Time in grade

[ryanryu]

At my school the fastest time I've ever heard of anyone getting to shodan has been 3 years. On the flip side though, we've had black belts who trained for 10 years before getting their rank. Karate is a personal journey and it's going to be different for everyone. I think part of being an effective instructor is knowing when the students are ready for a test.

I tend to agree with Truestar and think time in rank requirements are a gimmick to get a few more dollars, same as instituting 10 or 15 different belts.

If you know the material and can meet the standards of the test I don't think you should be held back. It's ok to test on something even if you don't understand every facet of it. As you develop as a martial artist there should be an understanding that any past testing requirements you perform should be at a higher level than when you tested on them. An orange belt can test on Saifa perfectly well without having the insight and abilities a black belt would have. In my mind there comes a certain point where you can't get any better at your testing requirements until you pass your test and work on something more difficult

[Fish]

It's not necessarily about money. Where I train, we're thinking of introducing a minimum attendance requirement between grades to stop the problem of people (usually kids) showing up irregularly, and then their parent expecting them to participate in a grading. With a minimum attendance requirement, Sensei can give an objective reason for refusing to allow them to grade.

In one case we had a kid who didn't show up for two months, then his mum shows up on the night of the grading and complains that he wasn't invited to grade!

[TalkMartialArts]

"Time in grade" I think it's important to develop the ability to do techniques and katas correctly. Also developing an understanding of how they applied and the terminology as well is important.

However, I hate the stripe kyu system that some schools have. Some have up to 10 belt stripes in order to be allowed to test to the next belt. However, this is mostly applied to kids and teenagers.

[bushido_man96]

I ran a school that used a stripe system with colored belt ranks, but we only gave out 3 stripes; one for the required techniques of the rank, one for the form, and one for the one-steps. They were nice, because you could just glance at the students belts, and know what they had down, and what they would need to work on. Only 2 stripes? Sorry, test next time.

[ninjanurse]

We use a similar 3 stripe system...I use this guideline:

Stripe 1=knowledge of new curriculum

Stripe 2=Proficiency of new curriculum

Stripe 3=Proficiency of all previous curriculum learned.

[whess]

"Time in grade" I think it's important to develop the ability to do techniques and katas correctly. Also developing an understanding of how they applied and the terminology as well is important.

However, I hate the stripe kyu system that some schools have. Some have up to 10 belt stripes in order to be allowed to test to the next belt. However, this is mostly applied to kids and teenagers.

I love everything you just said. Technique as well as understanding, is probably the most important thing. Karate is a personal journey each karateka embarks on by themselves.

[sensei8]

I've been fortunate enough to have a very close friend who's been a Nidan for over 30 years.

What? 30 years as a Nidan? Yes! Why?

The last rank that he had earned before his Sensei's untimely death was...Nidan!

Rank doesn't interest him!

[sensei8]

I ran a school that used a stripe system with colored belt ranks, but we only gave out 3 stripes; one for the required techniques of the rank, one for the form, and one for the one-steps. They were nice, because you could just glance at the students belts, and know what they had down, and what they would need to work on. Only 2 stripes? Sorry, test next time.

Brian,

Are these stripes awarded in the order that you've described here? If, not, how do all of the instructors know who knows what?

[sensei8]

However, I hate the stripe kyu system that some schools have. Some have up to 10 belt stripes in order to be allowed to test to the next belt. However, this is mostly applied to kids and teenagers.

It's crazy, isn't it? I've seen some schools, not many, use the "patch achievment" system and I've got to tell you that it can be crazy because their gi's look like a boy scout patch sash.

[bushido_man96]

I ran a school that used a stripe system with colored belt ranks, but we only gave out 3 stripes; one for the required techniques of the rank, one for the form, and one for the one-steps. They were nice, because you could just glance at the students belts, and know what they had down, and what they would need to work on. Only 2 stripes? Sorry, test next time.

Brian,

Are these stripes awarded in the order that you've described here? If, not, how do all of the instructors know who knows what?

Typically, Bob, yes, the stripes were earned "in order," mainly because of the natural flow of things in the class. Basics, then forms were learned, and one-steps followed. However, if there was some deviation, say, one-steps were learned first, then I would put that stripe higher up on the belt, and leave room for the other stripes below it. That usually worked out well for me.