What is your criteria for evaluating a student during a Blackbelt test?

Greetings,
A little background on the question first: I was recently invited to be part of the grading panel for a black belt test in our organization. I was the junior member on the evaluation panel. There were (2)1st Dan candidates and (2) 2nd Dan candidates. All were from the same school.
In watching the 4 people the skill and fluidity of the candidates varied dramatically. The1st Dan candidates displayed better skill and fluidity than the other two for one example of the variety but even then there were weaknesses, including:
1)Incorrect striking surfaces and lack of knowledge about application of techniques.
2) Issues with completing forms or watching others to queue off of
3) Inability to perform a majority of kicking techniques above a knee level
4) Not being able to complete basic breaking in one case (2nd Dan)
5) Lack of understanding of combination techniques (Kicks and Punches) and how to do them

My concern is that my expectations may have been to high as I teach students to do these as well as a range of other items for testing including basic sweeps and ukemi; and, I certainly expect a strong basic foundation for a black belt.

To those who have tested blackbelts before:
What do you look for in a candidate for 1st and 2nd?
Have you ever recommended failing a candidate? (Under what circumstances?)

To those that haven't tested others:
Would you prefer to be told about your weaknesses in a case like this to improve pass or fail?
The reason I ask this is that in talking to the instructor I got the impression that he wouldn't be communicating a lot of the panels observations to the student which has its own set of issues.

Thanks,

 

That has always been my position on this. I was stunned by it in many ways. I have even tried to chalk it up to a combination of nerves and some kind of physical disability, but we weren't informed of any physical limits. I also, wouldn't have expected a 2nd dan candidate to suffer from nerves over a test.

 

I've never graded anyone, but have been graded many times. I always like to get feedback from the grader(s). It gives me an idea of what I need to work on.

 

I've sat on quite a few black belt test panels.

To me, the real key is that instructors shouldn't recommend people to test unless they really are 'ready'. For our own students, we run a 'closed-door' pre-test a month or so prior to the formal 'open' test - the pre-test is much more grueling and intensive (the closed door format allows us as much time as we want - the 'open' test is kept a bit shorter to keep it bearable for spectators and etc)

Here's what I generally look for:
Basics - I like to watch the line drills and look for chambers, retractions, targets, and etc. The line drills should cover most of the basic techniques and basic footwork as well as more challenging combinations.

Patterns (poomsae/hyungsae) - by 1st dan, you should know all of your patterns by name and called out in any order. Sometimes I will ask to see Tae-geuk 1/3/5/7 non-stop. Sometimes I will call out forms in a random order. I want to see a good pace, chambers, retractions, proper breathing, and good ki-haps. If a student messes up, I expect them to go to a ready stance and wait to be asked to begin again. For 1st dan at our school, they'd have about 16 patterns to do. I'd expect some small errors but nothing substantial.

Step sparring - We like to see 1, 2, and 3 step sparring from a deep front stance/step punch and from a walking stance/step punch. We want to see crispness of blocks and techniques. We like to see a variety of hand techniques, foot techniques, sweeps/throws, and locks.

Self defense - candidates should be able to escape from/deal with grabs/attacks of pretty much any type. We ask the attacker to turn it up pretty well and from the candidate we want to see intensity, good concepts, and ability to adjust/adapt to attacks. We may throw a few 'new' scenarios to see how they apply previously learned material in new situations. (I wouldn't fail the for failing to respond to something we hadn't covered, but it would get covered in the next class)

Sparring - I want to see intensity, focus, breathing, and proper techniques applied under full contact TKD rules. We'll usually put them in with a similar size/age opponent but may rotate in a bigger or smaller one. We will run the rounds until the candidate is worn out. I want to see how they react and maintain a good defense/offense as they tire. Sometimes, we will add some 'fun' stuff here too, like maybe allow some more open rules, depending on the background of the candidate(s)

Breaking - For 1st and 2nd dan, we want to see a 3 or 4 station break (for 1st dan, one must be a spinning heel kick). We like at least one to be a 'power' break (more than one board). The candidate should be able to set up the breaks (safely and properly setting up holders and using proper procedure for bowing them in) and then break them (hopefully) on the first try. We give additional attempts if the break isn't successful (unless it's clear that it will not break)

The test should run through pretty much the whole curriculum by the end. By the time we ask them to test, we should know they can do it. The test is more to see how they do with the added pressure/stress and to watch how they deal with it. Will they snap on a partner? Will they give up partway through? (If they snap on a partner or quit, I would consider that a 'fail')

I only recall a few candidates who did not pass. In most cases, it was a matter of doing poorly on one section (usually patterns or breaks) - in those cases, we gave them a month to train and then re-test that component. Most did and passed - some did not return.

