What Is Expected Of You In The Yellow Belt Grading?

[Karatequeen]

Hi,I'm new here so I don't know whether this is the correct forum or not but...I don't have my grading manual yet so I was curious.What is expected of you at the yellow belt grading?I'm a white belt and have never been to a grading before so I have no idea.I do freestyle martial arts.Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[Toptomcat]

It varies very widely from school to school, and if your school calls itself 'freestyle martial arts' then there's unlikely to be a centralized organization with a universal set of standards anywhere on what they expect of you.

Very generally, you can expect some sort of basic competence check of what you've learned so far- definitely demonstrating the techniques you've been taught, possibly performing a kata if you do that, possibly passing some basic test of physical fitness like doing a certain number of push-ups, possibly sparring if you've gotten to it already, possibly demonstrating competence in some drill that your school favors, possibly making some other demonstration like breaking a board with a punch. It won't be exceptionally strenuous, and you can expect to pass fairly easily if you've been attending class regularly and paying attention.

You should probably ask your teacher for more details.

Edited March 13, 2010 by Toptomcat

[Karatequeen]

If this helps,it's based mainly on karate.But we do some other stuff as well

[Toptomcat]

A little, but not that much. It means that you're pretty likely to have to perform a kata- they're pretty common in karate belt tests.

(Note that I've edited my above post with a bit more information.)

[Karatequeen]

Oh ok thanks. I know the white belt kata very well.I practice it everyday,as well as the keyhorns and sparing techniques.It's a lot of fun.Thankyou for all that.So hopefully I don't need to do any speeches?Yay!

[tonydee]

So hopefully I don't need to do any speeches?Yay!

Varies widely from school to school, but I'd say there's less than 1% chance. Still, if the idea worries you, nothing to lose and peace of mind to gain from spending 10 minutes beforehand thinking of a few reasons you wanted to train, benefits you've been getting, things you've learned, hopes for the future....

It is indeed good to talk to other students and the instructor about the rough format of the grading. Also, stay calm and watch carefully when you're there, keep an open mind as to what you might be asked to do, so you're ready to adapt. A good school won't ask you to do any techniques you haven't already been practising, but if the venue is unfamiliar, the instructor calling out instructions, it can get confusing.

For partner exercises, some of your peers may be a bit hyped up, do an unexpected or unexpectedly rough move, not stop immediately they're told etc., so try to maintain a generally good defence and awareness, and yet don't hold back more than usual with your own attacks. (I expect for yellow belt, it will be step sparring rather than free.

There are more than 1400 matches on youtube for "karate yellow belt grading"... maybe try to find a few where the techniques and school seem vaguely similar to yours, and it'll give you a bit of a "superset" of the things you're likely to be asked to do, so you'll doubtless be psychologically ready for even more than you'll be asked for.

Cheers,

Tony

[Lupin1]

Remember-- your instructor doesn't bite (at least I hope not). There's no harm in asking your instructor what's going to be on the test, how it's going to be formated, and anything else you want to know. Instructors want you to pass, so I'm sure if you just ask he'd be happy to tell you exactly what you need to work on so there are no surprises the day of the grading.

[Blade96]

Remember-- your instructor doesn't bite (at least I hope not). There's no harm in asking your instructor what's going to be on the test, how it's going to be formated, and anything else you want to know. Instructors want you to pass, so I'm sure if you just ask he'd be happy to tell you exactly what you need to work on so there are no surprises the day of the grading.

something wrong if your instructor turns out to be Dracula in a karate gi =]

but seriously, my instructor didnt tell me what i needed to work on before I had my own yellow belt grading on feb 26. Cause he was like, 'I dont think you're gonna do well. I know you're gonna do well' and giving me praise and compliments. It was like he had more confidence in me than I had in myself! I mean I know I'm good at karate, but I was like, Ok. Thanks guys. but don't lay it on too thick.

what I needed to know:

Kata (Heian Shodan)

basic ippon kumite (and thats like basic my partner punches and i block then i punch and he block that kind of thing, and we had to know all the different white belt blocks and punches)

Side snap kick

Basic punch and lunge punch (seiken zuki and oi-zuki)

Did gyaku zuki (reverse punch) even though not required but I was told by my nidan (who got graded to sandan yesterday) that because karate is a way of life (karate-do) and life is about pressure they might ask us to do something else to see how we'd react.

That was about it for us.

Its a shotokan white belt grading, but just thought it might help, a little? to know what a grading is like.

Btw I thought I'd be really nervous. and i was - before it started. But it actually turned out to be a lot of fun!

Good luck, Karate Queen.

[Chitsu]

Oh ok thanks. I know the white belt kata very well.I practice it everyday,as well as the keyhorns and sparing techniques.It's a lot of fun.Thankyou for all that.So hopefully I don't need to do any speeches?Yay!

Keyhorns?

[Toptomcat]

Remember-- your instructor doesn't bite (at least I hope not). There's no harm in asking your instructor what's going to be on the test, how it's going to be formated, and anything else you want to know. Instructors want you to pass, so I'm sure if you just ask he'd be happy to tell you exactly what you need to work on so there are no surprises the day of the grading.

something wrong if your instructor turns out to be Dracula in a karate gi =]

There are some Filipino martial arts guys with a defined set of biting techniques for grappling work. Deliberate distinctions between nips, chomps, bite-and-shakes, and the like.