How Long Are Your Tests?

[bahenlaura]

Originally posted by nightingale8472
I have. a purple belt testing for blue. he completely screwed up.

cool site. i can't wait till you fix it all up. i like the choice of color.
Burt

 

[bahenlaura]

Originally posted by Jill666
Being kicked in is pretty standard I guess, but I got elbowed in the gut instead. Maybe letting me off lightly 'cuz I was a girl?

Ok, here's the question (poll if you want to), how many have seen other students fail a test?

(Tosses the hot potato...:flame: )

I haven't seen it a lot, but I've seen it.

well, i would not call it failing. it is more like redirecting someone's attention to where it needs to be. the enlightenment does wonders for big eggoes and big heads. it kind of help us to keep things in prespective. i know it helped me to get back on the road couple times when i was going for brown!

Burt
Your Brother In Art

 

[Nightingale]

Originally posted by SRyuFighter
I don't think that you follow me Nightingale. We will learn kata's/ weapons forms etc. And we practice all the time. But instead of having a formal test where someone who isn't prepared is ready. Sensei will just call one of us over or 2 or however many know the material well enough. And he will test us then and there. My dojo is very small. If we pass then we get our new belt. If we dno't then we go and practice again.

what I'm asking is do you do anything other than kata/weapons and sparring? do you do self defense? do you have scenarios for "what if someone throws a punch at you?"

 

[Nightingale]

Originally posted by SingingTiger


I've seen references here to tests that last for 4 or 5 hours, and I'm still amazed. For the most part, that seems excessive to me. I'm not sure that the reasons I've seen would justify it for me, though I suppose I'd actually have to study at a school where it happens to know for sure. I'm guessing it's mostly done for the same reason that medical residents have to work 18-hour days: "I had to do it, so they'll have to do it too!"

Rich

hehe. it seemed excessive to me too, especially while I was experiencing it! LOL. I almost passed out twice, and at that time I was spending a couple of hours at the gym every day as well as two hours at least in the studio.

if you think about it, most fights only last a few minutes at the most... so what the heck does a four hour test accomplish other than torturing the student? LOL.

 

[SRyuFighter]

Ohhhhhh, ok now I follow you. Yes we do that often, at the end of every class almost. We have a lot of pressure point usage in my system and they show us how to do those on an attacker and other ways in case we cant find the pressure point quickly enough.

 

[Jill666]

which may be my fault. I'm officially confused now.

Or is it the beer? :drinkbeer

Burt, you had a good point, and after I posted the word "failed" I guessed it wasn't just the right way to put it.

My cousin, who instructs, has a big thing about adults who went to school in this country find it hard to get past the win/fail/graduated stuff to just relax and learn. He also went on a (justified) rant about how someone "screws up" a technique, says"oh! ****" and tries the same thing again to get it "right" instead of adapting or doing it even more wrong to explore why it doesn't work. And he has to watch this dips--t do the same freakin' thing over & over, not learning until he makes them stop.

Ok, did I just introduce another thread here? Oh!****.


Cousin Dennis' :soapbox:

 

[jfarnsworth]

Originally posted by Jill666
He also went on a (justified) rant about how someone "screws up" a technique, says"oh! ****" and tries the same thing again to get it "right" instead of adapting or doing it even more wrong to explore why it doesn't work. And he has to watch this dips--t do the same freakin' thing over & over, not learning until he makes them stop.

When I was with my first instructor I had to fail two people twice. They didn't want to listen and kept continueing to screw up and off. Neither one took the martial arts too seriously and thought they were going to slide by. Unfortunately for them I didn't let them slide.

 

[SRyuFighter]

At my old school I could just slide by. Now at my new school everything and i mean absolutely everything has to be perfect.

 

[Kenpomachine]

Originally posted by Jill666
Ok, here's the question (poll if you want to), how many have seen other students fail a test?

I have failed my first green exam and then the first brown exam. My teachers did know what I was able to do and wanted me to do it as well as we can. They have also failed some other people for various belts tests. That is, if we underperform, we fail.

The first brown test was like three hours and a half, but it wasn't only the test, it was two regular 1 h classes with some individual performances on my side. And a third class with one of the instructors and 3 other black belts. I was doing almost everything accelerated (not controling much), and that's the reason I failed.

The second test was much, much shorter and I did as well as I could, and much, much more relaxed

 

[SRyuFighter]

A good friend of mine failed his test just the other day. And he was very dissappointed. I don't know why he failed.

 

[jeffkyle]

$$$$$??

 

[SRyuFighter]

More than likely it was money. His dojang costs a lot of money.

 

[Kroy]

Its true that test are mearly a sweaty ceremony, it cannot replace the hours of sweat and pain you put in to get there.:boxing:

 

[Mark L]

I tested last weekend for 2nd brown, it was long (5 hrs). So why is it this way? Because it has to be, it takes that long to go through the material. Would I prefer it was shorter? Certainly. So would the instructor. What did I get out of it? A good deal of satisfaction, atired and sore body, and the opportunity to explore some new material.

We covered all material from white on up, a good idea in my mind. The rank implies a certain degree of proficiency with the curriculum as a whole, not just the newer stuff.

Students have failed test, but it is uncommon. The process of getting to the test (we wouldn't be invited if we weren't capable of passing), coupled with the known rigor of testing, tends to get us focused.

Its kind of a double edged sword. It's nice to be rewarded for working hard to achieve a goal. But the anticipation of the test during the months of preparation really screws with my head. I don't look forward to it or enjoy it, rather the opposite. I see it as a necessary evil. I've noticed that as my classmates and I advance in rank, it's more difficult to get us to test. Is this common?

 

[SingingTiger]

Originally posted by Mark L
I tested last weekend for 2nd brown, it was long (5 hrs). So why is it this way? Because it has to be, it takes that long to go through the material.

Was this a group test or a private test?

I've noticed that as my classmates and I advance in rank, it's more difficult to get us to test. Is this common?

It seems to be with some of the brown belts at my school, though not all.

Rich

 

[Mark L]

Was this a group test or a private test?

Group test, 2 browns and 4 greens. Three BB's doing the testing, one watching each pair.

 

[Ender]

for our BB test, we had to do 100 push ups, sit up,s jumping jacks. Then all the techniques from purple on. then our weapons katas and our self made kata (3 techniques from each belt). then the kick in the stomach from all three judges. our instructor took pity on us and we didn't have to spar.*l...but it was tough....took about 4.5 hours.

 

[webpage20022003]

mine takes 1 hour