In our school, some of what Ceicei said is very similar. For tests yellow thru blue, they are about 1-2 hours long and include all of the basics (stances, blocks, punches, kicks, footwork, strikes, etc) and techniques of the current belt you are testing for in addition to all the material from any previous ranks. A panel of black belts-including the instructor and sometimes including "higher ups" if they happen to be visiting at the time watches the test and asks questions periodically. At the end, if you passed (sometimes that same day, sometimes in the next class), the instructor comes down the line and kicks you in the stomach "pain of birth kick"- the kick gets harder as your rank goes higher.
Before the kick though, he presents your new belt by putting it on the floor in front of you. He then asks you to take off your old belt and put it to your side. You are then asked to place your forehead on the new belt.....to represent passing on knowledge from one belt level to the next. He explains that the "L" formed by your old belt (which is placed to your side vertically) and the new belt he places in front of you horizontally is to represent the loyalty between teacher and student and between student and the art in general. He then says "by the power invested in me by.....and lists his instructors......I award you this (insert color here) belt, put it on". After you put it on is when you get ready for the kick.
Testing individually or with a group is up to how many people are ready at the time of the test. I have always tested with others.....but if there is someone ready when nobody else is, you can test alone.
For the green belt level, in addition to all the current and previous material, we had to make up a 10 tech. kata on our own. The techs. could be techs. we learned in Kenpo, but you had to come up with a way to link them together on your own and be ready to explain what you were doing if asked. The brown levels were pretty much like any other test as far as what had to be performed.
My black belt test was the most intense thing I have ever experienced!! It was about 5 hours long, they asked a ton of questions and I had to make up a 12 tech. form.....all the techs had to be made up too and you had to name them and explain them step by step.......not like on the green test. My panel had not only my instructor on it, but also Mr. Frank Trejo, Mr. Huk Planas and a few other black belts from our studio.
After the test was over, we were lined up and asked to raise our hand if we thought we passed!! Tentatively, we all raised our hands!! We were not told right then, but instead, each called into the office of my instructor one by one where we had more questions to answer for the panel. I remember my first question they asked me was......."So how do you think you did overall?" Others included "Tell us what you think you did right and then tell us what you think you did wrong or could improve on". We were told at the end of this little meeting whether we passed or not and their opinions on how you did, what you could work on, etc. Thankfully, I did pass.......and then I went home and had the best night of sleep of my life!! Whew!!
Those of us on the test who passed got promoted to our new ranks in the next class. My instructor had some really touching and nice things to say about me. Forgot to say earlier that usually special time is spent talking about each student (by the instructor) on each test when it is your turn. For me, and I think for others, it makes you feel a valued member of the studio.
:asian: :karate:
