Fitness grading

[Master of Blades]

I have heard of some teachers doing fitness gradings as well as belt ones. This is to determine how well your coming along with your fitness. I asked my teacher why we never do any and he simply stated what his teacher told him,
"If I havnt beaten my opponant or my opponant has not beaten me in less then 3 minutes then there is no longer any point in fighting!"
Me personally I agree with this because its sort of true. If no-ones won within a short amount of time then its just gonna go on for ages and there is no point in fighting. Some of you my dissagree but thats not the point. The only useful thing about them is if you do tournaments where you have to go for ages and be really fit. How many of you did these gradings and what do you feel on them. Even if you didnt do them you can answer.

P.S I think it was Dr. He-young Kimm who said that during a black belt grading to my teacher.

 

[fissure]

When I tested for my 2nd Dan it lasted about two hours.This included 3- three min rounds of WTF style sparring,1- 3min round of 2 on 1 light contact anything goes and 1- one min round of 3 on 1 try not to get killed round.In addition almost all the tech. I have ever learned, 15 forms, breaking, self defence and basic grappling.If I was'nt 'in shape' I would'nt have made it through!:EG:

 

[sweeper]

you never know what will come up ina self deffence situation.. if you have the ability to train for endurance.. why not?

 

[Shinzu]

i believe that you should be in some sort of shape. im not talking a muscle man, but you should be able to hold your own for awhile. during our tests there are endurance qualifications.

i will be testing for my 2nd dan soon and one requirement is that you run 7 miles. a bit extreme some may think, but in the eyes of a true warrior... you must prepare for war during time of peace.

i always strive for improving myself both inside and out.

 

[artful dodger]

I do ITF in NZ and we have to do a fitness test as part of the blackbelt grading. It's quite a pathetic one though, running 2.4kms, situps, pushups and kicking a focus pad. You can actually pass your grading if you don't pass the fitness test by getting more points in other areas such as breaking. The whole grading is marked in points. BUt because of the sparring and things you have to do unfit people generally tend to fail. The TKD (McDojo) I used to do was just a fitness test as far as I'm concerned. Everyones technique was so poor, he had to make the grading look good somehow so he made everyone spar for ages and ages. Problem was it was noncontact, and by that I mean all your techniques would land about half a metre away from your opponent. So it kind of didn't matter what you were doing, you weren't getting hit anyway. So everyone just threw their arms and legs around in an unco fashion completely with no technique for a couple of hours and then they got graded. See why I left?

 

[Nightingale]

I've been to quite a few kenpo schools, and don't know of any who do a fitness test as well as a rank test... they could exist, I dunno, all I'm saying is I've never seen one...

I think the philosophy is that the tests are so long and intense, that if you're not fit (both physically and mentally), you don't pass your rank test...

 

[bscastro]

We don't test for a specific fitness levels, but our instructor tested us on our technique with some calisthenics that we do. Our test itself was a test of endurance and strength, as we were moving, sweating, etc. throughout the test. However, the calisthenics part was so that we could teach it to others and know we are doing the exercises properly, which are part of our warm-up for class.

However, I think physical endurance and strength is very important. Even for short fights, the person in better shape can move faster and harder than the person not in as good shape. Also, the adrenaline really drains the energy faster than in a non-adrenaline-pumping situation. The person with better conditioning will have more reserves for a 3-minunte, or 30 second confrontation.

Also, the better shape you are in, the better you can utilize the Nike method.

Bryan

 

[Danny]

The best self defence is to run away. Hard to do if your not in shape. My club requires students to pass a fitness for all Dan grades, and each year for all instructors. I agree with this. We as Black Belts should be setting the example of a healthy mind, body, and spirit for our students follow.

 

[Danny]

I do ITF in NZ and we have to do a fitness test as part of the blackbelt grading. It's quite a pathetic one though, running 2.4kms, situps, pushups and kicking a focus pad.

LOL So that's where my instructor got our fitness test from. I know it was from NZ but I figured it was from your military our something. We do that exact same test. I wouldn't call it pathetic. If you give it 100% effort it's more then enought to make you sore and tired for a few days. :asian:

 

[Chiduce]

I do not formally require a fitness test for my students, as they know it. Yet, the training that i take them through test just about every area of their martial essence; motion, speed, agility, endurance, flexibility, upper and lower body strength, mental and physical coordination, hardness, softness, martial arts history, martial sciences, martial skills, and martial virtue! I also assign animal names for their respective physical body structure. Therefore no one student will physically have the exact same body build, yet each will be just as fit as the other. I have 3 tigers, 2 leopards, 1 crane, and 1 dragon. Each also learn the other's system of development. The student should have attained just as much mental fitness as he/she has physically. If one exists without the other, then the countdown starts to lift-off!
Sincerely, In Humility;
Chiduce!

 

[Nightingale]

I'm interested....

which body type corresponds to which animal?

