Wish me luck!

[bookworm_cn317]

I MIGHT be testing for my blue belt this Wednesday. So, cross your fingers, pray to the gods, sacrifice the animal of your choice(like a small, furry woodland creature) and HOPEFULLY I'll pass this time!

 

[IcemanSK]

Just relax, focus & enjoy yourself. You are in my prayers.

 

[Laurentkd]

This has been a long time coming! I am confident that you will do great!

 

[exile]

Keep your head together, breath deeply and slowly, and remember that it's all there, inside you. You know this stuff, and this is this is your chance to show you know it. It's not really a test... it's a chance to show off. Think of it that way and you'll be at the top of your game for it.

 

[newGuy12]

It's not really a test... it's a chance to show off.

Yes, indeed.

 

[bookworm_cn317]

Well, at least I didn't cry! I just need to practice the combinations more and I'll pass next time. My instructor said I was very good on the forms(Il Jang, Ee Jang, Sa Jang), so, if it wasn't for those combinations, I totally would have passed!

 

[newGuy12]

Well, at least I didn't cry! I just need to practice the combinations more and I'll pass next time. My instructor said I was very good on the forms(Il Jang, Ee Jang, Sa Jang), so, if it wasn't for those combinations, I totally would have passed!

Oh, my! To be good at the hyung is very much better than to be good at the combinations. The combinations will be much easier to learn than the forms are. So that is good news.

And, I am glad that you did not cry. You accepted the outcome, and now go forward. Never giving up, that is the TaeKwonDo Way. And, this way of thinking is ours in everything that we do! Failing, maybe, but never giving up! That is most important!

I am having trouble with kicking motions. They are not to my liking. But I will not be sour about that. I will simply continue to practice, and in time, I will improve!

 

[Laurentkd]

Well, at least I didn't cry! I just need to practice the combinations more and I'll pass next time. My instructor said I was very good on the forms(Il Jang, Ee Jang, Sa Jang), so, if it wasn't for those combinations, I totally would have passed!

Is this the same instructor and same test that you have failed a couple of times now???

I really wish you would look into another school my friend. An instructor should not be setting you up for this over and over, and really a color belt test is not THAT huge of a deal. Only one step on a path of many! I am not saying that color belt ranks should just be handed to students (not at all!) but an instructor that fails a student for messing up on one or two minor things just doesn't make sense to me (not knowing your forms is a big deal, combinations not so much!). Ask Exile how many students he fails for missing a couple of questions on a test. That isn't how it works!
I know I have expressed my views on this earlier in the thread, and I really comend you for sticking with it and keeping such a positive attitude, but I really do wish you would see what other schools have to offer you.
I am sorry if this seems harsh but I am angry for you! I can tell you work hard and you try your best and you are really committed to your art. I just think it is such a shame that your instructor doesn't seem to see this and that he continuously sets you up for failure. Remember- an instructor who thinks a student should pass (and thus tells the student she should test) and then the student does NOT pass is a poor reflection on the instructor (regardless of the circumstances!).

 

[exile]

Is this the same instructor and same test that you have failed a couple of times now???

I really wish you would look into another school my friend. An instructor should not be setting you up for this over and over, and really a color belt test is not THAT huge of a deal. Only one step on a path of many! I am not saying that color belt ranks should just be handed to students (not at all!) but an instructor that fails a student for messing up on one or two minor things just doesn't make sense to me (not knowing your forms is a big deal, combinations not so much!). Ask Exile how many students he fails for missing a couple of questions on a test. That isn't how it works!

Bookworm, I really wish you would take Lauren's comments to heart. It's true: a good instructor is on your side. Repeat: a good instructor is on your side, trying to set you up to succeed, not fail. Sometimes you have to be very tough and demanding with a student to get them to do their best work, the work you know they're capable of, but you are always trying to get them on to the next stage, not hold them up. Small errors, matters of detail... those aren't crucial. If I were teaching a physics class, say, and a student wound up solving a problem correctly—translating the text describing a mechanical or electromagnetic situation into a set of equations expressing the physical relations involved, getting all the knowns on one side and the one unknown you were looking for on the other, by various mathematical manipulations—and then wound up making a dumb arithmetical error when the numbers were plugged into the result of the previous step—that student would get close to full credit for the answer. The crucial thing that class would have been teaching would be, what is the nature of the relationship amongst physical quantities? How can we take advantage of these relationships to determine the value of certain quantities when we're given (or are able to deduce) the value of other quantities? If you worked out the relations correctly and solved the resulting equations, then the class would have been largely successful up to that point, and the arithmetic error... well, carelessness is not good, but it's not a deal-breaker. Something similar is going on in your MA class, except it sounds like, not only are you not getting almost full credit for your work, but you're getting failed for a very small, low-level sort of error. And this isn't the first time you've gotten this treatment, right?

