What should be tested for rank?

[Tagg1080]

Board breaking ability? Sparring ability? Technique knowledge? Technique ability? Teaching ability? Extra things not in the curriculum? Cardio/physical fitness? etc..


What do you guys think should be in a test?



Our test are strictly the core Kenpo material, no judo, no jjj, no breaking boards, no sparring, not cardio, just the core material. We do all of our punches, kicks, blocking sets, blocks, stances, foot maneuvers, forms, combinations, drills, etc...

all of it is written out, and everyone has a binder with the rank sheet, with what we KNOW highlighted.


What do you guys do/think should be done?

[Ryan]

I think live sparring should be mandatory. Breaking boards is pointless, they don't hit back. I always hated demonstrating in a drill but loved doing it live.

[younwha]

At black belt we go over self defense drills (counter to a single punch) which usually involves some type of throw or joint manipulation. We go over our top four forms, and we spar. We also do kicks, basically whatever gets thrown at you when it comes to kicks.

Honestly - I don't think testing is really that important. Neither do I think the rank that you get is that important. If you have a good instructor your technique and knowledge will be good regardless.

[Razors Edge]

That depends on what you want a student to be good at. If you want him to be a good grappler than you should test his grappling. A good defender, his blocking, etc.

What art are you focusing on? Grappling or striking?

[summitcitysubmissions]

in my experience this is how i have been tested.

the first part of the test i would be asked to demonstrate techniques for them and would be graded upon my ability to recal the technique and demonstrate it correctly.

the second part was live rolling first with a training partner and then with the test giver. this is to show my ability to execute in a live situation.

i like this format.

[Tagg1080]

Breaking boards is pointless, they don't hit back.

I am going to havto respectfully disagree with you here, being able to break a board demonstrates that one can generate power.

I understand that it does not directly translate to a fighting technique, but many lessons are learned through breaking.


It takes roughly 12 pounds per square inch to break a 12x12 inch board, 1 inch thick.

It then goes up logarithmically from there. 2 boards of that size takes something like 35 pounds per square inch to break.

So when you see people break 4-5-6 boards, that is a LOT of force.

Another way to challenge your self control is to do short breaks. (1 inch punch as Bruce Lee made famous, or the iron palm, which was taught to me by a master, and I have been working on it for years now)


A good point was brought up, and this is how I explain it to nervous students:


Martial arts is a journey up a mountain. Each belt is an arbitrary point on the mountain, spaced farther and farther apart. So the time and effort in between ranks is the climb up this mountain. Now, if the test is the last 10 feet before the end, how important is it if you can do that last 10 feet as fast as possible? That last 10 feet it does not matter if you stumble, or if you fall, as you have already traveled the miles up the mountain.

The testing at our school is more of a formality, the real test is all the time before that day. We are told by our instructor if we are testing or not.

[michaelwbray]

I think that a few things need to be factored in:

1) Being able to do the required techniques properly.
2) Being able to apply them in competition.
3) Fitness levels should be factored in.
4) Be able to hold your own with other people at that level.

[summitcitysubmissions]

Agreed i tend to watch my students over a period of time when they are unaware that they are being "tested". This is a good way to see what they know, how well the execute it, how well they can help teach it, and their attitude about things.

I will not promote you if you are a d-bag....period.
part of martial arts is learning respect and self-control.

[AJ]

I hate tests. Thankfully the last place and the current place I train at don't have formal tests.

And in all honesty, I could really care less about my progress in an arbitrary belt system. I'm just doing my thing and if I get acknowledged for my progress all the more awesome.

I know everybody on this forum doesn't train just for the sake of getting a black belt so I am not trying to be condescending in saying this but I literally didn't even ask about the belt ranking system at my gym until I was 3 months in and that was just because some other people were wondering about it.

[NebS]

Being the know it all, the testing should involve the stuff you train for (duh).

If your in karate and pratice kata and sparring, test on each of them respectively. Some martial arts are devoted to different things thus there should be different tests for each of the things...

A rank IMHO is just a symbol showing a certain level of dedication to an art.

In my dojo we do our syllabus which consists of throws, wrist locks, takedowns, kicks, punches, pretty much everything 'cept breaking boards. Why? Cause realistically why should I test my strength against a board when I can test it again someone head? If I need to get through a door, I'm not going to punch my way through to grab the handle on the other side and open it, I'm going to kick the damn thing down! lol.

Our training is based on realistic defenses to common and sometimes dangerous attacks. IMO our unofficial motto should be "Do what works". So with that being said, if you can't remember the syllabus for some reason during the grading, it won't kill you....you just do a variation. In the real world, you might not necessarily do the syllabus, you are going to do what feels right and what you can do yourself. So we get graded on our general ability to be able to get out of the threat, if you do it using the syllabus, awesome! if not, well, good for you for knowing a variation.

[Ghosted3]

Every teacher and every student will like a different form of ranks... There are many different ways, be it time invested (this is popular at Gracie Barra), techs known, or how you roll with others (or mixtures of all), there is no standard, and I wish there was one lol. That being said I am a fan of how Roy Dean does things usually.

vid for blue belt - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr4uF7p8i2Y

[Otto]

Breaking boards and bricks is kinda fun when you're young, and you should enjoy it as part of your training. A lot of us have been there.
But the bottom line - Any jackass can kick down a barn door, but it takes a good carpenter to build one.

[Twister-Australus]

I think that a few things need to be factored in:

1) Being able to do the required techniques properly.
2) Being able to apply them in competition.
3) Fitness levels should be factored in.
4) Be able to hold your own with other people at that level.

I think you summed it up pretty well :D

[Malice]

Board breaking is and never was supposed to be demonstrative of an actual self-defense situation and it always amuses me when people say a board can't hit back...lol

The purpose for board and/or brick breaking for testing is for the student to demonstrate focus in their strike. Just about anyone can break a board if they hit it in the right spot, I've taught 4 year old little dragons to break boards. However, I've also seen teens and adults have trouble breaking a board because they couldn't focus or they close their eyes when they strike. Sometimes it's also mental. They believe they can't break it and they don't until they BELIEVE they can. I've demonstrated many times that it's not even about power but about focusing your strike on a particular spot. To demonstrate it I place the board or block on a stand and place my hand in the sweet spot and push. The board or cinder block breaks every time without even striking it.

I've actually taught many seminars on board breaking and every time I get some big guy who can't break a single board initially until I teach them how to focus, then they get through it. At the end of the seminar I usually break a river rock to show that breaking objects isn't a big deal regardless of what it is. Plus breaking boards or bricks or whatever is pretty fun, especially for newer students. It's fun for the parents to see how excited their kid gets too :)