Shall I ask ?!

[Safroot]

Hi all,

I am very close to finish the training hours required for my first grading (40 hours ).

My questions are:

1- Shall I ask my Sensei when my grading is or it's better to wait until he tells me ?!

2- Is it only the required training hours the determinant for going through grading or your Sensei's opinion in your performance plays a role as well & might delay the grading process ?!

[Hawkmoon]

Hey! Safroot!

I'll share a story form last years 'Summer camp' here in the UK.

The summer camp allows attendees to experience Karate 24/7 for a week.

You live, eat, do, sleep karate through this time, you train with Hanshi and his Shihans doing kata, combat & kihion.

The Summer camp is also a students chance to take the national grading and become a Black belt !

The story goes that of a group of about fifteen 1st kyu students from various dojos were seeking promotion to Shodan, one student was very clearly not ready and had not prepared for the grading!

The student was being corrected all week about this or that move or kata step, they were always seeking direction, asking to be shown kihon and bunkai application and execution and use.

Come the grading itself, the student was spotted and watched performing poor kihon, bad execution and pausing to copy other students as they followed instruction.

The following day all students ( as is normal) were lined up, and the ones that were promoted to Shodan were called out one at a time and awarded there certificates in front of everyone.

The ones that failed were also informed.

There was only one student fail (I understand) and it was the unprepared student!

There is one point I've not mentioned here, this student was asked earlier in the week who there sensei was as it was deemed important to alert them to the this students chances and so on and not embarrass anyone (Hanshi, the sensei or the student).

The student is reported to have replied:

'He is not here, he said I wasn't ready, so I came any way because I want to prove to him I am ready!"

I'd opt for option 1.

For sure ask if you can grade, and accept his response no matter what it is!

Its not a race, never was,

[Hawkmoon]

Hope that helps!

[Safroot]

Hey! Safroot!

I'll share a story form last years 'Summer camp' here in the UK.

The summer camp allows attendees to experience Karate 24/7 for a week.

You live, eat, do, sleep karate through this time, you train with Hanshi and his Shihans doing kata, combat & kihion.

The Summer camp is also a students chance to take the national grading and become a Black belt !

The story goes that of a group of about fifteen 1st kyu students from various dojos were seeking promotion to Shodan, one student was very clearly not ready and had not prepared for the grading!

The student was being corrected all week about this or that move or kata step, they were always seeking direction, asking to be shown kihon and bunkai application and execution and use.

Come the grading itself, the student was spotted and watched performing poor kihon, bad execution and pausing to copy other students as they followed instruction.

The following day all students ( as is normal) were lined up, and the ones that were promoted to Shodan were called out one at a time and awarded there certificates in front of everyone.

The ones that failed were also informed.

There was only one student fail (I understand) and it was the unprepared student!

There is one point I've not mentioned here, this student was asked earlier in the week who there sensei was as it was deemed important to alert them to the this students chances and so on and not embarrass anyone (Hanshi, the sensei or the student).

The student is reported to have replied:

'He is not here, he said I wasn't ready, so I came any way because I want to prove to him I am ready!"

I'd opt for option 1.

For sure ask if you can grade, and accept his response no matter what it is!

Its not a race, never was,

Thanks Hawkmoon for the story and the advice. I think I will ask him soon but at the same time I feel like if I am good enough & ready for grading, he will tell me even without asking !!

[Spartacus Maximus]

Well it all depends on what type of teaching style your sensei has. I would go with caution and advise you to keep on training what you have learned up to this point as often and as hard as you can. Especially outside the dojo and whenever your sensei is not specifically instructing you.

In many dojos especially those run in traditional Okinawan or Japanese style, it is considered very very bad protocol for a student to ask to grade or when the grading will be held. Students are expected to train and practise until the sensei tells them their skills have reached the level of their next grade. Required training hours are meant as a guideline only and are considered as the bare minimum. Just because a student has completed the time, it does not mean he is ready.

