When I promote students to Black Belt, I want them to feel enriched, excited, nurtured and worthy. Black Belt tests should be a celebration of victory, not a journey into the unknown reaches of physical exertion, some mystical event that isn’t to be discussed in the dojo, or even an opportunity for the grading board to demonstrate to the candidates just how little they know. Having been through these types of tests, I can speak from personal experience.
In an effort to encourage a sense of team spirit and synergy, and also enhance retention, I developed an approach to our Black Belt testing process that has been successful and works with both the striking and throwing arts.
Approximately 25% of the population suffers from test anxiety, so I wanted to remove some anxiety and an element of the unknown from the testing event by developing a sense of comradeship amongst those testing. Everyone in the dojo, from Green Belt and higher, is expected to participate in the event. Anyone who either has time in grade or is within one month of time of grade requirements is eligible to test for his/her next rank.
As a result, my Black Belt-rank tests look like very large rank-requirement classes filled with students from Green through Black Belt. There’s much hard work, fun and sweat in my school’s Black Belt tests. The tests take an entire evening, but they are not rigid, discipline-driven events. They are open to spectators.
Our school conducts adult Black Belt-rank tests six months apart: the spring and fall. The two ranks below Black Belt are on six-month test cycles, too. If a student tests in the spring for Black Belt candidacy, then he or she should be testing again in the fall for his or her Black Belt. Since the rank test is an opportunity for everyone from Green Belt and higher to take the test, by the time a Green Belt has made it to Black Belt candidacy, he or she will have seen and participated in at least eight Black Belt-rank tests.
An outcome of this process is that apart from the new material that will be performed at each new rank level, every student knows what to expect from a Black Belt-rank test.
There’s a process, which leads to the rank test. Classes, during the months before the test, fill any holes and ensure that the students are ready. Approximately a month prior to the test, small groups of students begin to stay after class or meet on the weekends with one of the instructors to work on their requirements. These groups develop spontaneously and become part of the team-building process. Typically, these groups develop amongst those students who are testing for the two belts immediately below Black, and are led by a Black Belt instructor who acts as a mentor. The ad-hoc groups also help the Black Belt students to refine and polish their skills, due to the constant barrage of questions being asked about the requirements.
