Your most memorable rank test

[Dirty Dog]

Wife? Risky! You are brave sir!

Not really. Our tests have always had a panel, so I didn't do the grading myself. I've never scored any of my family.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

There are so many people in MT that have years or decades of experience.My question is, what was your most memorable rank test?

No rank tests In Wing Woo Gar, TCMA. However, my first meeting with Sifu Woo was somewhat of a test. I had been training about two years when I went to meet him at my in Hollywood. I walked in and sat down and waited three hours to be acknowledged. When he finished teaching, he said “come over here and let me see you do a horse stance.” Then, “ Do you feel the peroneus longus muscle here?” I replied yes, then he said “No you don’t” and began to walk behind me. I turned my head to see what he was doing and he raised his voice a little and said “ Don’t watch me! You watch the white wall!” A second later he struck me very hard on the lower lateral leg with a staff and said “ now you feel it! come on back in the morning”. I was back the next morning and ready for whatever came my way. It sounds rough but I loved him for his uncompromising way of teaching.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Not really. Our tests have always had a panel, so I didn't do the grading myself. I've never scored any of my family.

Oh ok it sounded like a dangerous thing. I love my wife and my life so I don’t risk one with the other.

 

[bill miller]

No rank tests In Wing Woo Gar, TCMA. However, my first meeting with Sifu Woo was somewhat of a test. I had been training about two years when I went to meet him at my in Hollywood. I walked in and sat down and waited three hours to be acknowledged. When he finished teaching, he said “come over here and let me see you do a horse stance.” Then, “ Do you feel the peroneus longus muscle here?” I replied yes, then he said “No you don’t” and began to walk behind me. I turned my head to see what he was doing and he raised his voice a little and said “ Don’t watch me! You watch the white wall!” A second later he struck me very hard on the lower lateral leg with a staff and said “ now you feel it! come on back in the morning”. I was back the next morning and ready for whatever came my way. It sounds rough but I loved him for his uncompromising way of teaching.

That is the way it should be.

 

[wab25]

This happened two weeks before a large convention for Danzan Ryu, that I was hoping to attend. (being the only Danzan Ryu instructor with in a 6-7 hour drive... I like to go to as many Danzan Ryu events as I can... which is not all that many considering the distance)

I was attending my Shotokan class, as a purple belt... and this class was testing two other guys, one for brown and one for black. This was the fight night portion of the test. The student is put in the middle of the circle made by the rest of the class. The student will fight 15 minutes straight, but the sensei calls the name of a student who fights him, until the next name is called. No break for the student testing. If the testing student gets near the edge of the circle, the students on the edge of the circle get to push him back into the middle... this sort of introduces being in a group of people fighting.

Sensei came to me and the other black belts and wanted us to lay the wood a bit, and let the students feel it a bit, especially the one testing for black belt. Since I have rank and experience in Danzan Ryu, he wanted me to mix in some jujitsu and take downs as well.

We started the brown belt student first. My name was called, and I soon got in a good round house kick to his ribs. He left himself wide open after receiving the kick... So, I got a little too sure of myself. I feinted, his arm started to move up, exposing his ribs and I threw two round houses to his ribs, expecting him to give the same reaction of leaving his ribs open after the impact. Well, he learned. My first round house hit full ribs, but he lowered his elbow on the second... my leg made full contact on the point of his elbow. This time it felt weird. Usually, that is a nice sharp pain... this one was very dull, but still hurt, a lot. I continued fighting until the next name was called and I took my spot in the circle.

While in the circle, trying to watch what was going on and trying to reach out to push the guy if he got close enough... I noticed out of the corner of my eye, that something was on top of my foot. I tried to flick it away, but it stayed. When I looked down, my lower shin and ankle were swelled up like a balloon. I would saw like a soft ball, but it was bigger than that. Where my ankle had been, there was a big swollen ball, from lower shin to mid foot... no ankle at all.

I motioned to sensei, pointed at my foot and went to get ice. After the brown belt student was done, Sensei came over and had a look and was disappointed... as he really wanted me to go after the black belt student. I was disappointed as I thought I would now be missing the convention I had been planning on going to.

As I sat there with ice, I realized that if I applied enough pressure with the ice, the swelling would go down dramatically. I could stand and walk and while there was pain, the pain did not seem to be effected by standing or walking on it. The swelling would return fast though without the ice and pressure. But, if I kept moving the foot, I could keep moving the foot.

So, I jumped up into the circle for the black belt test. My name was called. And the first technique I threw... was a round house to the ribs, with the same foot. This time, no doubling up. The kick went well for me, not so much for him, and I continued to fight. I was able to press him pretty hard and even got off some of the throws and takedowns that sensei had asked for... (I tried for more, but most of them he was able to defend)

At the end of class, I iced my ankle real good and then jammed it in the shoe and drove home. It kept swelling up for a few days and was generally sore... but I was able to go to the convention and participate there as well. I still have no idea what I really did to my ankle. I went from "dang I think I broke my ankle" to "well this hurts, but aside from the swelling, its not too bad" to throwing the same technique with the same leg successfully in like 30 minutes. Definitely one to remember. (I also remember not to get too sure of myself, and to stay away from double round house kicks... )

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

That is the way it should be.

Thanks. That way worked for me and my training brothers but Somehow, I don’t think I could get away with that.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Not mine, I'm a Traditional Chinese martial Arts guy...meaning no belt ranks.

