Why does Green Belt have the biggest drop-out rate?

[Kanku65]

Just my sensei's kids

I find that most people who drop out do so after their first or second grading, or once they achieve brown belt to be completely honest.

That being said, once you achieve green belt, more is definitely expected of you. By this point, you've developed the ability to move freely, from stance to stance, it's time to work on the technique of your stance. Deeper stances, proper retraction, proper hip rotation, these are all things that you'll need to focus on between green and purple belt. This is the time I notice people beginning to understand their bodies more, and they are able to improve rapidly because of this.

[bushido_man96]

I'm just guessing, but I'd bet its because its that rank where you are transitioning from being a beginner student to an intermediate student, where more will be expected from you, and the visible improvements you make will start to become less and less. When students don't see as much improvement as they had before, it can make things tougher on them, and some don't accept the challenge very well.

[Shotokannon]

I've been doing Shotokan for about 8 months, I just got graded to Green belt

just 08 months from white to green belt?

Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised myself to be honest!

We start at 12th kyu at my club, I triple graded my first grade (white belt to 10th kyu in 1 1/2 months), then a single grade up to yellow and white, then a double grade up to green!

On a side note, I realise that people like Kanazawa got to shodan within 2 years, but is it normal for a Karateka to be graded so high so quickly?

[sensei8]

Ah...no...it's not normal. Especially, with your double and triple grading, and how often testing cycles were conducted...not normal at all!!

Do you have prior experience in another form of the MA? If not, the double not normal!!

[Shotokannon]

Ah...no...it's not normal. Especially, with your double and triple grading, and how often testing cycles were conducted...not normal at all!!

Do you have prior experience in another form of the MA? If not, the double not normal!!

Well I did Shotokan many years ago as a child, I never made it past white belt, but I've taken it up again since.

I've been told a couple of times that my Shotokan's really good, I train every day at every opportunity I get so I'm not sure if this has something to do with it.

We actually do gradings every 3 months, but I first joined at a point where the gradings were 1 1/2 months away, and my sensei saw fit to put me forward.

If it's really not normal given the circumstances...what do you make of the reasons behind it?

[cathal]

To be honest Shotokannon it does feel a bit fishy. Beginning at 12th kyu for Shotokan is unusual as well. All the Shotokan karateka I've ever heard of begin at 10th Kyu.

- Is the dojo part of an organization such as IKD, ISKF, ITKF etc?

- What are the requirements for grading from 12 to 11, and 11 to 10th Kyu? What was your testing comprised of?

- Who officiated your exams? e.g. Shihan John Smith.

- Are there stripes on the belt added each time?

- Are you paying for each one?

- Did you have to sign a contract for x dollars for a specific grade to be earned?

[Shotokannon]

To be honest Shotokannon it does feel a bit fishy. Beginning at 12th kyu for Shotokan is unusual as well. All the Shotokan karateka I've ever heard of begin at 10th Kyu.

- Is the dojo part of an organization such as IKD, ISKF, ITKF etc?

- What are the requirements for grading from 12 to 11, and 11 to 10th Kyu? What was your testing comprised of?

- Who officiated your exams? e.g. Shihan John Smith.

- Are there stripes on the belt added each time?

- Are you paying for each one?

- Did you have to sign a contract for x dollars for a specific grade to be earned?

Our association is A member of the EKF (English Karate Federation) as far as I know we're not part of the iskf or anything like that, our Sensei is the chairman of said association, His name's Shihan Paul Campbell.

the kata requirements for my first grading were as follows;

Kata

Kihon

Heian Shodan

Basics

Age uke

Soto uke

Shuto Uke

Uchi Uke

Gedan Barai

Oi-Tsuki jodan/chudan

Gyaku tsuki jodan/chudan

Mae Geri kekomi (push)

Mae geri Keagi (snap)

Nukite

Mawashi Geri

Ura-Mawashi geri (sometimes called ushiro mawash?)

