Hey who out there reckons they've got the hardest first dan grading at their club? I know a few places only stick with the minimum requirements, but there are also a lot that do heaps more. I'm mainly interested in Kukkiwon syllabus, but getting an insight into other taekwondo styles is cool too. Remember this isn't a discussion about whose syllabus is the best, just the hardest.
Let me just check I have this correct; you're 17 years old and a 3rd Dan? I don't know the answer to your question but I'm assuming the answer is not your club...
i got the easy way in, my two year older friend had to do jumping reverse roundhouses. mind you i got my belt when i was 11
Actually I've found that my club's gradings are quite a lot more challenging compared to most clubs anywhere nearby, I don't think ours is anywhere near the hardest, but it's certainly no easy task. The only reason I'm the only 3rd dan at our club is because of the number of hours I've put into training. So before you go accusing our syllabus of being easy because you like to assume 17 year olds=/=3rd dans, maybe you should find out how skilled they actually are.
A skilled third Dan at 17 in an authentic style, while rare, is possible. My black belt grading is in the hands of the entire senior commitee of my association so was a lot easier than what I'm used to. On the other hand, my coloured belt gradings were conducted by Mr. Kenny Walton, and for want of a better word, he was a total cu... really, really tough. My 1st kup grading was absolute torture, but I think the worst was actually my 3rd kup grading.
I have no idea how skilled you are, but going by the MINIMUM time required between testing for Kukkiwon Dan grades you would have been 14 when you got your 1st Dan. That's assuming you left one year between 1st and 2nd Dan, and 2 between 2nd and 3rd. Also, the minimum age for 1st Dan is 15 so I'm not sure how that would work either, unless you've been going up a Dan grade every year?
I sat my 1st kup with Paul Donelly in the TAGB, and that was the hardest grading I've ever done as well. They say it's to prepare you, but jeez, I was sore for days with that one. That was 1993 and I can still remember wanting to spew!
Yeh, I've been grading minimum time, and that does mean I graded to 1st poom when I was 14, but I still don't see how that's relevant to this discussion. Could we please get some examples as to what made the grading so hard.
Well, mines not KKW, and I dont know if its the toughest, but its pretty indepth. See http://www.raynerslanetkd.com/1st_Kup.html Videos of actual gradings taking place can be viewed at: http://www.raynerslanetkd.com/Reels_Active_01.html Let me know how they compare! Regards, Stuart
KKW testing isn't the end all..... My 1st Dan included 18 patterns, 18 speed drills, defense drills against 1,2,3 opponents. 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, two mile run. All punches, all kicks in sets of 10. A set of 10 takedowns to the floor. Chucks, bo staff, and escrima stick patterns, memorization of pattern definitions, I think thats it..... Took about 4 hours.
You know, I never understood why so many gradings include things like 100 push ups, 100 press ups & runs etc... not getting at you, just dont see the point of it... it stuff a guy at a gym can do and is no way related to good/bad TKD! Stuart
Did anyone have to take a korean written and oral test? for my 1st dan i had a little 4 page written exam testing me on all the moves,body parts the like in korean
My 2 hardest gradings were 10th Kup to 9th Kup, and 1st Kup to 1st Dan. I don't think I could walk properly for at least a week after each grading. I also had broken bits.
Yes.. all our dan gradings ahve a written paper that takes roughly 2.5 to 3 hours to complete and needs to be passed with 65% or more. Stuart
Though I am far from testing for my first dan, I have researched what is required at my school. There are two days of testing, first day is fitness. Reason I quote the above is that our fitness testing involves 5 sets of 50 push ups and sit ups with a minute rest between. And a timed run *which I think was 4 km or maybe 3.8 for some reason. I didn't even ask about the second day because I was stuck on the 5 x 50 push up part. I can see why the fitness testing is good though, all of the black belts at my school are fit and highly skilled. The reason I started taekwon do was to get in shape so it will be quite an accomplishment for me if I can succeed in getting my first dan someday.
You have a nice looking website. I say talent comes in all ages. I, myself, am in an odd boat--I was a teen black belt. My Taekwondo went dormant for a while, however. I have now resumed my training. Every once in a while, I find myself thinking that I was better in my younger/less-afflicted-by-the-stresses-of-life self. Still, I realize that as an older fellow (now 29), I have a bit more knowledge and experience that makes my training click in other ways. More to you original question--my 1st dan grading was very tough; I almost passed out after it. At my current school, however, the gradings seem to be more like the finish line instead of the race. My instructors only let folks test who have clearly shown that they have what it takes to pass. Therefore, tests aren't grueling (though the work to get there is).
Stuart your grading content is very similar, though not identical to the grading which i sat for my first degree, here in Scotland. (ITF TKD). It was both physically and mentally tough, but then a Black Belt grading should be, particularly first degree, as this is the one which is the "end of the beginning" as it were and IMHO the student should have a certain level of fitness as well as a very good knowledge of the terminology etc. The quality of pattern should also be very high, performed with both power and proper technique. This in itself can be very tiring after completing all patterns from Chon Ji to Choong Moo We also had some stuff thrown in that we hadn't learned yet, just to see how we would cope under pressure.
Exactly my point. For a decent BB test, you should alreay be fit through training, hence no need to "test" it in that way! Excellant. Whose the instructor? Any video? Regards, Stuart
