

[Kieran-Lilith]

There've been a few fails in our dojo...and I think there's a few kids who really don't deserve the color around their waist, but they have it none the less, and it's Sensei's judgement that counts, not mine. But I really do think they shouldn't have that belt if they can't even tell Sensei what yoi-dachi is....Oh well....Sensei goes easier on the little ones, but for us teens, it's no simple matter. We actually have to know what we're doing.

[papaschtroumpf]

It's interesting becuase I don't really care if the guy next to me is better or worse than me even though he's got the same belt. It's my training and my journey.

I guess that's the problem I have with belts, they're a "public" display.

I don't know if every Aikido dojo is like this but my friend does Aikido and they test for the next rank, but everyone wears the same color: the students wear white and shodan and above wear black (which you can't really see in aikido because of the funny black pants they wear, I won;t even venture a spelling for what they're called )

That system would suit me just fine.

[Sauzin]

Traditionally it reflects poorer on the teacher then it does the student if the student fails a test. As a general rule, Okinawans have a tendency to avoid such public acts of humiliation so they won't test you until they know you're darn good and ready. So a test is more to push you past the point you thought you could go to and to celebrate the achievement of reaching that point or level in your art.

[ShotokanKid]

I've seen a bunch fail and make it on the make-up. My sensei says he failed a black belt test like 3 times.

[Lost in Osaka]

When I first started Karate in Canada there was another student who joined about a year before me. He failed many times and I eventually became a higher belt them he was. Mostly this was due to his own laziness. I have to give him credit though, he never quit and stuck it out for a lot longer than most people would.

At my the Goju-ryu dojo a friend of mine goes to they don't give official tests.

My freinds sensei will work his butt of more than usual and at the start of next class wil congradulate him on passing his test.

[Buddhas Belly]

You guys will like this .... I failed my Sandan test ......... granted I taught 2 classes that morning/noon and then drove 4 hours to the test (getting there 10 minutes before the test started).

My instructor's feeling on the matter .... in his eyes I'm a 3rd .... in dojo politics ... 2nd.

[AnonymousOne]

I have seen cases where every person that sat the grading failed.

head honcho said the standard was too poor

[korin]

our school has tests every four months. Usually, up until a student's testing for shodan, my sensei will recommend challenging the test.

For those testing in 10kyu - 7kyu it's pretty much a gimmie.

From 6kyu - 4kyu, failing promotion happens, but only if some glaring mistake is made.

3kyu-1kyu, I'd say about 30% fail, most commonly because they made some fundamental error in their kata.

For the dan test's, the sensei will talk to a student if he thinks they are not ready and recommend that they work on their kata for another four months. Most adults will wait the extra 4 - 8 months before taking their shodan test. However, it is Japan and a lot of the students are in Jr.High and Highschool and they give it a go every test. As a result, from the past two tests, of the 13 tested, 5 got the grade.

[ZDK]

Yes. In fact my daughter, wife and I are new to MA and we all recently took our 7th Kyu tests. My 12 year old did not pass. We all knew that the self defense component was non negotiable. (you must break free from a one and two hand grab). She was unable to shake the female blue belt who played attacker. To Sensai's credit he knew that she hadn't found her inner fire that would enable her to do what she needed to do, so he was not about to let her off the hook. At the belt ceremony he merely said "next time you will get there". Later in private he told her that her basic techniques were better than some of the others who passed, but... Well, she retested last week and got her yellow belt, and learned a thing or two in the process. also in our association I have heard a number of BBs say that they failed either the first or second brown. But few failed a BB test. It appears that our leadership sees the brown belt levels as a wheat from the chaff moment.