Testing

[LLLEARNER]

Congrats with you earning your Sandan; feels great, huh?!?

My hardest Testing Cycle was, by far, my Hachidan's. Dai-Soke put me through the paces as though I stole something from him.

Were you a trouble maker?

[bushido_man96]

Congratulations on your promotion!

I'd say my toughest tests, physically anyway, have been my tests for shodan. All of the colored belt curriculum was required both times, along with the obligatory board breaking and sparring, which makes for a long day.

[sensei8]

Congrats with you earning your Sandan; feels great, huh?!?

My hardest Testing Cycle was, by far, my Hachidan's. Dai-Soke put me through the paces as though I stole something from him.

Were you a trouble maker?

LOL!! No, but you sure couldn't tell that by the torture pace he set...day after day after day after day.

[Shizentai]

Congrats Shizentai! It might have been a tough grading but bet it makes it feel like you really deserved your new rank.

My hardest grading was my 4th dan. It was just myself and two others testing. One of the guys is just over 6ft and a 100 kg of pure muscle, <15% body fat. We've always tested together and I always end up sparring him but this time as there weren't many of us I ended up partnering him for most of it. We spar without pads in gradings, just gum shields, so needless to say I got beat on pretty bad but held my own.

It was a guest examiner sent by HQ and the worst part was the breaking. Rather than let us use wood he made us use the 3/4" plastic boards, the solid plastic ones you shouldn't hand hold, fresh out of the packet. These things are so stiff and they are really unforgiving. He made us do all sorts of spinning and flying kicks. All things considered I don't think I'm half bad at breaking and my training partner is an absolute beast when it comes to smashing things. The final break we had to do was an air break with ridgehand (on suspended board held loosely by the holder). Training partner goes up, did it with the right hand but not the left, comes over to me and says that was really hard, I've damaged my hand. Oh great, if he can't do it I'm hardly going to be able. First attempt I sent the board flying. Second attempt I crack it but the joint doesn't quite split. Then the examiner tells me I have to pick a hand technique and if it doesn't break I'm not passing I thought things were going really well up until that point but now I'm having an internal meltdown. Chose to do outer knifehand and by some miracle it broke first time so I passed. Got home and my ridgehand was all black and stayed bruised for like a month.

Wow! That does sound like an endeavor! Thankfully I didn't have to break anything for my 3 dan. I just had to do kihon, kata and kumite on-demand. I was the only female testing for an advanced rank, so they had me spar one of the men testing for 5 dan. The hardest part of the test for me was that I had to do everything at 6600 feet elevation after spending the past month at sea level. Just one kata and I felt like I needed my inhaler. I arrived the day before the exam, so I didn't have time to get used to it. The head of the JKA (Ueki sensei) was administering the exam, so it was pretty cool to get to be tested by him. I really enjoyed his seminars as well.

Hard as the test was, my nidan still remains the only test I've ever taken that took me to the operating room, haha! I came back from this with all of my connective tissue where it was before, so I consider this a success.

[Shizentai]

Congrats with you earning your Sandan; feels great, huh?!?

My hardest Testing Cycle was, by far, my Hachidan's. Dai-Soke put me through the paces as though I stole something from him.

Were you a trouble maker?

LOL!! No, but you sure couldn't tell that by the torture pace he set...day after day after day after day.

So you had a multi-day test?

[sensei8]

Congrats with you earning your Sandan; feels great, huh?!?

My hardest Testing Cycle was, by far, my Hachidan's. Dai-Soke put me through the paces as though I stole something from him.

Were you a trouble maker?

LOL!! No, but you sure couldn't tell that by the torture pace he set...day after day after day after day.

So you had a multi-day test?

Oh yeah; 3 days...10 hours each day. Glad those days are far behind me...I felt he was trying to kill me.

[Patrick]

Congrats Shizentai.

Patrick

[DauntlessDruid]

I've been MIA for a few weeks, but I am back, and with a 3-dan. The camp was great. I am tired.

It got me thinking. What would you say is the hardest test (MA related) you've ever taken, and why?

Congrats.

To answer your question, I actually think my hardest testing (so far) was my first testing. Testing at our dojo is less of an actual test and of an ordeal, you go through to prove what you are willing to do to be promoted. You would not be invited to test if you had demonstrated to the instructors that you have a grasp on the material you are supposed to know, so really the only way to fail a testing is to give up.

I think my first testing (it's was for an in-between Dojo rank that we call white belt-two) was the hardest because I had really no idea what to expect and I wasn't expecting a boot camp style class with people yelling at me to do things. Once I got my first testing under my belt (pun intended), the rest have been easier. I even had the stomach flu for one testing and I still didn't think it was as hard as my first testing. Though I was told after that testing I was the same color as my gi (white) pretty much throughout it.

I imagine that first testing will remain my hardest until testing for Shodan. The testing for which lasts 24 hours and that's all you learn before you go through it. So, much like my first test, I think the biggest part will be the unknown factor.

[Chunmonchek]

I've been MIA for a few weeks, but I am back, and with a 3-dan. The camp was great. I am tired.

It got me thinking. What would you say is the hardest test (MA related) you've ever taken, and why?

Congratulations on your promotion!

The most difficult"test" for me, and the one I stressed most over, was when I presented my first generation of Brown Belts to my teacher for their Shodan grading.

[JR 137]

I've been MIA for a few weeks, but I am back, and with a 3-dan. The camp was great. I am tired.

It got me thinking. What would you say is the hardest test (MA related) you've ever taken, and why?

Congratulations on your promotion!

The most difficult"test" for me, and the one I stressed most over, was when I presented my first generation of Brown Belts to my teacher for their Shodan grading.

I’m not an instructor, but I can definitely see that being extremely stressful. You presenting your students to your teacher for dan testing IS you being tested as well.