Grading nerves

Discussion in 'Tae Kwon Do' started by funkymonk, Sep 17, 2004.

  1. funkymonk

    funkymonk Valued Member

    I've got my black tag grading this Sunday and i'm pretty nervous about it. In fact i've been really nervous at every grading since white belt. I've trained hard in preparation but as the grading draws nearer i start to worry more about it. Does anybody else suffer with nerves before gradings and how do you cope with them?
     
  2. urbantus

    urbantus New Member

    Hi
    Im a first Kup Tae Kwon Do ITF
    I too suffer a lot with nerves

    What I find best is the following

    Make sure you are really ready
    Accept that being " nervy " is part of the grading
    Try to relax on the day of the grading
    Take water,fruit juice,bananas,biscuits with you to the grading
    At the grading do a warm up with friends
    Keep calm
    Focus on doing your best
    Do not get over excited

    As long as you know your stuff and stay calm you will be ok

    If you panic and forget your stuff just stop and put your hand up
    Ask if you can restart

    Good luck
     
  3. Jiraiya

    Jiraiya Valued Member

    I think being a little apprehensive on test day is normal. But since you've made it this far, I'm sure you will be fine. Good luck and go kick some test butt! :woo:
     
  4. funkymonk

    funkymonk Valued Member

    Thanks for your helpful comments :)
    I actually feel more relaxed about it now (not too relaxed though) ;)
     
  5. Kwajman

    Kwajman Penguin in paradise....

    I think almost everyone is a bit nervous. I can only remember one grading that I wasn't all worked up over. For for some reason, my last one went very well, calm and all. Good luck!
     
  6. GojuKJoe

    GojuKJoe Valued Member

    i just did my 3rd kyu (karate) grading last week, and i was a little bit nervous, but my advice is, just relax and don't think about it too much, just be natural and let things flow.
     
  7. Andy Cap

    Andy Cap Valued Member

    I have been through a ton of tests - both martial arts related and other. I don't really get nervous anymore about the martial arts tests or even competitions. The reason I don't get nervous is because I know I have done the work. If my instructor has put me up for a grading or testing, he/she must also fel I have done the work. The actual test or grading itself is just my chance to share the thing I love the most with those people that are present. It is not about impressing or even being judged. Inevitably, you are your own judge and will know whether you have done as well as you should have or not.
    So my best advice - enjoy the time and pay attention to the experience because once it is done it is only a memory. Youtr first tests will be the stories of tomorrow, and you will look back fondly on them with a smile. ;)
     
  8. Taliar

    Taliar Train harder!

    Congrats to FunkyMonk who got his blacktag yesterday with a A pass.
    Well done Mate.
     
  9. Yoo Shin

    Yoo Shin New Member

    yeh, congrats! I still get nervous. I usually have to take a sleeping pill the night before testing and will get up bright and early to go jogging for 2-3 miles. I then do a good 30-45 full body stretch and breathing session. This usually puts me in the zone and gets me focused. But once I show up to the testing site, I get the butterflies all over again!
     
  10. cjw314

    cjw314 New Member

    Woot!!!!!!!!1!1111 to teh funkymunk!

    Congrats! :D[​IMG]
     
  11. Dojo

    Dojo Shotokan fanatic

    I'm always nervous at gradings. Last time my mouth was dry and I felt like having sand and dust in my mouth. Although I tell myself I must be calm as I know I've worked a lot and a failure wouldn't make me quit, I still have the "shivers". I try to make myself useful helping lower grades so that I won't think about my exam and drink a lot, still at the "time" I just get dry mouth and almost shaking. The explanation could be that we invest a lot of time and effort in it, we put everything on the table and failure is hard to accept for everyone.
    I try to tell my coleagues when they test for the first time to be calm and I spend my time prior to the exam explaining last minute stuff and giving them hints and tips to pass the exam and feel confident. Last time I had 3 girls I took care of and helped with their basics and katas. They all passed and I was so pleased I didn't care anymore about myself. I passed too, but the emotions were present as always. So I just have to live with it :cool:
    Anyway .. seeing people you helped do great and even pass a hard exam makes you feel a lot better and enjoy some hard won results
     
  12. booksie_girl

    booksie_girl Lucy the Terrible

    Good luck. If you know your material, you will do well ;). It's natural to be nervous. Funnily enough, I'm not terrified about gradings any more, just really scared :D. Just knowing what to expect helps. Then again, if you're grading to black tag, then you'd already have a pretty good idea of what grading entails. I'm sure you'll do well.
     
