dvcochran
Grandmaster
The thread comparing 1st Dan students to 2nd Dan students got me reflecting on my Dan promotions.
What were yours like? What is your style and what were the requirements for your Dan promotions?
For me, my 1st and 2nd Dan testing were around the height of my competition years. In some ways, they were like a demonstration, but grueling. Before I did anything I was told stretch and hogu up. I don't remember exact numbers but I know I sparred over 20 people (of all ages) at 1st Dan. I was expected to show how an adult can effectively spar with kids and young teens to help them learn as well as go all out with seasoned fighters. We had some good fighters back then and more branch schools so I got to spar with people I seldom worked out with. The sparring at my 1st Dan was back to back so I got pretty gassed. After a short break I was used as Uke on self defense drills for about 45 minutes. Our GM is very good at pressure points and joint locks. I think I was hurting more after the SD drills. Then I was used as a rag doll to display stretching techniques. Finally in the 3rd hour we got into forms. I did not expect starting at Basic 1 but we did. I had to know 17 forms and had to repeat a few of them and explain specific sections.
Lastly in the 4th hour, I did breaking. What exactly I did for 1st Dan I do not remember but it is required to do a break using both hands/arms and both feet.
At my 2nd Dan Joel Heinke and Richard Smith showed up to go 3 rounds each. If you know these men you know that was a boat load of sparring. I had to lead displaying 30 techniques. Then a large set of forms. There was a pretty long Q&A session. Then breaking. Aside from the sparring it was kind of uneventful.
3rd Dan was, rough. Our GM flipped the script and had the people testing for a BB rank do breaking first. I think there were 6 of us. We each did a single break, like round robin, with each person being told what break to do so nothing was really pre-rehearsed. A couple of hand techniques (3-4 boards each) and I had to do a blindfolded jump spinning roundhouse. Then we all had to do a running kick. I was told to do a blindfolded running jump spinning kick, 4 boards. I was pretty gassed mentally and when I tried the break the first time my kick was off to the side just enough that I glanced off the side of the stack. I landed on the top my right foot with all my weight. I knew right away something was wrong. But GM said go again without the blindfold. I could barely put weight on my foot and it had already started swelling. I lined up and did the break successfully the 2nd try. Within the next 30 minutes my foot got huge. I finished testing with similar requirements to the rest of my testing's but I did not spar very much. It was late in the day by the time testing was over. I went to my Ortho the next day and found that I had sheared a quarter sized piece of bone from my ankle and torn the tubes that the tendons run through. Took two surgeries to fix.
Each rank has a heavier writing/knowledge load. The higher rank 4th & 5th Dan's have to prove contribution to your style/school.
So what it your stories?
What were yours like? What is your style and what were the requirements for your Dan promotions?
For me, my 1st and 2nd Dan testing were around the height of my competition years. In some ways, they were like a demonstration, but grueling. Before I did anything I was told stretch and hogu up. I don't remember exact numbers but I know I sparred over 20 people (of all ages) at 1st Dan. I was expected to show how an adult can effectively spar with kids and young teens to help them learn as well as go all out with seasoned fighters. We had some good fighters back then and more branch schools so I got to spar with people I seldom worked out with. The sparring at my 1st Dan was back to back so I got pretty gassed. After a short break I was used as Uke on self defense drills for about 45 minutes. Our GM is very good at pressure points and joint locks. I think I was hurting more after the SD drills. Then I was used as a rag doll to display stretching techniques. Finally in the 3rd hour we got into forms. I did not expect starting at Basic 1 but we did. I had to know 17 forms and had to repeat a few of them and explain specific sections.
Lastly in the 4th hour, I did breaking. What exactly I did for 1st Dan I do not remember but it is required to do a break using both hands/arms and both feet.
At my 2nd Dan Joel Heinke and Richard Smith showed up to go 3 rounds each. If you know these men you know that was a boat load of sparring. I had to lead displaying 30 techniques. Then a large set of forms. There was a pretty long Q&A session. Then breaking. Aside from the sparring it was kind of uneventful.
3rd Dan was, rough. Our GM flipped the script and had the people testing for a BB rank do breaking first. I think there were 6 of us. We each did a single break, like round robin, with each person being told what break to do so nothing was really pre-rehearsed. A couple of hand techniques (3-4 boards each) and I had to do a blindfolded jump spinning roundhouse. Then we all had to do a running kick. I was told to do a blindfolded running jump spinning kick, 4 boards. I was pretty gassed mentally and when I tried the break the first time my kick was off to the side just enough that I glanced off the side of the stack. I landed on the top my right foot with all my weight. I knew right away something was wrong. But GM said go again without the blindfold. I could barely put weight on my foot and it had already started swelling. I lined up and did the break successfully the 2nd try. Within the next 30 minutes my foot got huge. I finished testing with similar requirements to the rest of my testing's but I did not spar very much. It was late in the day by the time testing was over. I went to my Ortho the next day and found that I had sheared a quarter sized piece of bone from my ankle and torn the tubes that the tendons run through. Took two surgeries to fix.
Each rank has a heavier writing/knowledge load. The higher rank 4th & 5th Dan's have to prove contribution to your style/school.
So what it your stories?