brown belt testing

[joe divola]

I am currently a brown belt in Shotokan. Testing seems to be going slow lately. It took me a year and a half to get to brown testing full ranks all the way through. Then comes brown and half ranks is what I have been getting lately. 4 half ranks in the last few tests. Not a problem except that I'm getting no feedback after I test. I also find myself getting tired of the training. 4 or five days a week for the last year or so. I recently took a break to do some other stuff like running swimming and got back into the gym. I am going to try two days a week karate and supplement the other stuff more into my routine as I have got away from that the last year. Any suggestions would be helpfull.

[patusai]

I am not sure I understand the half ranks. Your progress time does not seem to be out of the ordinary (although at what level brown are you). The thing that makes me wonder is the lack of communication or input about your performance. I would just set a meeting with my instructor and ask about your progress, what he/she sees as areas you need improvement in and then any other questions that are important to you. You should also see if you can set up a followup meeting every so often (or even have a standing meeting every so many weeks) to review this stuff. Input is always nice and it is an important part of the training I think. Good luck

[bushido_man96]

If you want some feedback after your testings, ask your instructor for some. If he isn't saying much, then you may be doing all right, and he has no major concerns.

As for the burnout, you should do what you are doing. Supplement, and take out a few classes. Work through it, and you will soon be back to where you were. Just remember, now at the higher levels is not the time to slack. Lessen your number of classes a week, but increase your intensity when you do work out.

[joe divola]

Thanks for the advise. As far as half ranks, there are half ranks between every rank. So if I am 3rd kyu and test a half rank I would be 2b. It would take another half to be a 2 kyu or full brown with one stripe. I guess it is a way to give some type of progress instead of just failing people and making them retest the same thing later.

It's not my instructor that does the testing but a senior instructor. It doesn't seem like he is telling my instructor what it is that I am doing wrong. I get the same thing after my test, the same generic response to what I am doing wrong. Just seems like there is more but maybe I am reading into it too much.

I am going to try to attend classes with the senior instructor once a month. He teaches in a town that is an hour away so its hard to do regularly but maybe if I go every once in a while he will notice and maybe help me out a little during the classes.

[cathal]

I am not a fan of the stripes, etc and half-ranks. But anyway that's a discussion for perhaps another thread. If they aren't giving you anything then push for it, take the initiative and ask your instructor straight out why you don't get any feedback. If they don't have any issues with your techniques then they should say so. If they do have issues then of course you can chat about them.

[Anbu Alex]

Maybe your instructures are trying to leave your training more in your hands so u can figure it out for yourself causing you to train harder

[Jay]

It does seem to me that if your training about 4 or 5 times a week that its taking a long time to progress it took me about that long but i only train 1 hr a week i had to train myself a lot to compensate.

The only way to find out is to ask it may be that you are not completly understanding how to improve even though u know what you have to improve.

I think training 5 times a week is a bit much and obviously you are finding it hard. Reduce to about 3 times a week and have the whole weekend to rest and do some light training.

[kivikala]

I've noticed that some people reach a plateau around the 2 year mark. It appears that no matter how hard the person trains they just don't seem to progress. I am sure it is a frustrating thing to go through. These individuals always seems to be diligent practitioners, spending like you have, 4 or 5 days a week training. My advice has always been to back off in the training. To let the body and mind have time to absorb what has been learned. Just "practice" rather than train. In one extreme case I suggested a student take a month vacation from the school. When the student returned they were revitalized and somehow improved greatly by "doing nothing." I think it may have been like "battle fatigue", just too much to handle at the moment.

[bushido_man96]

I've noticed that some people reach a plateau around the 2 year mark. It appears that no matter how hard the person trains they just don't seem to progress. I am sure it is a frustrating thing to go through. These individuals always seems to be diligent practitioners, spending like you have, 4 or 5 days a week training. My advice has always been to back off in the training. To let the body and mind have time to absorb what has been learned. Just "practice" rather than train. In one extreme case I suggested a student take a month vacation from the school. When the student returned they were revitalized and somehow improved greatly by "doing nothing." I think it may have been like "battle fatigue", just too much to handle at the moment.

You make a good point here. I think the problem is that so much physical improvement has taken place between white and black belt that one thinks he is not impoving anymore. What the student needs to realize is that the improvements are going to come in more subtle ways, like improved timing, better stamina in sparring and forms, and the development of fighting strategies, and things like this. These little things tend to slip through the cracks, I feel. It is important for the instructors to help the students realize these subtleties, so they can continue to improve on them, and show them how to realize them, so they can be proud of them.

[cathal]

You make a good point. Plateaus can be hit a few times during training, I think that depends on the individual and of course their physical fitness level. That's where it goes over to the instructors/assistant instructors to help the students through psychologically.