  13. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member

    I'm sure you'll do well. I guess it's normal to feel a bit nervous. But when you do, you can maybe listen to your favorite songs to relax a little bit or find something else to do to keep your mind off of it.

    good luck and keep us posted :)
     
  14. funkymonk

    funkymonk Valued Member

    Cheers matey and thanks for your help (especially with the padwork) :D

    Well looking back now it was nothing to worry about. I was warming up in a squash court before the grading and found people of my grade coming up to me asking me questions on set sparring, padwork and floorwork and ended up helping them out. It was then that i realised that i was ready and some of these other people weren't. One of the black belts came and got us and told us to get our sparring equipment on as we would be sparring first. As we were waiting to go in i went to put my gumshield in but to my horror i couldn't find it anywhere! We are told that if you do not have full sparring equipment then you cannot grade so i started to panic!! Luckily one lad had a spare gumshield so i had to use that one (YUK!!) Apart from that the grading went well and now i've got summer camp to look forward to this weekend. Thanks for everyones encouragement and advice btw :)
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2004
  15. G_Man

    G_Man New Member

    I’m testing for 4th kyu this Saturday in front of about 20 black belts. My sensei has indicated that its time. I trust his judgement. Am I nervous, you bet I am.
     
  16. XiaoXing

    XiaoXing New Member

    good luck on that.
    Dont ever be nervous..if you mess up..its not like they will look down on you,those 20 blackbelts were also once in your position,so they would most likely know what your going through.
    Also remember doing your testin infront of 20 blackbelts is just like doing it infront of 20 bystanders or people.
     
  17. booksie_girl

    booksie_girl Lucy the Terrible

    Good luck G-man. Nervousness just shows that you're taking it seriously. You'll do well.
     
  18. Ad McG

    Ad McG Troll-killer Supporter

    Just walk in there like the are the god damn man, bust out everything you have to do... then realise you just get a 2quid belt for all those nerves and hard work :D
     
  19. familyguy

    familyguy New Member

    Feeling the nerves

    Hi there!

    I did a search for 'grading nerves' and this thread came up in Google. Noticed it was back in 2004, a long time ago... guessing funkymonk must be at least a 2nd Dan black belt now!! Hope the grading went really well.

    I wasn't sure if it was best to continue here or not? I've just been reading through, helpful to take in some of the comments.

    I decided to set up an account today and well, here's where I'm at.

    I've been really worried about taking my next grading as the last one I literally had a complete mind blank, as in, absolutely nothing in my head but blackness... this was really scary and unfortunately has haunted me since. I should point out the night before I didn't get any sleep actually because of a work presentation. My wife keeps telling me this is why I had the mind blank, my head was mashed from thinking about work. I agree though hard to snap out of the negative 'will it happen again' self talk.

    A while back my son took his next grading, we've been going up the belts together. I ended up using an excuse to get out of it. This has frustrated me.

    Where I'm at now.... I've booked myself in for the next grading, end of the month. Every day I've been going over the patterns I need to do in my head whilst walking to work, on the train etc etc (I'm going for my blue tag, TAGB)

    I'm confident I know the patterns and really put in the effort with power in my moves. I'm just very worried about the mind blank issue.

    Roll on December (after the grading!)
     
  20. andyjeffries

    andyjeffries Valued Member

    Put it out of your mind (no pun intended). Concentrate on knowing the first movement of each pattern. So that when someone says "Do Pattern X" you know "OK, from Junbi, the first movement is". Have someone in the family test you by shouting out the name of a pattern and you have to do the first movement (or 2 or 3) as quickly as possible.

    What you'll find is that once you do the first (few) movement(s) the rest follows on naturally (if you've practiced the patterns enough).

    By doing this you reduce mental stress/worry. Feel confident in knowing that you know the first few movements for each pattern, and then when you start doing a pattern your body will naturally complete it. Mentally say to your self that confidence builder before the start of the test. If you start to have a negative thought - stop mentally saying it and say something like the one above "I know the first few moves for any pattern. From there I know the whole pattern".

    Good luck.
     

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