The Pass/Fail Rung!!

[sensei8]

Many instructors already know quite well what I'm about to post. So, for some, this isn't new. For others, it might be new.

*A beginner student shouldn't be expected to execute any said given technique at the intermediate level.

*In that, an intermediate student shouldn't be expected to execute any said given technique at the advanced level. However, an intermediate student shouldn't still be executing any said given technique as a beginner.

*Furthermore, an advanced student shouldn't be expected to execute any said given technique at a more advanced level than theirs. However, an advanced student shouldn't still be executing any given techniuque that's within the levels below him/her.

There should always, no matter the level, be some type of noted improvement in any said given technique.

Many times I've witnessed a testing cycles where said given rank wasn't improving across the board, yet, they'd still pass. Albeit, a newly awarded black belt is still no more improved than that of a beginner/intermediate student.

However, I've also witnessed that beginners have been failed because said instructor thinks that a beginners given techniques should be at the level of an intermediate. To me, that's not possible, hence why a beginner is called a beginner and not an intermediate level student.

Shouldn't a beginner have a intermediate level kick? No. If a 10th Kyu, for example, keeps their balance and all of that while doing the 4-count [up, out, back, and down] kick, shouldn't that be enough to consider that kick a passing score??

Imho.

Your thoughts?

[bushido_man96]

The issue here is that we have now evaluate each technique, and decide what a beginner side kick looks like, and what should be fixed by the time the student is considered an intermediate. So, what are the criteria?

From there, getting into the advanced levels, there comes a point in time where physical gains are smaller and smaller because of advancement. A 3rd dan side kick might look a lot like a 2nd dan side kick. In my opinion, here, the difference is noted when the practitioner is sparring or doing self-defense, in application.

Just a few thoughts to kick this off.

[Nidan Melbourne]

I like your points.

At our gradings we get our students to do things that a little bit more advanced than they are to see how they cope. but we aren't critical of that attempt. As it is just seeing what they do. as they will learn something at the same time. We do the same with kata they do one above the belt they are. say a green going for purple they do their syllabus kata of mawashi ichi but then they will attempt gekesai dai ichi (even if dodgy).

[Lupin1]

My instructor's very lenient with beginner gradings. We always have groups of kids start at the same time (we just had seven start a few weeks ago) and they generally grade them all together at first in order to keep them motivated and encouraged in the beginning. Obviously the ones still struggling will continue working on the white belt kata before moving on, but they'll get the shiny new belt to keep them encouraged. He stresses that the belts don't matter much in the beginning, anyway, and are really just tools for motivation. His line of reasoning is basically that as long as they're where they need to be if they ever grade for shodan, it's all good. He's very flexible with the curriculum up until that point.

[Nidan Melbourne]

My instructor's very lenient with beginner gradings. We always have groups of kids start at the same time (we just had seven start a few weeks ago) and they generally grade them all together at first in order to keep them motivated and encouraged in the beginning. Obviously the ones still struggling will continue working on the white belt kata before moving on, but they'll get the shiny new belt to keep them encouraged. He stresses that the belts don't matter much in the beginning, anyway, and are really just tools for motivation. His line of reasoning is basically that as long as they're where they need to be if they ever grade for shodan, it's all good. He's very flexible with the curriculum up until that point.

Its good to hear that your sensei is quite flexible with the curriculum. My only problem with it is that you will have students of the same rank that are learning different things. Like you might have one student who is learning that curriculum for that belt, and one still trying to learn the curriculum for the previous belt.

As much as belts don't matter like you said, but for most students they will want to feel comfortable with their stuff before being graded anyway. We use "tags" on their belt to signify how close they are to grading for their next belt. 5 tags and they grade, and it depends on how well they go.

At my dojo we obviously have a set curriculum for each rank. And that the students should learn everything that is set. But for some of the curriculum we have is over a range of ranks instead of one specific belt.

[Lupin1]

Its good to hear that your sensei is quite flexible with the curriculum. My only problem with it is that you will have students of the same rank that are learning different things. Like you might have one student who is learning that curriculum for that belt, and one still trying to learn the curriculum for the previous belt.

That's true, but we're going to be teaching those kids different things no matter what color they have tied round their waist. We only accept groups of beginners once or twice a year, so we're usually able to get all the previous beginners up to the second or third belt before bringing in the next group. So, for us with our unique circumstances, all it really changes is the color of the cloth holding their gi closed and, many times, their mindset (some kids just buckle down as soon as they get that darker color).