I know I have expressed my views on this earlier in the thread, and I really comend you for sticking with it and keeping such a positive attitude, but I really do wish you would see what other schools have to offer you.
I am sorry if this seems harsh but I am angry for you! I can tell you work hard and you try your best and you are really committed to your art. I just think it is such a shame that your instructor doesn't seem to see this and that he continuously sets you up for failure.

That makes two of us!

Remember- an instructor who thinks a student should pass (and thus tells the student she should test) and then the student does NOT pass is a poor reflection on the instructor (regardless of the circumstances!).

No MA instructor I know would dream of setting an exam date for a student whom s/he didn't already know was going to pass with flying colors. You're being set up, it sounds like. I hate to see you used as your instructor's punching bag in this way—you can do better!

 

[Kacey]

Remember- an instructor who thinks a student should pass (and thus tells the student she should test) and then the student does NOT pass is a poor reflection on the instructor (regardless of the circumstances!).

I agree with Lauren and exile - I have had students fail color belt tests, but it was because they got cocky and didn't perform their best, not because they weren't able to pass - and any student who failed once is watched very closely before being allowed to test again. Testing should be a time to demonstrate that you are the next rank - a time to prove you've gone beyond what you thought your limits were - not a time to rip you down because one area isn't good enough. If your instructor has failed you for the same rank twice now, that means your instructor is either setting the standards too high, or isn't teaching you what you need to know at the standard you need to demonstrate - or isn't making sure you're ready before you test.

Students can fail - if there's no risk of failure, it's not a test, it's a demonstration - but letting students test who cannot pass - especially letting a student test who is not ready who has already failed that level once - is, IMHO, a poor practice for an instructor.

 

[terryl965]

Bookworm I can only echo Lauren and exile and Kacey sentiments, Your instructor makes no sense at all three times for the same belt and he keeps finding nough flaws withen your training to fail you. I have been training people for thirty years and have never heard of this, there is a huge problem in thta school, please find somewhere else to train.

 

[IcemanSK]

Bookworm,

I echo what the above folks have said about changing schools. You need an instructor who is on your side. I'm a tough grader, but I make sure my students are prepared before they test. I'm always there biggest fan on the mat.

The above folks & myself have a combined TKD experience of about a Century. We've seen a few things in this Art. But we shouldn't have sway just because of that. We really do want you to succeed in this Art. I know you love this Art. You should be given every opportunity to succeed in the Art you love.

 

[bookworm_cn317]

Actually, it's my fault:
1. I kept losing my balance on the reverse side kicks.
2. I need to do the combinations in a straight line-- not all over the place!

Both of which I'm working on.


And, my instructor isn't to blame for me not passing-- it's my fault. I'm an immature, spoiled brat with LD and Asperger's. It just takes me a little longer to figure stuff out sometimes.

 

[Karatedrifter7]

Yeah awright.

 

[newGuy12]

Well, I'm certainly not qualified to say whether you should quit the school or not, and I am less experienced than the other posters here. I have no say in that matter.

Actually, it's my fault:
1. I kept losing my balance on the reverse side kicks.
2. I need to do the combinations in a straight line-- not all over the place!

Both of which I'm working on.

You will keep working on these things, and I will keep working on my things, like the "Exile Drills" of kicking and holding out the kick, "Juche Style"!

We will both improve, and others along with us. Always improving. We will pay the price in practice and sweat to become more skillful. No problem. It will be ours. We will patiently continue toward this.

And, my instructor isn't to blame for me not passing-- it's my fault. I'm an immature, spoiled brat

Immature spoiled brat? No, this is not true. I can tell from what you write that this is not true. We are TKD students growing in skill and power and fortitude. Our minds and personalities are also becoming stronger. Besides, if you consider some personality faults, I tell you the truth, I could match you and then RAISE you by a whole lot! I have personality faults, but do not let that stop me one bit!

I see this like the stock market. The stock market trends, if you look over a small period of time, go up and down, up and down. However, if you look at the stock market trends over a LONG PERIOD of time, oh,... what do you see then? Oh, it is GOING UP. Its true. Its the same with this practice.

