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Lycann
Lv 6
Lycann asked in SportsMartial Arts · 1 decade ago

Belt Promotion Practices?

I came across a question about testing and a couple of the top contributors' answers indicated that they do not hold testing.

So here is my open question: Who else uses the no test promotion? What are you experiences with this?

As an after thought, what style do you train in that uses this practice? I know it's ultimately up to the instructor but I'm curious to see if there are trends with different styles.

Personally, I like the idea. I'm under the impression that a school I'm looking at continuing with follows this same practice but it is new to me.

Update:

jwbulldogs, I believe the question was asked by gargoyle but pugpaws did have an answer along with yourself that prompted this one.

For the sake of clarity I am just asking whether you school holds formal testing you must pass to be promoted to the next belt level; or whether your instructor just hands you a belt when he feels you've earned it.?

Update 2:

nwohioguy - I get where you're coming from with this. I have always been tested but I've heard of several examples where teachers waive testing because they simply don't promote unless the student is ready. That seems to be a pretty logical practice. This being the case though, wouldn't such a rank have been earned, even if no formal test was administered?

7 Answers

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  • Kokoro
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    i do promotions once or twice a year,

    i do both, sometimes i will give them there rank at an awards banquet. other times i will test them for it before the banquet.

    black belts always have to test in front of others, i dont make the decision to promote them i level it up to the board, i have never had a black belt fail his test. he tests when i say he is ready and not before.

    the question you are referring to pugpaws gave an excellent answer to.

    and as JWbulldog said, you are always being tested through out your training.

    i dont decide whether a student will past at the test i decide before the test takes place. i dont see the point in testing someone that will fail.

    the only time i have failed students was when they showed up late to there own test. if they dont have the decency to be on time then the rank is obviously not import to them and neither was the test.

    i dont promote people for money i promote them because they earned there rank,

    Source(s): 30+yrs ma
  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    I do not agree with handing out a black belt to anyone at any time. The formal testing procedure offers a set structure, review and examination period for determining if the student is ready to earn the shodan. Now that being said, as for anything above sandan it does not bother me when people have those ranks awarded to them without a formal test but in our system you will take a physical exam for shodan to yondan.

    In my experience there are many people who had the shodan handed to them and many of them do not appreciate it nor do they understand what it means to the student and the dojo. By having a set standard all students who earn the shodan have attended, completed and been examined on the same test. This way you do not have any attitudes or people running around saying my test was harder than yours and so forth. If the student fails the examination then they will either understand what they need to work on better to pass next time or they might quit...which is fine.

    Our shodan test has been observed by many other black belts and other systems as guest instructors and most of them stated they would not have passed the exam had they gone through it. Not because it is technically superior to theirs but because it is a very long and hard exam (we begin 6 months prior to the exam date and the actual exam is a full weekend long).

    I have even had visiting yudansha state our brown belt exam was harder than their shodan exam. This makes me feel good because I know when I award the shodan, or any dan at all, it was truly examined, cross referenced and the student definitely deserve that status.

    All this being said I was awarded my shodan in both Judo and American Kenpo without ever attending or taking an exam. I always stated they were honorary ranks since I never actually passed an exam for them. Years later I did take the exam and pass them but until I had the belts were only honorary...nothing more.

  • 1 decade ago

    I believe you are referring to a question asked by pugspaw.

    Often in our dojo there isn't a test especially for black belts. You are being test all of the time. I know if a person is ready for promotion also my instructor already knows. There are times we have conversation concerning students regarding promotions. If we don''t agree that student will not be promoted. As far as our younger students that are beginners we do a test as a formality. But we don't recommend any of them to test unless they are ready for promotion. For the few that we test we have already purchased their belt and the certificate of rank is awarded and handed to them after the test. We do this t encourage the other students that are putting as much into their workouts to try harder. We don't charge for testing. The only time that know of that a test fee was charged in our dojo was when a student that we did not recommend for testing insisted on being tested. Then we brought in an unbiased group of instructor administer the test. The student failed and had to pay a testing fee that went to those instructors. He did that a couple of times before he passed. When he passed he was ready! But he really wanted his black belt...lol He reason for wanting his rank as he told me was that he was moving out of state and he want to have his black belt before the move. He did move out of state. Whenever he comes back to visit he comes and trains with us. he still keeps in touch and let us know how he is doing in tournaments. He loves to compete.

    Source(s): Martial Arts since 1982 Black Belt in Shorin Ryu Black Belt in Jujitsu Brown Belt in Judo
  • ?
    Lv 4
    5 years ago

    question Is sparring mandatory for a martial artwork to be sturdy for self-protection? making use of the significant-word mandatory, i could say NO. a million. Sparring is used to assist refine concepts and strategies taught by skill of the artwork, purely like kata. 2. Sparring infrequently is composed of the choas, style and unpredictability that could be modern-day in genuine life encounters 3. Non-Martial Artists are able to protecting themselves with out even interpreting an artwork, much less sparring 4. additionally there is this style of huge array of training simulations that are stated as sparring, what's sparring in one dojo isn't allowed in yet another, it particularly is stressful to entice the line on what's seen "functional sparring" seem at WTF vs ITF Taekwondo 5. Sparring can assist you to, even though it could additionally provide help to slip right into a convenience zone. As in you regulate into to mushy scuffling with and searching forward to to be fought in a preconcieved way. a stable occasion of this, now carry on Im no longer attempting to ruffle feathers here, the 1st few UFCs. lots of those Martial Artists had knowledgeable and fought in a undeniable way, they have been caught off safeguard by skill of being rushed and wrestled to the floor. they had gotten too mushy. Expierance may additionally do the comparable element nevertheless. A bully who's stepping into 1on1 schoolyard scraps, would substitute into comfartable with that scenario and assume issues to easily artwork that way. Then he's in for a suprise whilst his objective has 4 buddies popping out of the woodwork. I although do think of sparring and kata are the two super training kit.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Wing Tsun doesn't have a belt system but they have student grades which are graduated levels of skill.

    If you can prove you're proficient in student grade 1 and 2, they move up to three and four, and so on.

    Belts are cheesy, anyway. They don't mean anything. It is about how hard you train and how much respect you have for the sport.

  • 1 decade ago

    My dojo doesn't test when it comes to BJJ. To earn your blue belt you must be able to demonstrate in class that you can get out of any bad positioning. once you can show that in class he will up grade you to blue, to get your purple belt you must have a complete understanding of submission and be able to apply them fast and accurately without hurting the person or yourself.

    Source(s): pro fighter
  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Could you go into a little more detail, I am sorry, But I don't understand the question.

    Thanks!

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