Respectfuly declining a rank advancement?

[granfire]

kids grow up. Besides, even a Dojang profits from the female touch!

 

[faerie2]

kids grow up. Besides, even a Dojang profits from the female touch!

His sons, nephew and other instructors (including a female) are all adults, although not "old" like me

 

[granfire]

His sons, nephew and other instructors (including a female) are all adults, although not "old" like me

LOL, I meant your kids! Leaving you more time.

 

[faerie2]

LOL, I meant your kids! Leaving you more time.

LOL, clearly I'm still eyeball deep in the night waking phase. It does go fast - although I am looking forward to sleeping more solidly - and thinking more clearly.

 

[Bodhisattva]

I'm currently a purple belt and have been only for a short time.

There was a belt test last night and I went so I could get out of the house, and because it's always fun to watch. I declined to test - I didn't return my test request sheet, didn't pay for a test, told the instructors I wasn't ready yet and wanted to wait until I was good enough and had more sparring experience, etc. I think they tested me anyhow :/ They called on me to do my poomsae 4 and 5 (not as well as I would have liked), strength and flexibility demonstrations, some kick combinations (again, not as good as I would have liked) and they even paired me with a black belt for sparring. I sucked, but it was still fun. They generally run tests every 6 weeks to accommodate people who have to be away, so they don't have to wait another few months (there are lots of kids at my dojang). For some reason, I keep getting tested far too frequently :/ I do go to class 6 days/week, but still the experience and muscle memory isn't there.

I'm pretty sure that they don't call on non-testing students to run through the test and I'm worried that my rank may advance again - WAY sooner than it should. I feel like I am light years away from deserving a blue belt. It seems that Grandmaster's strategy with me - and no one else that I can see - is to advance my rank before I have fully earned it, so I can work my tail off to demonstrate that I deserve it - and I do, but I feel like the rank should come after demonstrating that it has been earned through hard work and experience, right? He has even double promoted me before.

I am hoping that it was just an exercise, or a test to test later, but in case it wasn't, how can I respectfully decline a rank advancement if I feel like I really don't deserve it?

Image and Affectation!

 

[faerie2]

Image and Affectation!

But to whose benefit? I don't think it would look good on GM to have awarded a rank to someone who wasn't ready - or me having a rank that I couldn't live up to.

 

[IcemanSK]

But to whose benefit? I don't think it would look good on GM to have awarded a rank to someone who wasn't ready - or me having a rank that I couldn't live up to.

Perhaps monetary, perhaps status (I've had "x" number of students test), perhaps another reason. I wouldn't suggest any motives for anyone I don't know, but in general, in MA, I wouldn't ascribe strictly pure motives to anyone sight unseen.

Those are a few general reasons why someone might test someone who wasn't ready. I'm not suggesting that is your GM's thought process.

 

[granfire]

Sometimes (and I do NOT mean the OP) somebody needs to be taken down a peg by falling on the proverbial **** at testing. Nice wake up call for the more rectal-cranial inverted ones....

 

[terryl965]

All I can say is do what makes you happy and enjoy, remember noones know anything until it is too late.

 

[KickingAngel16]

I sort of have the same thing with the advancement thing. I've only been in TKD for 2 months and I'm already an orange belt. I'm astounded that my instructors thought I was ready. I've been getting compliments a lot as well. One of my insructors said that I have a lot of determination and stamina. Then, one of the brown belts sees me going to nationals I found out recently. She sees me mainly in forms though. I still think that I'm not good enough, but apparently others have their own mindset. I want to concentrate on improving in sparring mostly. I got to spar my boyfriend who's a 2nd dan black belt on Friday night. I don't want him to think that he has to take it easy on me. It was obvious he was holding back. So, yeah, my goal is to get good enough in sparring to actually be competition for others.

 

[igillman]

It sounds like you skipped yellow belt completely. We have some people at our place who did that and their only regret was that they never really learned the yellow belt form and step sparring.

 

[terryl965]

It sounds like you skipped yellow belt completely. We have some people at our place who did that and their only regret was that they never really learned the yellow belt form and step sparring.

I have had other say the same thing, some of the basic that is needed to complete understand all the poomsae are not there.

 

[granfire]

The organization might not have a yellow belt - we don't have orange....

 

[faerie2]

I did skip yellow. I did the belt test for yellow belt with the forms and everything, then the following week GM gave me an orange belt and told me that I skipped. I spent the next few weeks absorbing everything I could about yellow belt curriculum and I felt ready when it was time to test for green belt.

EEP! I find out tomorrow about last Friday's did-I-test-or-not situation!

 

[faerie2]

I was given a blue belt today

I told him that I wasn't even sure if I was testing and he said "well, you passed!"

Okay then!

 

[JWLuiza]

Congratulations.

 

[Mimir]

I was given a blue belt today

I told him that I wasn't even sure if I was testing and he said "well, you passed!"

Okay then!

Congrats!

 

[Laurentkd]

congrats!
sounds like it wasn't as big a problem as you had worried. I only ask because you brought it up first, did you offer to pay for the test?

 

[IcemanSK]

Yes, Congratulations. And, what Lauren asked!:uhyeah:

 

[jim777]

Congrats! So, what kup rank are you now, 6th, or 4th?