{"id":1944,"date":"2018-10-21T15:33:22","date_gmt":"2018-10-22T01:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/?p=1944"},"modified":"2018-10-21T15:33:22","modified_gmt":"2018-10-22T01:33:22","slug":"exam-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/?p=1944","title":{"rendered":"Exam Thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thoughts about the purpose of exams<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wanted to make a few personal observations about exams and promotions, especially as these apply to HIS Karate-Do.\u00c2\u00a0 As you know, we try not to place any undue emphasis on exams\/promotions\u00c2\u00a0or preparing for these.\u00c2\u00a0 In certain dojos, exams are a major source of income (exam fees are substantial and can run into hundreds of dollars for black belt testing for various organizations).\u00c2\u00a0 The exams and promotions can also be a method of keeping students enrolled, in a carrot-on-a-stick marketing strategy.\u00c2\u00a0 Some schools will actually add on extra color ranks and striping within the same color belt, which actually increases the number of steps (and exams) enroute to a black belt.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve even heard of places where one must keep on showing up for training\/teaching and paying dues in order to keep one’s black belt – sort of like paying to keep one’s license active.\u00c2\u00a0 I know of dojos that spend a large part of their training between exams…training solely for the next exam.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>I know it’s hard to believe, but those are the extremes that exams and rank promotion can evolve into – taking on a life of their own.<\/p>\n

Obviously, HIS Karate-Do doesn’t share this philosophy on exams and promotions and tries to keep these in proper perspective.\u00c2\u00a0 There is a true value in taking a periodic exam and in earning a well-deserved promotion.\u00c2\u00a0 These can help focus one’s training, helps establish goals, and experiencing the self-induced stress of performing your techniques with the examiners’ eyes on you all help to develop a better-rounded person, both in the dojo and in regular life.<\/p>\n

Regular dojos train 3 times a week (and more, for serious students).\u00c2\u00a0 By contrast, our students train, on average, once a week; with a few who can make it twice a week.\u00c2\u00a0 There is nothing wrong with that.\u00c2\u00a0 Therefore, we usually hold exams every six months as opposed to the three month frequency of other dojos.\u00c2\u00a0 Again, we recognize the positive aspects of exams but these are not a money-making venture nor a retention methodology for us.\u00c2\u00a0 There is also a value for us instructors, as we get a real chance to see and evaluate how our members are progressing – when they can’t blend into the group and are therefore, trying their best under slightly stressful conditions.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0In today’s very busy world, adults and children find themselves involved in a welter of activities – I can’t believe how many lessons and classes my grandkids (and their parents) must make time for.\u00c2\u00a0 We are just pleased that our members recognize the value of reserving some of their time for karate. Our belief is that by investing a bit of one’s week into the study\/practice of Karate-Do over a multi-year time frame, one would be amazed at how much can be learned.\u00c2\u00a0 You know, kind of like the magic of compound interest…at least, back in the days when the banks used to pay interest on savings😏.<\/p>\n

Kyu progression is not really linear<\/strong><\/p>\n

As most of you know, there are 10 kyu’s in the color belt ranks and a similar number of dans in the black belt ranks.\u00c2\u00a0 Of course, we all start at the 10 kyu (white belt) level, then hope to progress up the steps of kyu rank.\u00c2\u00a0 So, applying simple math: 10 kyus divided by 2 exams a year would equal a black belt in 5 years!\u00c2\u00a0 The reality for once-a-week training is a little different.\u00c2\u00a0 For children taking their very first exam, most will make it to 9 kyu (blue belts).\u00c2\u00a0 Those who do very well and for the majority of adults, 8 kyu (also blue belt) may be attained during the first exam.\u00c2\u00a0 Thereafter, there are two ranks of green (7 and 6 kyu), two ranks of purple (5 and 4 kyu), then three ranks of brown (3, 2, and 1 kyu).\u00c2\u00a0 In our group, with our frequency of training and testing, I’ve observed some average times to the different rankings – assuming normal progress continues.\u00c2\u00a0 Up through second green (6 kyu), progression is fairly linear…6 months to blue, a year to green (7 kyu) and 6 kyu at the 2-3 year time frame. Thereafter, progression difficulty proceeds along a steeper incline…the average purple belt (5 and 4 kyu) will have been training with us for about 4-6 years.\u00c2\u00a0 Most of our brown belts, therefore, are in the 6+ year range.\u00c2\u00a0 Most of the HIS black belts were black belts when they joined us, previously earned through many years of training elsewhere.\u00c2\u00a0 Two notable exceptions are Sempai’s Dave and Daylen, who worked their way up the HIS ranks and have been with us for some 10 years.\u00c2\u00a0 So, whenever you see a purple or brown or black belt in our lineup, please be aware that each represents many years of dedicated training and perseverance.<\/p>\n

Final thought on promotions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Any time you receive a promotion, remember: It means that the examiners believe that you have the potential<\/strong> to succeed at this level.\u00c2\u00a0 You must train hard to prove that you really deserve this rank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thoughts about the purpose of exams I wanted to make a few personal observations about exams and promotions, especially as these apply to HIS Karate-Do.\u00c2\u00a0 As you know, we try not to place any undue emphasis on exams\/promotions\u00c2\u00a0or preparing for these.\u00c2\u00a0 In certain dojos, exams are a major source of income (exam fees are substantial and can run into hundreds of dollars for black belt testing for various organizations).\u00c2\u00a0 The exams and promotions can also be a method of keeping students enrolled, in a carrot-on-a-stick marketing strategy.\u00c2\u00a0 Some schools will actually add on extra color ranks and striping within the same color belt, which actually increases the number of steps (and exams) enroute to a black belt.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve even heard of places where one must keep on showing up for training\/teaching and paying dues in order to keep one’s black belt – sort of like paying to keep one’s license active.\u00c2\u00a0 I know of dojos that spend a large part of their training between exams…training solely for the next exam.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0I know it’s hard to believe, but those are the extremes that exams and rank promotion can evolve into – taking on a life of their own. Obviously, HIS Karate-Do doesn’t [...]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1944"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1945,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1944\/revisions\/1945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}