 

Minimum competency levels in physical areas and knowledge of techniques.

Brain Farts happen at competitions and tests. I have had one on at least a couple of my BB tests where I "Forgot" the pattern in the middle. This is usualy due to focusing on some recent correction rather than what I was doing. Hence my advice to all not to try and make any adjustments at testing or tournament. Just go with the flo and let the training take over. The pattern was always completed on the seconf attempt. BB Candidates are given 2 addittional attempst if a "Brain Fart is percieved"

Breaking gets a total of 4 attempts with #4 being one less than the required # of Boards.

 

actually personally i would rather be told what i could improve even if i past, cause remember, these techniques will one day be applied in a real life regardless the ratio of that happening.

 

Great feedback all. I understand and agree with what has been said. Its good to see I'm not holding people to to high of a standard. Most troubling in this case is the quality of skill from 1st to 2nd from the same instructor. Personally based on the overall performance of the seconds I wouldn't have put them up to test. skill wise the 1st candidates were more solid and understood/demonstrated the techniques while the 2nds didn't seem to know what to do.

 

I`ve held a number of BB gradings at my school, which are open to others (they can all be viewed here: http://www.raynerslanetkd.com/Reels_Active_01.html).. just so you can see how we do things.

I have also been asked to sit on other BB gradings sometimes, but have refused because I know that 'that' clubs requirements are not the same as what I would require as i want to see more than a few patterns and sparring. I say that, not because I think we are the bee's-knees, but simply that I want to see certain stuff, which I feel a BB should be doing and if a school is limiting its grading to say, patterns/sparring/breaking.. I would hope they would be pretty good.. but often are not!

IMO if you are grading someone to BB level, then expectations should be high.. but also consideration that if its a tough grading, mistakes can and do happen and very few perform at their best.

But, regarding the OP, most of what you have said would help me 'fail' the candidates.

1)Incorrect striking surfaces and lack of knowledge about application of techniques.
- a big no no! (though for most, application knowledge is limited IMO)

2) Issues with completing forms or watching others to queue off of
- a very big no no - if you dont know your patterns to a good standard, you shouldn't even be there IMO

3) Inability to perform a majority of kicking techniques above a knee level
- If its simply lack of training, that would be worrying. If they are severely inflexible due to age or injury, then its fine.

4) Not being able to complete basic breaking in one case (2nd Dan)
- This can happen if they are tired from the grading etc. but the question would be, just how basic is the requirement and what do the grading rules say (in my day, it was no break, no pass - 3 attempts only)

5) Lack of understanding of combination techniques (Kicks and Punches) and how to do them
- bit worrying this one.. if its on the syllabus that they have to know them, they should know them.. if they are just called out at random and they dont usually use said combination, then its 50/50, although if its a simple combination a BB candidate should be able to perform it reasonably well I guess!


To those who have tested blackbelts before:
What do you look for in a candidate for 1st and 2nd?
That they can perform the required syllabus to a good standard across the board, have a good attitude and don't give up when it get rough!

Have you ever recommended failing a candidate? (Under what circumstances?)
yes, we (the grading panel) have failed students a number of times for various things - not having an over-all good standard, failing (poor performance) on one section of the syllabus (ours have 5), theory (we have a 2.5 hour theory examiner and a 60% pass mark must be achieved) and even poor attitude! And these views (and thus reasons to fail) arn't just mine, we have a panel of usually 5 BB's from 3rd to 7th degree and unless its totally clear cut, we always have a discussion on the students performance discussing the pro's/con's of passing/failing them if it wasnt up to scratch.

Stuart
Ps. And feed back is always important IMO

 

Thank you everyone for the replies. I'm glad to see that many people view it the same way I do. If any one else has any input feel free to chime in.