Is testing only2xper year normal for lower belts?

[unknownstyle]

depends on your teacher, some judge on how skilled you are and some base it on time in rank

[NidaninNJ]

Just wondering how often people get tested in other dojos...I know that for the higher belts, you can only test every 6-9 months, but for white and yellow belts it is every 3 months if I"m not mistaken...I'm new at all of this so I don't know how things are usually run, wondering if being tested only twice a year is normal...(I'm a white belt)

It depends on how often and how much you train and also how good your instructor is. I guess it also might depend on money but that's another story and one I don't care to discuss. Anyway, I think what you should be asking yourself is how you compare to students in the other dojo in your area? I think that for many people who train just once or twice each week for an hour or so 6 months might be more than often enough for a kyu test.

My personal opinion is that a good dojo should offer a test every month or two - if there are enough students to make it work that is - and allow students to take the exam as often as they want. But if in this case someone who isn't very good tries to test every month or two he should fail at least every other test.

[unknownstyle]

ive tested four time since Febuary, im and im about to test again before the end of January, and it is my instructor has told me to test. its not one of those deals where you pick when you test and pay the fees, we dont pay a thing at my school. only for your equitment, uniforms and belts

[Nidankid23]

We used to promote about once every three months, but our master recently started a new idea of promoting on the floor when he beleived that a student was ready. (This new policy does not effect me, but I beleive it to be a much better way of promoting students.)

[jaymac]

Every school and it's instructor is different. Our school, due to the size has monthly belt testings. No one however, tests monthly. It depends on the individual when they are ready for a new rank. Some may take 6 to 9 months to achieve next rank. Most new kyu testings are 3 - 4 months between each test. Usually 1 1/2 - 2 years between 3rd kyu - Shodan, again depending on the individual trying for those ranks.

Some schools, depending on its style tests only twice a year. On the birth date and on the death date of Master Funakoshi. However, I believe many of these types of schools will allow you to test for up to 2 to 3 ranks higher. Most do not achieve that. So if you were an 8th kyu and wanted to test for 6th kyu, you could. But you may still only come out of the test with a 7 kyu rank.

[JWLuiza]

I beleive the heart of the question at hand is: Can you learn enough to progress in a few months to deserve a rank? And, like many questions in Karate, we have to reply with a "it depends". The cultures and standards associated with different schools have great influence on testing procedures. While testing procedures may not be standard betwixt styles and schools, as long as the testing is consistent within a school, your culture will be positive.

I beleive the progressive delays at later belt ranks is dependent upon the capacity to learn. For example, when teaching very young children anything, they can gnerally remember a number of tiems equal to their age, so to is this true with your average karateka... A white belt can only consider a few concepts when learning something new, but a black belt is refining subtle and complex knowledge structures, so the changes in their style may be infinite for one new piece of information.