My first grading

[mal103]

After splitting from my old club I have ended up forming my own so that I can retain some independence and never go through "that" again. I still train at two other clubs and have close links with one of them so I am not out in the wilderness, I also need to get my 1st Kyu's graded somewhere else as I am only a 2nd Dan.

Anyway, I used to be part of the gradings but the next one I do will be done as my new club, there will be 2 black belts, including myself, on the panel with a trainee instructor who is a 1st kyu. I have a good idea what I want to achieve and roughly how long each section should take, I also know that I may have to be harsh on a few if they don't put in any effort on the day.

Any other tips or experiences to avoid/include?

I am confident but also nervous...

[wagnerk]

Everyone has different viewpoints on this, but I would say also take into consideration the students performance during lessons (and not just during the gradings).

No end of people get very nervous during examinations and gradings aren't an exception - it's just human nature

[Nidan Melbourne]

Don't freak out, everyone may be nervous or get scared during the grading. Or they may just have a bad day on the day of the grading.

If you have opened your own school, maybe use the rank of Shodan-Ho? Which is in between 1st Kyu and Shodan. That way if you happen to grade in between that time of them achieving Shodan-Ho and Shodan then you can do their grading.

Depending on the numbers that are at your grading, kata and kumite may take longer than the others. Also depends on the space available.

If you have multiple ranks grading at the one time, maybe have the lower ones do one thing but make it a lot more difficult for the higher ranked students.

[mal103]

Cheers for the info, all taken on board. I know some of them are getting nervous, especially me!

[wagnerk]

Let us know how it goes

[mal103]

14 graded sucessfully including a really good 1st Kyu grade, we had some Brown belt friends from another club come along to help out and spar with them to make it a more realistic grade. I gave a little speech about putting in maximum effort and the students did me proud by doing an excellent grade, I now have a list of small items that were passable for their level but something I will need to work on, things like stances or hands on the wrong place etc.

My son helped out who is also on the way to becoming a good instructor, my wife also graded to Red belt so it's a proper family run club.

We finished the day by catching the end of another clubs Bunkai course and having tea/chat with them whilst planning an inter club competition soon.

Totally drained mentally but all students did a good grade and are happy, also had some great feedback.

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa180/mal103/IMG_20140816_122319_zps65f630de.jpg