Some weeks seem better, some worse, but OVER THE LONG HAUL, we get better. The comparison just has to be over a long enough time. t1 - t0.

with LD and Asperger's. It just takes me a little longer to figure stuff out sometimes.

I don't know what these things are, but, if they are challenging to you, and you don't let them keep you from continuing, then, I applaud you and let me say that this only gives me more respect for you, if you have to try harder than other people may. Remember how the turtle beat the rabbit in the race? The rabbit could run very fast, no problem. Oh, this will be easy, to win the race. OH, but the rabbit lost. Why? Hahahaha ----------- because the turtle kept on going. Never minding the rabbit, the turtle kept on. That is me. I AM the turtle.

Much stronger than any mutant ninja turtle. I am Robert the Red, Turtle of TKD, who does not stop at adversity! Ha! I persevere!!!

 

[Laurentkd]

Actually, it's my fault:
1. I kept losing my balance on the reverse side kicks.
2. I need to do the combinations in a straight line-- not all over the place!

Both of which I'm working on.

Bookworm, if you were testing for 2nd degree black belt I MIGHT fail you for these two points. But if everything else was perfect, I most likely would still pass you but point out these specific things for you to improve on.

And, my instructor isn't to blame for me not passing-- it's my fault. I'm an immature, spoiled brat with LD and Asperger's. It just takes me a little longer to figure stuff out sometimes.

PLEASE!! From the little I know of you here I do not see that at all! Is that something your instructor has told you? Little things you have said in the past have caused me to wonder about that relationship.
Well, if you won't look into other schools (sigh) I at least want to comend you on your hard work and your no-quit attitude. I hope you are enjoying your training and looking forward to your next opportunity to test...
(But I stand by my statement: If the student is giving 100% and listening to her instructor, it IS the instructors short coming if the student doesn't pass a test the instructor set her up for.)

 

[Kacey]

Actually, it's my fault:
1. I kept losing my balance on the reverse side kicks.
2. I need to do the combinations in a straight line-- not all over the place!

Both of which I'm working on.


And, my instructor isn't to blame for me not passing-- it's my fault. I'm an immature, spoiled brat with LD and Asperger's. It just takes me a little longer to figure stuff out sometimes.

BW, I'm a middle school special education teacher and a TKD instructor - and I have students who have way more difficulty than you, one who has Down's Syndrome, and one who has Cerebral Palsy, a seizure disorder, and mental retardation; they both have IQs in the mid to high 60s. They do their best every time they test, and they are grade on how they perform the standards both compared to how others perform, and how they performed the last time - how much improvement they have shown - and so is every other student I have.

I have had students with everything from the 2 above to students with permanent injuries that meant things had to be modified to students with learning disabilities to students with serious psychiatric problems, mixed in with the normal range of students that every instructor gets - and they were all treated individually, those with difficulties and those without - and the standard was both solid and flexible; for example, I have 3 students who are currently 2nd gups - 1 45 years old (male), 1 26 (male), and 1 13 (female). They each have their own strengths and weaknesses, as has been seen as they've worked their way through the ranks together - the younger man, for example, is more able physically than the older one, who has bad knees and a history of neck problems... but the younger man also had to come back from surgery to remove his gall bladder last summer, while the girl (who is the older man's father) is growing so fast that her coordination is iffy, and her medication for her ADD keeps having to be adjusted because of her growth and changing hormones. But the older man will never be penalized because he can't jump as high, any more than the girl will be penalized because she can't break as many boards as the other two, and so on - people are different, and need to be treated differently.

Any good instructor realizes that all students are individuals and need to be treated as such... and also that if a student who works as hard as you do continues to have problems with particular things, then that student needs to be given additional assistance in learning/demonstrating them - not be failed repeatedly because the student is doing his/her damnedest and the task highlights where the student has difficulties. Failing you at testing repeatedly instead of giving you additional assistance - especially when you are trying so hard - is his failure, not yours.

 

[bookworm_cn317]

I PASSED!!!!!!
I'M A BLUE BELT!
I'M A BLUE BELT!
I'M A BLUE BELT!
I'M A BLUE BELT!
I'M A BLUE BELT!
I'M A BLUE BELT!



You can't tell I'm happy about it, huh?

 

[IcemanSK]

FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!:headbangin:

 

[kidswarrior]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

artyon:artyon:

You're an inspiration in perseverance.​