Written Tests???

[bushido_man96]

Black belt testers have to write an essay answering 3 questions:

How does TKD remain important to you?

What does earning your black belt mean to you?

What are your goals in TKD?

I think those are it, but I'll take a look for sure.

Edited March 22, 2009 by bushido_man96

[Josie]

Our club doesn't have written or oral tests, but I've heard of them.

My friend used to go to Taekwondo classes, and for her grading she had to learn off a long paragraph based on the history of a certain aspect of Taekwondo.... or something like that.

I think the closest we ever have to oral tests is when our Sensei randomly asks us the name of a move. No-one will ever forget when one of our black belts got confused between age uke (outside block) and soto uke (inside block)... Sensei's face was priceless...

[kkennedy219]

We are not required to write out the answers to questions, but we do have to keep an ongoing notebook of things we've learned (kata, teminology, class notes etc) and present it for review at every test.

[tallgeese]

I do kind of like that idea.

I've kept that sort of thing for years. Never had to present it for a test, but I think it's a good idea.

[Rateh]

I too have to keep a "notebook" and present it at testings. It is supposed to be full of stuff both for you personally, and for teaching.

[Traymond]

I too have to keep a "notebook" and present it at testings. It is supposed to be full of stuff both for you personally, and for teaching.

Do you have to wright out the steps to kata or something like that?

[tallgeese]

I haven't had to do any of it. It's just something I've done. And I don't really spend alot of time putting stuff into it that we rep alot. It's more for stuff that is helpful hints, or out of another art, useful mindset stuff, historical stuff, ect...

There's a ton of knife work in it, basic cuts and combos. A detailed write up of some chineese stuff that I always thought I'd work more with from time spent with a college roommate who was a practitioner. There's the occassional drill, ect. There's also about every handboook or syllibus that I've ever gotten in there.

Now days, I use the same sort of thing online with my groups group's page. We post workouts afterwards so the guys can pull combos and drills off it whenever they're training out of class. Has the few hints on it, ect. Actaully, now that I think about it, it's pretty much the same thing only online.

[bushido_man96]

That what is cool about getting together with other Martial Artists; getting a chance to pick other practitioners' brains. Its part of the reason that I started the Training Log thread...

[Rateh]

I too have to keep a "notebook" and present it at testings. It is supposed to be full of stuff both for you personally, and for teaching.

Do you have to wright out the steps to kata or something like that?

Well everyones notebook starts out with a printout of all the kup sheets for the ranks they have so far (kup sheets being a paper that has all of the testing requirements for a belt rank listed on it)

After that, what you do is up to you.

I added some papers with forms shown on them that my instructor had and made copies of.

I asked my instructor to burn a CD for me with all the kup sheets. Then I typed in my notes in blue under the techniques and about the forms. (Since I have trained in a few styles previously, I find it especially helpful to take notes on the small details of the techniques, as many of the tiny things are different from my previous experiences)

I also typed up the basic grab escapes on separate sheets, with specific step by step details on how to do them

In the future (IE finish before my september test) I am going to add a drills section, where I will cataloge all of the many drills I know for reference. I also want to add some history into my notebook, especially the history of the specific forms that we learn, as most of the color belts seem to have no idea where they came from. I also want to type out a timeline of my own personal training, including things I learned from specific instructors that made an impact on me as a martial artist today.

I'm also considering typing up the forms (technique, stance, direction, footwork).

I think I have more details in my notebook than most people, because I have been in an accelerated testing process so I have more difficulty remembering some of the forms, etc, because I didn't train with them for as long before learning the next one.

Also, when teaching we use our notebooks. So basically if I'm asked to work with the 8th Kup students, then I will get out my book and flip to 8th Kup. It will tell me what basics, self defense techniques, sparring combinations, and forms the students are meant to be working on. And my notebook will also give specific details about them.

We have 11 kups from white belt till black belt, and each one has 6-7 basics (techniques or combinations of techniques), 4 sparring combinations, 1-2 forms, and 2-5 new self defense techniques (knife defenses, grab escapes, 1-steps, etc). It's a lot of material so unless a person has been teaching for a while, they don't remember specifically what goes with which rank. I have been working with the beginners as my teaching assignment, so I have the white belt kup sheet memorized, and a good idea of what is on the 10th, 9th, and 8th kup sheets.

[Traymond]

Hmm I will keep one from now on....It can be a real helpful resource...I would hate to see an 10th dan's notebook...WHUH.....