How nervous were you at your first testing?

[kiaikid]

I just passed my yellow belt test this past wednesday- I was SO nervous. It was very physically challenging, and I was and still am quite sore lol. I trained a lot before hand to be sure I was ready, but as a perfectionist I still felt unprepared. Even after the test I still felt like I should have done better -_-

[LittleW]

I become pretty nervous the day of the test. And conveniently it ends the very minute I enter the gym.

But I am quite shaking afterwards when the tension lifts.

[Blade96]

really nervous, because I had literally no ma experience before i joined shotokan and i didnt know what i was expected of me really cause i never did ma before fall 2009, never mind being thrown into a grading when you never got to see one before and see what its all about.

luckily i passed....shew

going for my green belt in december now. I'm nervous, but not as much as i was going from white to yellow.

[shudokaratemomma]

At our school, its emphasized that if you test, and don't do well (forget a part of a kata, don't perform on belt level, etc), you will fail. And it has happened to both of my sons, now 8 and 12. But from it, they learn to accept failure and push through them, to not give up no matter what. I know some schools in this local area, where when you test, no matter how bad you do, you're still promoted, based on the fact that you are prob. nervous and they have seen you train in class.

In our setting, I do get nervous. But I try to use my nervousness to push myself harder, and usually, my tests are great. But if i was in a setting where I was only testing as part of the belt promotion, and I knew I was going to pass regardless, why be nervous?

[Nidan Melbourne]

when i attended my 1st Grading (i was 9 at the time) i was terrified because i didn't know anyone else there at the grading except for one of my sempai's. I was in tears because i was so scared.

But when we all went onto the mat to bow in i had calmed down.

Since then i hadn't been like that because i knew what was expected of me.

[JonWal]

Dont think I slept much the night before my first grading. Mostly due to not knowing what was going to happen.

I'll hopefully be going for my 7th Kyu in december.