 

[Chiduce]

1. Tiger is usually the extremely tense large bulkly build persona.
Slow and strong in movement.
Unflexible and below average body motion.
Splitting usually is a difficult task as a beginner.
2. Leopard is usually a smaller build and stocky, but has potential
for improving upper body strength through martial training.
Has good hand and eye coordination, body motion and
flexibility. Potential to become very speedy in motion.
Splitting is within his/her potential as a beginner.
3. Crane is typically the boney lanky body build persona.
Above average hand and eye coordination, body motion
and flexibility. Usually has a tendency to dodge or try to
evade contact. Shy timid personality.
Splitting is hard work, yet attainable as a beginner.
4. Dragon is usually the prototype of the leopard, crane mix.
Above average hand and eye coordination, excellent body
motion and flexibility. Has plenty of room for physical and
mental change. Usually the perfectionist type, but has extreme
potential for yielding and adaptative change.
Splitting is relatively hard, yet advanced splitting is attainable
as a beginner.
Sincerely, In Humility;
Chiduce!

 

[Chiduce]

I almost forgot. There is one exception. This is the individual male/female practitioner with the build of a leopard, with all other qualities being that of the tiger. The black tiger persona is pretty uncommon, yet i have one student which fits the profile perfectly.
Sincerely, In Humility;
Chiduce!

 

[artful dodger]

Originally posted by Danny



LOL So that's where my instructor got our fitness test from. I know it was from NZ but I figured it was from your military our something. We do that exact same test. I wouldn't call it pathetic. If you give it 100% effort it's more then enought to make you sore and tired for a few days. :asian:

What military?
By the way, do you do ITF in Canada? Cool to meet other people doing ITF in these forums, don't see many of them. By the way, I still think the test is pathetic no matter how much effort you put into it. You have to do as many as you can of press-ups , but 40 or 50 gets you full marks. Then as many sit ups as you can in 2 minutes, and 80-100 gives you full marks. and a 2.4km run in 8-10 minutes to get full marks. I think the focus pads are 2 2minute rounds. Hardly strenuous, but sorts out the complete unfits from the rest, I guess.

 

[Roland]

Whatever happens on the street, it is generally thought that you will lose about 90% of your technique, I would imagine that would mean your hand eye co-ordination, I would also imagine that your stress level would go way up, the better your fitness, the better equiped you would be to handle that stress.
That whole running away from your opponent, them trying to get you tired out first, them spooking you. I think if someone is going to attack you, they are going to try and push whatever advantage they can get. I honestly believe that if you are in bettwer shape, it increases your chances of survival.
When someone attacks, it does not mean you will be prepared for it, you really never know what condition or situation you will be in, but you can prepare everday in all sorts of ways. Not saying fitness is the be all and end all, but too many people do ignore it!

 

[Danny]

What military?

You have no military? The local mall has more submarines then the Canadian Navy! (Literally.) And they don't have holes in 'em either!

By the way, do you do ITF in Canada? Cool to meet other people doing ITF in these forums, don't see many of them.

Yes I'm in the ITF.

By the way, I still think the test is pathetic no matter how much effort you put into it. You have to do as many as you can of press-ups , but 40 or 50 gets you full marks. Then as many sit ups as you can in 2 minutes, and 80-100 gives you full marks. and a 2.4km run in 8-10 minutes to get full marks. I think the focus pads are 2 2minute rounds. Hardly strenuous, but sorts out the complete unfits from the rest, I guess.

*Thinks your either superman or completely insane.* :erg: I just did the test last week and got 43 push-ups, 90 sit-ups and did the run in 10:05 (I've always been slow). That got me 10 out of 12 in the male 16-24 class. That's with at least 14-16 hours of physical training each week for the last year and a half. LOL. Hate to see what you would consider a hard test. (Seriously what do you think you should need to get a 4?) Don't even get me started on the bag. Sure it's only six minutes, but that's six minutes of as much pain as you can possably bring apon yourself.

 

[artful dodger]

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[artful dodger]

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[artful dodger]

Originally posted by Danny



*Thinks your either superman or completely insane.* :erg: I just did the test last week and got 43 push-ups, 90 sit-ups and did the run in 10:05 (I've always been slow). That got me 10 out of 12 in the male 16-24 class. That's with at least 14-16 hours of physical training each week for the last year and a half. LOL. Hate to see what you would consider a hard test. (Seriously what do you think you should need to get a 4?) Don't even get me started on the bag. Sure it's only six minutes, but that's six minutes of as much pain as you can possably bring apon yourself.

10.05 isn't slow. Terming it pathetic was maybe exaggerating a little, if you get top marks you have to be pretty fit, its just that I run for at least an hour a day 6 times a week so I might have it a bit out of perspective.

 

[Mark L]

I'm at an independent Kempo school where fitness is certainly important. Although not graded specifically, the intro portion of testing is always fitness intensive. If you can't get through that, you don't get to the kempo stuff. The higher grades obviously have a more stringent requirement, particulalry when changing color (to green, brown, black). I've just gotten notice of my test for Shodan, which begins with 2 hours of calisthenics , then 6-7 hours of kempo sprinkled with fitness tests (a few mile runs, multiple round sparring matches, etc.) We get 18 months to prepare physically, technically, and emotionally, I just hope its enough. I have to stop now, I'm getting scared.