TKD Black Belt test have any of you been present at this type of promotions?

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Something I thought we could discuss. I had the opportunity to see a woman practioner of TKD trying to pass the breaking part of her black belt promotion.

It seem the testers put a tremedous emphasis on breaking a single hand held board with a 360 degree heel kick. She did well with her forms and indivdual techniques and her knowledge of what she has learned was excellent. Her knowledge of TKD history was fine also yet she failed the board break and didn’t receive her promotion.

Boards don’t fight back whats your take on this?
Are we as MA focusing in the wrong direction?

You Have The Power

Dave S :rolleyes:

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Sure, I have seen a few of them, and I had to do one as well.

I dont think the TKD instructor in your example is losing touch with the spirit inherant in martial arts. Dont you think that if someone wants to be of Dan Rank them they should be able to execute one kick? A lot of people disagree with me on this but First Dan rank means nothing if there are no standards to adhere to. I have seen BB’s that couldn’t even hold a stance correctly. If you are of Dan Rank, you SHOULD be able to do a stance that beginners in your dojang do easily.

If it were me, I would have given her another chance and if she blew that, I would give her 2-4 weeks and then test her again. I might like a good effort but I am not an unreasonable person.

I am going to post what I did for my first Dan, and you tell me if it is to harsh. Oh, you can also expect a response from Robin as she is second Dan. Here goes…

1/ Performing all the Taeguk and six Palgwe Forms.

2/ Demonstrating every basic block, kick, punch and self-defense drill you have been taught in front of your instructor. (Makki, Cha-gi, Chi-Gi, and Hosinsool in Korean.) Then, he moved on to more advanced techniques. A little bit of leeway was allowed for the advanced techniques as many of us had just started learning them. It was more to see how we moved.

3/Break a concrete block(This part was taken out of my Dojangs curriculum when I went so I did not do this.)

4/We had a two months to make a form that combined elements of what we had learned. This was HARD!!! Our Sabum did not expect a miracle but I felt I performed poorly at this(Stage fright!)

5/We had to write a paper on what we had learned physically and emotionally and what a Dan Ranking meant to us.

6/Spar three people one on one… one after the other.

7/Spar three people at the same time.

8/Do the breaks you talked about plus a knifeedge handstrike to a hanging board. I am positive the hand breaks had three boards and I believe the heel kick had two but I am not certain of that.

Last but not least, your grasp of the Korean Language in regards to martial arts terminology must be good.

I know where you are coming from but with Black Belts being handed out like candy, a line has to be drawn.

Isn’t it ironic that I now train in a system that doesn’t use belts as rank. They use skill and seniority in an informal ranking structure. I like this the best! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! :smiley:

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my 2 cents

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=“-1”>quote:</font><HR> Boards don’t fight back whats your take on this?[/quote]

hi

Here’s my 2 cents. I think the meaning of the breaking the boards test is not wether the board(opponent) fights back or not but showing that you have the power and technique to hit the target precisely and break it, if it’s not possible on a real opponent it sure has a good chance of brining on some damage and pain.

Everyone knows boards don’t fight back but people get a little too carried away with it and start thinking themselves more invincible.Then again there is nothing wrong with having confidence in yourself because it can help you a great deal especially in a fight but overconfidence is bad also.

“Always be ready”

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Agreed, when peple start “full contact board sparring” you’ll see me quoting “boards don’t fight back”. Until then, we can argue how good a test it is (though usually the no one argues that if someone cannot kick-break a board their kick has power anyway) but the phrase is silly.

Board breaking is not a test of martial ability, not much other than fighting is.

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Boards to fight back when you don’t break them and they can hurt a lot!

Secondly at my TKD school, we’re very strict on everything. Students, Martial arts, Respect, and Decipline. When someone does the black belt test, its behind closed doors and its very intense.

First you have to run something like 6-10k in 40 minutes, then do certain amounts of pushups and situps and then do a number of board breaking that the instructor picks for you.

They can break up to 5 boards at the same time even when you’re about 14 years old.

And finally, the whole practice of board breaking is to build more concentration and to help you direct all your energy on 1 point so you can break the board easier.

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