Testing hypothetical

The Pred · Green Belt

Say you run a dojo, and you do testing every 4 months for lower ranks. So for example its January, so the next promotion would be in May. For people that signed up in Jan, that is four months. But if you sign up in Feb, that would be 3 months. Clearly not fair. So do you make them wait till Sept? Not fair either.
(This is to assume you have people ready to test.) Do you say tough, or do have various testings such as if you sign up in Jan, you can test in May, sept, and Jan. And if you sign up in say July, Nov, March, and July.

Because if you do it on a set schedule, then someone either gets to test in a short amount of time, or they have to wait longer.

JR 137 · Black Belt

If you only test every 4 months and someone's short a month or two, then so be it I guess. Hypothetically it'll only happen once, the first time around. Unless they take some time off. Also, timeframes should be a minimum and not a maximum.

My CI schedules kyu tests every 2 months. Quite often no one is eligible/ready. It's basically on the calendar to keep him on track and organized.

But realistically speaking, time in grade is only one aspect of promoting. The CI should know if someone's ready or not regardless of time in grade.

Nidan Melbourne · KF Sempai

This is what we do for our students:

Juniors:
2 x Term (8 per year) or where required 3x Term

Seniors:
1x Term (4 per year)

Black Belt Grading (Juniors): 2x Yearly
Black Belt Grading (Seniors): 1x Yearly (2x if required)

For ALL Kyu Grades (Juniors + Seniors) you must attend a MINIMUM of 30 lessons and have passed 5 in grade tests prior to being eligible for grading. If you are 6 lessons (=1 in class test) out then tough luck and you have to wait till the next grading to be able to attend.

We do however make some exceptions to allow students to grade with less than the 5 'tags'. They are limited to either being ONE Lesson away from being tested for their final tag OR if that final test had fallen on the Grading Day.

Our 1st Kyu's are Permitted to Grade to Black Belt with 4 Tags on the provision that they have met our other requirements prior to grading.

However our Black Belts must meet the TIME IN GRADE Requirements prior to being eligible to grade. My Sensei however has made some changes to allow those who possess a Senior Dan Grade (for my club currently anything above 2nd Dan) we are permitted to grade within' 6 Months of becoming eligible. That means originally we had to wait 3.5 Years to attempt for 3rd Dan, now we can Grade at 3 years (no earlier) if able.

sensei8 · KF Sensei

No one, and I mean no one can attend any Testing Cycle UNLESS the Hombu approves the candidate!! CI's can recommend someone for any authorized Testing Cycle, however, the Hombu/SKKA approves or denies ALL TESTING CYCLE CANDIDATES!! No exceptions whatsoever!!

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**Proof is on the floor!!!

The Pred · Green Belt

Thanks for the feedback. My personal view is to allow testing opportunities every month, just to take account of when people sign up all year around.

MatsuShinshii · Black Belt

sensei8 · KF Sensei

If, hypothetically, you, as the CI, have absolute authority away from your Hombu, then, imho, when and whom are to test or not, is only up to you, and you alone. However, if your Hombu has a say so, one way or another, than that final decision is left up to the Hombu, and the Hombu only.

If I was free to choose the when and whom, and with your hypothetical parameters, I'd not invite any student with less than 3 full months of training into any testing cycle; testing cycles would be scheduled once every 3 months, aka, once every calendar quarter, having 4 quarters each calendar year.

1 month of training isn't enough to warrant a testing cycle due to the lack of knowledge, if any.

2 months of training, while it's better than having only 1 month of training, however, it's not much better than having only 1 month of training. Yes, more is taught and drilled, however, what that type of student possesses is marginal across the board.

3 months of training, leading up to my acceptable time of training before any one student is ever to be considered for an upcoming testing cycle. Those 3 months, one more month than one with only 2 months of training, more is learned and drilled, and in that, the marginal parameters are narrowed down, thus, more maturity is gained.

Albeit, even after 3 months of solid training under my supervision, and the noted improvements across the board, still doesn't guarantee that any one student under these parameter(s) will even be allowed, or invited, to a scheduled testing cycle.

Attendance, while it might be admirable, doesn't guarantee anything on and off the floor.

_________________
**Proof is on the floor!!!

G95champ · Black Belt

We do testing on a student by student basis.

If I can get several students ready to test on a given date great but my rules is simple. 1. You must have attended at least 30 classes (90 mins) over a 3 month period to be eligible to test.

However, I will give you permission to test this has two major results one I don't have to fail many students because I have to approve them. If they demand to test but I don't think their ready well, it's a great time to prove a point lol. The second result is students who want to advance attend more often and train harder because their testing for me every class.
_________________
(General George S. Patton Jr.) "It's the unconquerable soul of man, and not the nature of the weapon he uses, that ensures victory."

singularity6 · Pre-Black Belt

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