I've always been curious about other school's testing requirements. Since I haven't branched out to other dojos (yet) I wanted to inquire if any of you are willing to share some example curriculums? I am examining where my current school stands in comparison to others in the industry.

I've been told that our school is one of the more difficult to advance in (thats what I have been hearing since I was a child). My Sensei, who is a Sandan, has never promoted anyone to black belt (I am hoping to be the first). Our curriculum is usually broken down as follows:

• - Basics (with Japanese Terminology, roughly 15-20)
   
  - Kumite (usually 2-3 sets of Ippons, Tazeus and/or Kihons)
   
  - Self Defense Techniques (varies).
   
  - Kata
   
  - Japanese Terminology (roughly 20 terms/phrases)
   
  - a written examination or paper
   
  - misc requirements such as dojo etiquette, cpr training etc.

I am obviously aware of the dojos where you "buy the belt" and all of that, I am definitely considering those types of school with this comparison. Our ranks also go white, yellow, orange, blue, green, purple, brown (3 kyus), Shodan (+10 dans). But the above curriculum is usually the same for each rank, just with new and more advanced techniques as the student progresses.

I appreciate any insight that you can offer!

Things vary, but our official requirements are:

Time in grade (depends on the rank being tested for)

Teaching hours (if testing for brown or black belt rank)

Basics

Self defense techniques

Partner drills

Kata

Kumite

You are also quizzed on karate history, orally, but we don't have to write papers. You have to know the Japanese terminology for pretty much everything, and have to be able to explain how certain things are done. The difficulty of all these questions varies depending on your rank, of course.

Thanks Wastelander! Sounds like our requirements are immensely similar. As a kid of course you want to believe that your school is harder than others but as an adult I really wanted to know if that was actually the case. Your explanation has definitely shined some light on this for me, thanks a million!

Ours is very similar. Written requirements are for higher belts only, and there are some other additional things depending on the belt, but those basic categories you listed are pretty much the same as ours.

Awesome, thanks Canadian77!

Sounds pretty similar to the tests I have taken (only 2 so far). I've seen some of the upper ranks have todo written work as well.

I like the written requirement, but I'm a writer. I'd imagine not everyone is thrilled over this type of work.

I hate writing with a passion That is why I'm an engineer.

My day job is actually Technical Writing, so engineers are my buddies

A summary of requirements for our shodans.

Fitness portion (timed run, push ups, sit ups)

Basic techniques,

Terminology (very basic)

Teaching time (evaluated as a green for brown, as brown for black)

Self defense technique

Various drills/techniques

Bunkai demonstration/explanation

Grappling technique

Stand up sparring

Grappling, live

Kata