How are your gradings conducted?

[Blade96]

Our trainers sit on chairs and use a table to look more formal and to increase seriousness. Sensei has papers about each student. We perform in groups of 3 or 4 and they take notes. At the end, they call our names one by one , comment on our performance and Sensei says ' Congratulations, you passed'.

Pretty much like this for me, when i tested for yellow belt minus the papers and oh, yeah, the table.

[Shizentai]

For us, the big sensei and local instructors sit behind the table with papers. Students perform kata, kihon and kumite (three step & one step for ranks below 3rd kyu). Usually parents and friends pile in and form a cluttered crowd.

The funny thing to me is how much it varies from dojo to dojo in terms of result reporting among our organization. Many sensei will hold the result until the next class, or even do some sort of ceremony, but at our regional headquarters you can kinda just hang around after the test and someone who works in the office will tell you, then if it is required you can go to the closet and grab a new belt for yourself.

[Montana]

You show up for every class for a few years, practice on your own, and one day the teacher tells you, 'You're a XX belt.'

That's it. Kinda informal.

That's basically how I've been testing kyu ranks for the past 25 years or so. Dan tests are a bit more formal, but not bad.