Yoko Geri Kekomi (Kiba Dachi)

Yoko Geri keagi (Kiba Dachi)

Combinations

 

Age uke, Gyaku Tsuki, Gedan-Barai

 

Soto Uke, Mae-Geri, gyaku Tsuki, Gedan-Barai

 

Uchi uke, mawashi geri, gyaku tsuki, gedan-barai

 

Shuto Uke, Nukite

 

Mae Geri, Mawashi Geri, gyaku tsuki, gedan-barai

 

Mae Geri, Mawashi geri, Ura-Mawashi geri, gyaku tsuki, gedan-barai

 

sanbon kumite

 

20 press ups

 

20 sit ups

 

20 squat thrusts

 

10 burpees

 

I've never signed a long term contract with the club as I pay per-session, grades are charged at increasing prices from 12th kyu (£30) right up to shodan (£125!) but there's no obligation to do these.

 

The grades go;

 

Red and white (12th kyu)

 

Orange and white(11th kyu)

 

Black and White(10th kyu)

 

Yellow and white(9th kyu)

 

Yellow (8th kyu)

 

Green (7th kyu)

 

Green and white(6th kyu)

 

Purple (5th kyu)

 

Purple and white(4th kyu)

 

Brown(3rd kyu)

 

Brown and 1 white stripe(2nd kyu)

 

brown 2 white stripes(1st kyu)

 

1st dan[/u]

[Kanku65]

Very interesting first grading requirements. Solid foundation really.

Your belt ranking however is in my opinion, bizarre. I don't mean to me egocentric, but anytime stripes and double colours are implemented in shotokan rankings, I get...dizzy.

Perhaps my thought process is too linear, but it makes more sense now with 12 kyus that you may go up several belts in one grading. In 10 years with my organization the most I've seen is advancement of 1.5 ranks per single grading. That's maybe once every year. Like 4b to a full 3kyu.

In any case, If you find that your training suits your needs at your current dojo, follow the path before you. Push yourself always, and train outside of class when you can. This will keep you interested and ever-improving.

[sensei8]

The only reason that I can assume as to why the quite often testing cycles is, and this is far fetched, if the dojo is new, the CI might want to fill the floor with multiple rankings as to appear that the dojo's been in existence much longer than the actual time. I SUPPOSE!!

I can't, for the love of myself, understand why one would run testing cycles so often. Now, there's no written rule that says how often a testing cycle should be conducted, and even if there was a rule, imho, the dojo can do whatever it wants to!!

Your testing criteria seems solid across the board. What threw me off slightly was when the 12th Kyu grade is "Red and white"! That usually denotes the rank of Hachidan, and not 12th Kyu. Albeit, without an actual picture, I've no idea what the "Red and white" is for 12th Kyu. All in all, I've don't remember having ever seen grades go as you've described...unusual!!

I'd be curious to know what the pass/fail ratio is!!

[Spartacus Maximus]

Having 12 kyu grades also sounds very odd to me. Ten kyu grades appears to be the most common for karate across all styles. With each kyu grade designated by a different belt colour it sounds like a business gimmick or an effort to motivate those who need a push.

The first dojo I trained in had gradings for all ranks twice a year plus evaluations every 3 months where expected improvements were pointed out. On Okinawa most dojos have grading once or maybe twice a year and nobody ever takes an exam until told to do so with the sensei's approval. For shodan and above it is entirely up to the sensei to judge advancement.

If 12 kyu grades sounds unusual or fishy, and 10 is the average, in my actual dojo there are only 3 kyu grades. Minimum training (5-7days a week) for 3 kyu is 8months. 2nd kyu is 10 and 1st is 10. Shodan is no earlier than 12 months after 1st kyu. I was never given any notice before being tested, nor was I informed of the results until the end of the day's regular session.

If students are expected to be ready all the time and consider that they are constantly evaluated for the slightest improvement, there is no need to prepare for a test and grading becomes nothing more than the formal recognition of their level by the instructor.