But my youngest's last Aikido test. She was testing for 3rd kyu and did a great job. The Dan ranks holding the test thought she did wonderful and told her she passed to 3rd kyu and the sensei (who was there on the sidelines that day) stopped them went and talked with them and they then told her she was a 4th Kyu.

I don't understand. Kyu runs from high to low as you advance. Why did the instructor have them downgrade her?

 

[Xue Sheng]

I don't understand. Kyu runs from high to low as you advance. Why did the instructor have them downgrade her?

sorry got that backwards, that was pre-pandemic. She was going for 6th kyu and he gave her 5th Kyu

 

[bill miller]

I am wondering, what is the youngest black belt any of you have ever come a cross? Over the years, I have seen kids as young as seven receive their first Dan, with a modified rank test. I personally would never test an child for that rank, no matter how "gifted" they were, due to lack of maturity, but I know some who have,

 

[Dirty Dog]

I am wondering, what is the youngest black belt any of you have ever come a cross? Over the years, I have seen kids as young as seven receive their first Dan, with a modified rank test. I personally would never test an child for that rank, no matter how "gifted" they were, due to lack of maturity, but I know some who have,

I've awarded exactly three black belts to students under 18. The youngest was 16. All were exceptional people who had trained with us for more than ten years.
I've seen 7-8 year olds with black belts. Not my school, not my concern.

 

[chiquest]

It was my 1st Dan test forty-six years ago. Our style of Kenpo has 82 formal sequences...I had to perform all of them multiple times at full speed. Then, I had to spar 6 Black Belts separately for at least 5 straight minutes each. Four of our highest ranking Black Belts were then positioned in a darkened 12x12 room and were told to strike and kick me full contact until I or they gave in...I was not about to. I had to protect myself and counter the attacks effectively with our multiple attacker defenses. It took about two hours with no breaks.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

sorry got that backwards, that was pre-pandemic. She was going for 6th kyu and he gave her 5th Kyu

That makes much more sense! She must have impressed them.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I am wondering, what is the youngest black belt any of you have ever come a cross? Over the years, I have seen kids as young as seven receive their first Dan, with a modified rank test. I personally would never test an child for that rank, no matter how "gifted" they were, due to lack of maturity, but I know some who have,

Within the organization I came up in, you had to be 16 to test for BB. So far as I know, nobody under 18 ever has.

 

[bill miller]

Within the organization I came up in, you had to be 16 to test for BB. So far as I know, nobody under 18 ever has.

Sixteen was my absolute limit as well

 

[Dirty Dog]

Within the organization I came up in, you had to be 16 to test for BB. So far as I know, nobody under 18 ever has.

I'm more a fan of guidelines than rules.

 

[bill miller]

I'm more a fan of guidelines than rules.

I know that there are exceptions, but could a seven, or even a twelve year old, meet up to, not just the physical, but also the deeper aspects that a Dan rank can entail? I have seen too many kids with black belts who haven't a clue of what that rank should mean, not to just the style, but also to their peers. As I wrote in the at the start of this post, I know there can be exceptions.

 

[Flying Crane]

I know that there are exceptions, but could a seven, or even a twelve year old, meet up to, not just the physical, but also the deeper aspects that a Dan rank can entail? I have seen too many kids with black belts who haven't a clue of what that rank should mean, not to just the style, but also to their peers. As I wrote in the at the start of this post, I know there can be exceptions.

I personally would never do it, but I cannot control what others do. It’s one of those things I need to just not let myself get worked up over.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I know that there are exceptions, but could a seven, or even a twelve year old, meet up to, not just the physical, but also the deeper aspects that a Dan rank can entail?

I hesitate to say it's impossible, but it would certainly be extremely unlikely, and to date it has never happened.

I have seen too many kids with black belts who haven't a clue of what that rank should mean, not to just the style, but also to their peers. As I wrote in the at the start of this post, I know there can be exceptions.

Rank only has meaning within the system that awarded it. A "black belt" means different things in different systems. If it's not your school, it's not your business.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I'm more a fan of guidelines than rules.

I agree. And I don't think all instructors saw the age and time-in-rank as hard rules (though all of my instructors did). I set some up when I created my curriculum (in case anyone else ever gets far enough to teach it), and made sure to specify they are guidelines. A good instructor knows when to bend the guidelines, and a bad instructor can't be saved by them.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I know that there are exceptions, but could a seven, or even a twelve year old, meet up to, not just the physical, but also the deeper aspects that a Dan rank can entail? I have seen too many kids with black belts who haven't a clue of what that rank should mean, not to just the style, but also to their peers. As I wrote in the at the start of this post, I know there can be exceptions.

I'm more nonchalant about that. The BB doesn't mean the same thing across groups. If a school gives BB to young kids, it just tells me something about what that rank means to them.

I've heard similar arguments about "adult" (the original) ranks in my primary art. Some folks said nobody under 13 could earn an adult rank, because that's the original admission minimum at the first school in the organization. Others decided a youth who made it through all the youth ranks (there are 3) was eligible to test for their first adult rank, regardless of age.

And I have a similar disconnect with the rest of NGA on the first rank. I don't give out the first earned belt (yellow) until someone has about a year with me (nobody has managed faster, though it'd be possible). Elsewhere in the art, yellow is often earned in the first few months (technically possible in 6 weeks). Their yellow just doesn't mean the same thing mine does.