# What was your first grading like?



## 2000zac (Oct 23, 2016)

I had my first grading today after starting at the beginning of July, and it was intense. Firstly,  we weren't told anything about what the grading would consist of, so we did as we went along. First was what felt like about 45 minutes to an hour of holding a horse stance,  which all of us couldn't do properly,  we were all in pain by about the first 30 seconds. After that we did sets of pushups till we made 1000 .  We then held up our arms for around 5 to 8 mins I'd say. And then sets of 50 squats till we made 1000. Finally we had to do a few of the forms we learned and kicks (front, sidekick, roundhouse). It lasted from 8 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon.  We find out if we passed in 2 days. 

The most difficult thing for me was definitely the horse stance and I'm not sure I'd be able to do any longer for higher grading, heck i don't even think I passed this one.

What was your first grading like?


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## Midnight-shadow (Oct 23, 2016)

You had to do all of that in your first grading, when you've only been training less than 6 months????? What the hell style do you practice?


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Oct 23, 2016)

First grading like your first test ever, or for first dan?


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## Touch Of Death (Oct 23, 2016)

We were pretty brutal. My teacher had a rather large stack of in-claimed yellow belt certificates.


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## JR 137 (Oct 23, 2016)

5 hour white belt test?

My first test was an outdoor event.  All of the white belts from the organization were tested together (about 100 of us).  

We had to demonstrate everything we had learned, and did some conditioning type stuff like push-up, sit-ups, etc.  That was pretty much filler, as how much can you possibly test someone on who's been around 3 months.

Test lasted about an hour.  When we were done, the people testing for the next rank overtook the lawn.

There was a BBQ at the end of the day for everyone.  It was a great day.

That was the only one like that for me, as afterwards I wasn't eligible to test on that specific day; the testing cycle went every 6 months after the first few belts, and it was never my time.


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## 2000zac (Oct 23, 2016)

kempodisciple said:


> First grading like your first test ever, or for first dan?



First test ever


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## 2000zac (Oct 23, 2016)

Midnight-shadow said:


> You had to do all of that in your first grading, when you've only been training less than 6 months????? What the hell style do you practice?



A style of kung-fu


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## 2000zac (Oct 23, 2016)

JR 137 said:


> 5 hour white belt test?
> 
> My first test was an outdoor event.  All of the white belts from the organization were tested together (about 100 of us).
> 
> ...



That does sound pretty fun, I wish I could say the same for mine, I'd describe it as anything but pleasant


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Oct 23, 2016)

2000zac said:


> First test ever


Wow. I can't even imagine doing that right at the start. How long have you been training?

If I was asked to do 1000 pushups my first grading I'm pretty sure I would just walk out.


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## 2000zac (Oct 23, 2016)

kempodisciple said:


> Wow. I can't even imagine doing that. How long have you been training?
> 
> Since the beginning of July
> 
> If I was asked to do 1000 pushups my first grading I'm pretty sure I would just walk out.



Trust me i considered that, but after paying for the grading already,  I had to art least try

Only since july.


kempodisciple said:


> Wow. I can't even imagine doing that. How long have you been training?
> 
> If I was asked to do 1000 pushups my first grading I'm pretty sure I would just walk out.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Oct 23, 2016)

2000zac said:


> Trust me i considered that, but after paying for the grading already,  I had to art least try
> 
> Only since july.


Yup, then I definitely would have. And Im not a fan of them having you pay for the grading without telling you what it is, so that you are forced to stick through or lose the money.


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## Tames D (Oct 23, 2016)

My first grading was a little different from yours. I was graded on my martial arts training. If I were you I would find a martial arts school.


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## kuniggety (Oct 23, 2016)

kempodisciple said:


> Yup, then I definitely would have. And Im not a fan of them having you pay for the grading without telling you what it is, so that you are forced to stick through or lose the money.



I have a feeling that the sticking it out was the test itself.

My first testing was in karate like 25 years ago and I don't really remember it. My BJJ blue belt I got close to a year ago. I spent 90 min non stop rolling, rolling with all of the other whites, then the blues, and then our couple of purples (to which I was tapping out left and right to at that point) and then had to survive for 5 min against my black belt instructor. I actually did pull off one sweep on him (which got a reaction from the crowd) but then he swept me, took knee on belly, and road me till the end trying to get me to tap from it. There was three of us white belts that day and I was the only one not to tap. Then I did the obligatory gauntlet and received my blue belt.


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## Dirty Dog (Oct 24, 2016)

My first grading was more than 40 years ago, and I do not remember it in any detail.
However, the first grading for our students takes about 30 minutes and they're tested on the MA training, not their physical fitness.


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## JR 137 (Oct 24, 2016)

You (a general "you") have to keep the system's/teacher's priorities in mind when discussing grading methods.

Kyokushin gets some flack for requiring certain amounts of push-ups, jumping over a bo (kind of like jumping rope), etc. for each rank.  Kyokushin's emphasis is on bare knuckle kumite (relative to other karate styles) and conditioning plays s big part of it.  Each rank usually has a certain number of consecutive rounds of sparring associated with it as well.

I don't know the OP's system nor teacher, so I don't know the priorities.  I also think the test is excessively long, but I wasn't there to say if what was done was truly right or wrong.  It seems excessive in every way, but I don't know the motives behind the methods.


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