Black belt exams

[bushido_man96]

Sounds crazy, but it would be fun to try!

[DeeBoy]

I recently watched a Black belt, Shodan and Nidan in a style I love to Hate. I wont name this style as not to offend anyone, but in what I have gone thru for my gradings (refer to page 2), this was a walk in the park. All Shodans and the one Nidan that graded went for a total time of 2 hours and 30mins. It started with ALL four of their strikes (punch, backfist, ridge hand and knife hand), followed then by ALL four of their kicks (front, round, side and back). After this they would throw this in combos. Then they would do their Kata's twice(1st time by numbers, then from start to finish) then move on to the next Kata. I dont understand how 22 people can be watched and graded by 8 instructors that are constantly moving around. after this they did apprx. 15 rounds of sparring (non contact), which I found absolutly pathetic as it was point style of sparring. I would watch someone throw a fast reverse punch to the mid section, pull their hand back, then turn their back to the opponent when they were being counter attacked.

I feel really sorry for these people who think they will be able to defend themselves adequetly in a real life situation, as these people dont know any different. Their instuctors are so close minded, that one of my black belts went in to train with this style and was punished with push ups for throwing thigh kicks, uppercuts and knees amongst other strikes.

If anyone ever asks me what style to train in, THIS one will not be getting my approval.

[AT]

is it wado ryu? I think i took wado ryu as a kid and it sounds kinda like the shodan test that i took. Although i failed it 3 times because at 12 years old and not even wanting to be there, i had no defense at all and failed the kumite.

[username8517]

My Nidan test this past summer was somewhat grueling. Aside from myself there was two other students testing for their Nidan and one for their Yandan--three of us from the same dojo (the Yandan was from a different dojo but still trained under the same sensei as the rest of us). The testing was to take place on a Sunday at the end of this weekend training camp we all attended (Friday though Sunday morning) in the middle of July.

Well mid-day Saturday we were informed by the host of the seminar that there would be no testing on Sunday due to time contraints and that a light workout would take place instead. After a full day of training on Saturday, there was a bonfire celebration by the host to thank everyone for showing up, etc etc. Aside from games and festivities, let me just say there was alcohol aplenty. Now the guy who was testing for his Yandan doesn't drink, but the three of us were having a fresh beer placed in our hands before the one we were working on was finished (this being done primarily by the host of the party).

I got lucky enough to overhear the host let something slip about having a suprised lined up for the next day. So I immediately switched to water in hopes to avoid a potential hang over.

So Sunday morning rolls around and we're all treated to a nice breakfast of fried eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and toast. In other words, grease, grease, grease, syrup, and bread. I had a slight hang over, but nothing that wasn't managable. The other two who were drinking it up were not as fortunate.

After breakfast we all started to get ready for our light workout, until one of the 8th Dans of our systems showed up and said something to the extend of "You four, come on--we have a test to do" I believe all our reactions were something aking to

So we made our way to a secluded section (but yet still directly in the sun light) of the campground in 80 degree weather (that's 80 degrees at 9:30 in the morning) for testing.

Testing started off with a mile jog, to which I and one other person proceeded to lose our breakfast. After the run we did about 20 regular pushups, followed by 20 elevated push up (a partner held our legs at their hip line), which was proceeded by 30 cruches, and we were allowed to end the warm ups with 50 bicycle/scissor crunches. One other person lost their lunch during these warm-ups as well.

We then paired off and did all seven Yakosoko Kumite three times a piece attacking, then switched to defending so our partner could do them.

That was then followed up by kata. We lined up and did the first kata in the system. Then after we were done, we had to do it with our eyes closed. Then again facing off at an angle, then off at another angle with our eyes closed, then by ourselves as the others watched, then in one square formation all facing the center. All in all, because of time constraints we only got through the first 11 katas, but we did each kata 6 times.

At the end of the testing the temperature was hitting 95 and we were all just dripping with sweat. Thankfully they brought down a tub of bottled water for us to utilize during our test. And let me tell you we went through every single bottle of water there and made one of the kyu ranks fetch more.

After the test the 8th Dan had a private chat with each of us about our performance. He basically told us that from seeing the way we worked on Friday and Saturday, and from speaking directly with our sensei, that this testing was merely a formality--it was more to see what we could do under stressful situation and how far we were willing to push ourselves.

As miserable as it was, I would do it all over again.

[bushido_man96]

Sounds like a load of a good time to me! Except for getting sick. I hate getting sick.

[Brandon Fisher]

Bearich,

All I can say is WOW. That had to be a interesting day.

[username8517]

Bearich,

All I can say is WOW. That had to be a interesting day.

Like I said, I would definately do it all over again. However, what was interesting was that everyone of us that me and the Yandan were in the same car on the five-and-a-half hour car ride back home. I felt sorry for the other two people in the car who didn't test--I mean changing clothes can only do so much to kill the smell of sweat

[DeeBoy]

is it wado ryu? I think i took wado ryu as a kid and it sounds kinda like the shodan test that i took. Although i failed it 3 times because at 12 years old and not even wanting to be there, i had no defense at all and failed the kumite.

no it wasnt wado ryu. to me it seemed as though these people only had turn up to pass the grading, as some of these guys werent putting in much effort.

there was one person who graded to shodan, now this is an interesting position because i have never been in this situation before. An elderly man was grading and wasnt as quick, clean(technically), powerful or accurate as everyone else. this man passed and i congratulate him on his effort and success, the man I am talking about was 75 years old.

I dont know what I would do in this situation, would you grade him according to the standards of that rank or would you grade him on what he was capable of?

[Brandon Fisher]

Bearich,

All I can say is WOW. That had to be a interesting day.

Like I said, I would definately do it all over again. However, what was interesting was that everyone of us that me and the Yandan were in the same car on the five-and-a-half hour car ride back home. I felt sorry for the other two people in the car who didn't test--I mean changing clothes can only do so much to kill the smell of sweat

[Cheradenine]

I recently watched a Black belt, Shodan and Nidan in a style I love to Hate. I wont name this style as not to offend anyone, but in what I have gone thru for my gradings (refer to page 2), this was a walk in the park. All Shodans and the one Nidan that graded went for a total time of 2 hours and 30mins. It started with ALL four of their strikes (punch, backfist, ridge hand and knife hand), followed then by ALL four of their kicks (front, round, side and back). After this they would throw this in combos. Then they would do their Kata's twice(1st time by numbers, then from start to finish) then move on to the next Kata. I dont understand how 22 people can be watched and graded by 8 instructors that are constantly moving around. after this they did apprx. 15 rounds of sparring (non contact), which I found absolutly pathetic as it was point style of sparring. I would watch someone throw a fast reverse punch to the mid section, pull their hand back, then turn their back to the opponent when they were being counter attacked.

I feel really sorry for these people who think they will be able to defend themselves adequetly in a real life situation, as these people dont know any different. Their instuctors are so close minded, that one of my black belts went in to train with this style and was punished with push ups for throwing thigh kicks, uppercuts and knees amongst other strikes.

If anyone ever asks me what style to train in, THIS one will not be getting my approval.

Funny, I picked it before I even read the other thread you commented in.