No Tests

[Lupin1]

What do you all think of this concept? I've read a lot of people on here talk about how their instructors know they're ready and then they have one bad day that just happens to be test day and they're screwed because they mess up that one time.

The dojo I used to train at and that I'm returning to (starting Saturday *excited*) doesn't have tests. The instructors keep an eye on you and watch your performance constantly (so every class is a test) and when they think you're ready to move on, they have a surprise promotion by calling you forward at the end of class and handing you your new belt. The only belt that has a formal test is black, but that's more of an initiation than a test.

I like the concept. I like that it doesn't penalize you for having one bad day and instead looks at your performance over time. I also like that it lets students move at their own pace. Instead of only being able to test once every six months or so and having to do it on their time table, you move on when you're ready. When I was younger I spent almost two years at the second belt, but I moved through the third belt in three or four months. That was how I was progressing and that was how they graded me. They didn't push me along through my second belt because my six months in rank were up and they didn't hold me in my third belt because I hadn't been there long enough yet. They trained me at the level they thought I should train at and let me do that for as long as I needed and then just moved me along. It was great.

Of course, the class is also free, so they don't worry about testing fees and losing people because they're not moving up fast enough. If people were upset by spending two years in one belt, there were plenty of people on the waiting list to take their place.

What do you think of the idea?

[WireFrame]

I think this depends on the style and the organisation. In the KUGB (Karate Union of Great Britain) things are more standardised across the board in terms of grading requirements, and we get graded by one of the top senseis in the country who grades many other clubs as well. If we were to start handing out belts when the club sensei thinks we're ready, that opinion may conflict with what would happen in a grading. I think yes, people may have an off day, but being able to execute accurate and powerful techniques under pressure is also part of being able to defend yourself in my opinion.

I can see this working well in small independent clubs, but ones that are part of a much larger organisation wouldn't use it. To be honest, I like gradings. At my club we all go for a drink afterwards to celebrate!

[DWx]

I do think there are some advantages to a formal testing, and advantages to in-class assessment. Actually one of the good things I find about gradings is that when they're coming up, students really put that extra effort in to learning theory and working on their movements so that they can test. Of course it would be great if this happened all the time, test or no test, but having a set date does seem to help people focus a bit more. I guess the big advantage to in class testing is that, like you said, if you have a bad day it doesn't matter so much. But I think thats all part of it though, you have to make sure that even if it is a bad day, its still good (if that makes sense).

Our gradings are fairly frequent, every 3 months or so, but very few people grade this fast. Just because there is a grading scheduled, doesn't mean you have to actually grade at that time, you could wait until the next one comes along and in any case you have to be invited to attend by the instructor anyway.

[Lupin1]

That's a good point DWx. That is one of the reasons teachers in schools give tests-- it forces the kids to actually study. But I haven't seen a problem with that the way we do it. People, even the kids, tend to know when they're getting close and when the instructors are really starting to look at them. The only time a promotion ever really came as a surprise to me was when I was promoted to my fourth belt after only three or four months. Once we have our kata or katas for that belt memorized and decently perfected we know that's around the time they start really looking at us for the next belt, so that's when we amped it up. If you didn't, well, you didn't get promoted until you did.

[Montana]

That's exactly how I test. Basically students are tested daily by their attendance, participation, effort, knowledge, improvements, etc..and when I think they are where I want them to be for their next belt...I give it to them. They have no prior warning that they are getting close, other than I give them positive feedback. Everyone of my students knows exactly what they need to work on and what I expect from them.

[sensei8]

The concept that you speak of is one that's not been tried...often. I see the concept working, and this surprises me because I'm very old school when it comes to testing/formality...it's what I was raised in, therefore, it's what I still do.

Nevertheless, I do like your concept. I'm constantly aware of each and every students progress because I see them on an almost daily basis. Why should I invite a student to test? Isn't the invitation an indication of my students capabilities? Sure it is. Otherwise, I wouldn't invite them in the first place.

But, performing under the stress of a test is a test in itself. By that I mean this. A self-defense situation requires one to harness and control the stress so that ones mind is clear and undistrubed so that the techniques just flow freely. The stress of a test is nothing to the stress of actually defending oneself, but, the stress of a test is still stress, albeit a low-grade type of stress, and needs to be considered to the techniques one must perform to pass said test.

Still and again, I like the concept! But, I'll stick with the old school type of testing with all of its formalities and the like because I'm an old dog and sometimes an old dog can't learn new tricks....or doesn't want to.

The key for any test as their Kaicho/Sensei is for me to NOT add any undue stress for my students.

[Rateh]

Although I have always hated the stress of testing, I have found that it has helped me in other areas of my life where I would normally experience stress. I have found in the job interviews I have been going to recently that I am always quite calm, where I would otherwise have expected to feel anxiety. I think the stress of performing in tournaments has also been benificial.

On the other hand, I have often thought, when I had a stressful test coming up...isn't martial arts supposed to be something that brings us peace? My first instructor told me that one of the great benifits of training was to throw out all the worries of the world and just focus on the here and now, and tests themselves bring a lot MORE worries to my world.

Then again, if we do not forge ourselves in the fire, how will we ever become the best we can be? Where does strength of character come from, if not from adversity?

In the end, I don't know if one way is necissarily better than the other, just different. It depends on what you want your students (and what they want for themselves) to gain from their training, and how you want to help them achieve this.

[Lupin1]

See I was under the impression that the whole testing thing and the ceremony surrounding it was a modern invention and that traditionally the rank would be known to just student and teacher and that there were no formal tests. I'm not sure where I heard that, though, so I may have just made it up...

And I have to say, our method wasn't without it's own stresses. Like I said before-- people know when they're getting close to their next belt and when they're being watched like a hawk. I remember after I mastered the required techniques and kata for each belt and I could see the instructors watching me, my heart used to race every class until I got my belt. Sometimes I'd go for a few months getting nervous before every single class thinking that that was the night and I'd kill myself to make my punches harder and my blocks faster. Of course, it was usually once we've let our guard down and stopped thinking "tonight's the night" that we actually got our belt (maybe they were just trying to see how long they could get us to kill ourselves for before promoting us).

[ninjanurse]

Lupin-

Being in this kind of state should be what a student strives for every day-regardless of whether or not a sensei is watching or a grading is coming up. It shows self-discipline and commitment to the art rather than to the "system".

In addition, the internal pressure they place on themselves dampens the ego and serves some of the same purposes as a formal grading. When deciding to promote a student, this weighs in much more than knowledge of requirements or other physical attributes.

[Montana]

What do you think of the idea?

I've been testing that way since about 1983 or so, but I don't hand anybody their belt, I hand them a rank certificate instead and make them get their own belt.