Some people take longer and there is nothing wrong with that if gaining new skills is your goal. A common saying is that it doesn't matter how long it takes, so long as you never stop learning and improving.

[Safroot]

Well it all depends on what type of teaching style your sensei has. I would go with caution and advise you to keep on training what you have learned up to this point as often and as hard as you can. Especially outside the dojo and whenever your sensei is not specifically instructing you.

In many dojos especially those run in traditional Okinawan or Japanese style, it is considered very very bad protocol for a student to ask to grade or when the grading will be held. Students are expected to train and practise until the sensei tells them their skills have reached the level of their next grade. Required training hours are meant as a guideline only and are considered as the bare minimum. Just because a student has completed the time, it does not mean he is ready.

Some people take longer and there is nothing wrong with that if gaining new skills is your goal. A common saying is that it doesn't matter how long it takes, so long as you never stop learning and improving.

Although our dojo is not strict traditional one but I prefer your opinion ... wait until the Sensei tells me I am ready but at the same time you need to know your progress and how far you are from the accepted level of grading

[jaypo]

We're dealing with issues in our club because of gradings. My sensei has typically held classes of around 10 students for years. However, over the last few months, we've grown tremendously, and last night, there were 23 in the beginners' class alone. And another 15 in the intermediate/advanced class! Sensei has always determined testing like so: He'd observe his group, and when a few of them were ready to advance, he'd schedule a test date and allow those that he deemed ready to test. However, that is becoming a problem now that there are so many students and so much diversity in skill levels. Some students that began with others feel that they are ready just because their classmates are, and we don't feel that they are. So they're pushing to test with the others, and we're faced with the difficult task of trying to make them understand that they're not ready when they think they are. It's very difficult to tell someone that they're not ready, but it's equally difficult to tell someone that they've failed a test.

I would prefer to be an excellent 9th kyu rather than a poor 6th kyu. When I was younger, I was a yellow belt that would defeat black belts in kumite. Which would you rather be- the yellow belt, or the black belt? As a Sensei, I hate to fail a student, so I will not allow them to test until I feel that they are ready. You have to trust that your Sensei knows when you're ready and that he will set you up to succeed rather than to fail.

[Safroot]

We're dealing with issues in our club because of gradings. My sensei has typically held classes of around 10 students for years. However, over the last few months, we've grown tremendously, and last night, there were 23 in the beginners' class alone. And another 15 in the intermediate/advanced class! Sensei has always determined testing like so: He'd observe his group, and when a few of them were ready to advance, he'd schedule a test date and allow those that he deemed ready to test. However, that is becoming a problem now that there are so many students and so much diversity in skill levels. Some students that began with others feel that they are ready just because their classmates are, and we don't feel that they are. So they're pushing to test with the others, and we're faced with the difficult task of trying to make them understand that they're not ready when they think they are. It's very difficult to tell someone that they're not ready, but it's equally difficult to tell someone that they've failed a test.

I would prefer to be an excellent 9th kyu rather than a poor 6th kyu. When I was younger, I was a yellow belt that would defeat black belts in kumite. Which would you rather be- the yellow belt, or the black belt? As a Sensei, I hate to fail a student, so I will not allow them to test until I feel that they are ready. You have to trust that your Sensei knows when you're ready and that he will set you up to succeed rather than to fail.

I got your point and completely agree with you. For me it's better to be told you are not ready than you have failed your grading

[Hawkmoon]

Thanks Hawkmoon for the story and the advice. I think I will ask him soon but at the same time I feel like if I am good enough & ready for grading, he will tell me even without asking !!

Your welcome sir!

..and yes I do feel if a student is 'good enough' and so on an instructor will ask (or tell ) a student to grade when the time is right!

[Safroot]

Thanks Hawkmoon for the story and the advice. I think I will ask him soon but at the same time I feel like if I am good enough & ready for grading, he will tell me even without asking !!

Your welcome sir!

..and yes I do feel if a student is 'good enough' and so on an instructor will ask (or tell ) a student to grade when the time is right!

:up: