You Want It...Then EARN IT!!

[Hawkmoon]

... to the OP!!

maybe a side thread with a pole to see a sample count of 'closed' v 'open' gradings and 'kyu' v 'dan' gradings!

Seems to be a point of vlaue to thsi thread see what and where the divide is!

Could be interesting to see if its an area, MA origin or cultural thing.

[Luther unleashed]

I think that's a good idea, I think a pole would be interesting to see where the split is and how many do it each way. Maybe if nobody does it I'll start one up when I have time

[IcemanSK]

To the OP. Just before I closed my dojang in July 2015, I had 2 siblings that played with 1st Dan testing for 2 years, but were never serious about doing it. Life got in the way & their interest was winding down. They would, however, show up to class & train.

When I informed my students that I was closed my school, I got a very angry & half-informed email from these students (who were both adults: 19 & 21, btw) telling me that her kids had "earned their BBs" & she was furious with me for not testing them for them. I never responded to her email, as they were adults & responsible for their own lives. They had plenty of opportunities to prepare for a test, but did not show interest in it. When the dojang closed, I referred them to other schools in town & told them that I'd go with them & explain my curriculum to the new potential instructors. I ran into one of them a few weeks ago who told me that they still had not checked out other schools. I was not surprised by that.

I explained to them that life at another school will be different & there would be no guarantees of anything that they'd done up to this point would count there. Earning it under me would look different than it would be elsewhere.

I once had a poom BB from another dojang in town whose instructor never sent in for his Kukkiwon certificate that they paid dearly for. I told his mother how to ensure that they received it from their former master. They did so & received it. However, the child immediately hounded me to test for 2nd Poom. He couldn't remember any of his poomsae & was nowhere near ready to test. He was used to not earning it. He & his mom didn't like that I wasn't interested in having a 2nd Poom that hadn't earned the rank under me. I was working just to get him up to speed as a 1st Poom in my school.

Sometimes I felt that if I'd have put a higher price tag on everything folks would have taken it more seriously. When they go elsewhere they will see the value that they had under me. Both in quality of instruction & price of class.