Black Belt Test question?

Question

YAY MY BLACK BELT TEST WAS YESTERDAY AND I PASSED WOOHOOO I AM NOW A FIRST DAN IN TKD
now, to my question. I just wanted to know about you people's black belt tests, how they went, what you did, how you felt afterwards, and anything else you may want to say about it (except for TKD haters talking about why TKD sucks this is about black belt tests NOT which art is better than another).
thanks!

oh my god cherrico, ten hours??? that's crazy mine was just 4 hours and i felt like i was gonna die and i almost puked i can't imagine doing that for TEN hours!
and SMtilley, it sucks that you flunked the essay portion luckily my instructor took out the essay portion for me because a) he already knew that I knew everything because i teach and b) he was focusing more on our spirit and how much effort we gave the test and how we represent his school than just memorization.

here's how mine went
first, we ran a mile and a half, then did a wheelbarrow thingy for a quarter mile, then we did push-up walks for another quarter mile, then we carried each other (there were two people at this test) on our backs for a mile each, and did about 200 squats with them on our back, then ran up and down a ramp five times with each other on our back.
then we grappled for 20 minutes, and sparred for 15 minutes. then i grappled and sparred the instructor for that long.
we then did the techniques part, where we did EVERYTHING we had learned.
we then went into the pushups and leg throws. we have to do 100 pushups and 100 legthrows in two minutes (no, not all in two minutes we get two minutes for each). i did the pushups first try, but had to try the leg-throws three times. after that we did the oral part where he asked us what a black belt means, why we wanted to be a black belt, and what we could contribute to the world if we were a black belt. I was so glad when i passed.

wow i'm lucky i don't have to wait half as long as some of you guys do for your belts my black belt has been on the "black belt club" wall for about 3 years.

stella-
you only had to do TWENTY pushups and THIRTY sit-ups???? jeez were you even sore at all afterwards????
the four hour technique part makes sense although my instructor focuses more on you spirit and how much you work for it then on your technique (although if he knew i had bad technique he wouldn't have let me test, the technique part was basically during classes in the month before the test.).

Answer 1

Many congratulations on your successful advancement and welcome to the ranks of the Dan holders.

My own 1st Dan promotion exam in TaeKwon-Do was a four hour experience at a fitness center with three other clubs participating and about a dozen testing candidates. It was an exhillirating and exhausting time, both mentally and physically, but it was also a most rewarding and empowering undertaking.

The test was pretty comprehensive. We did basic techniques, floor drills, focus target striking, body shield target striking, speed drills, technique skills, power drills, forms, round-robin sparring, pre-defined self-defense and twenty weapon self-defense responses, wood and brick breaking, and finally we were questioned by a panel of six master instructors. I had also submitted a required 5,000 word essay on any subject of my choice.

I had achieved quite a bit by the time I tested to 1st Dan in TaeKwon-Do, but earning my very 1st black belt in any formal art was definately a very proud moment and a special highlight for me.

I have remained friends with the Master instructor at the time who presided over the event (he is now a 9th Dan in TaeKwon-Do) although most of those who tested with me no longer train through injury, life committments, and a number of other factors. That is a shame to me, but I know entirely the committment and time it takes to continue the journey.

I hope you will continue the journey, and that I'll be able to welcome you to your 5th and 7th Dan's at some point :) It actually happens before you expect or realize it, especially if you're not thinking about it and just enjoying your training, teaching, learning, sharing, and new experiences.

Ken C
9th Dan HapMoosaKi-Do
8th Dan TaeKwon-Do
7th Dan YongChul-Do

Answer 2

I tested for my first dan two years ago.. so after about 4-5 years of training. We had a physical portion of the test that we had to pass and it was tested on a different day from the actual test. We had to do 10 pull-ups, 20 push-ups (with our noses touching the ground), 30 sit-ups, run a mile under 8 minutes, and reach 170 degrees in the splits. The actual test was about 4 hours long and we were tested on our kicks and combinations. Then we kicked paddles and bags and such which was then followed by our forms. We had our tae-geuks and koryo tested then some more kicking forms that only our school had. Then we did some aerial kicks on a sandbag (while jumping over various objects like chairs and kicking bags). Then we sparred each other for a couple of rounds with full gear on. The breaking was last. We each had to break one board with one kick, and then 2 boards, and then 3 boards. I used 360 back kick for the first one and then back kick for the last two. At the end, we answered questions and gave a speech. We also had a writting portion that questioned us about the history or taekwondo and various facts. The essay portion had to be six pages long. It was a very exciting yet stressful experience. Congrats on your black belt!

Answer 3

Wow. Compared to everyone elses mine seems easy. But I trained about 5 years to get it. My test was two hours. At home we were required to write a thesis, fill out a form about our main techniques in forms, kicks etc. and meditate for four hours. On the test day we did 1-8 taeguk and koryo, a LOT of kicks, punches, exercises called moo shims (spelling?), some pushups and sit ups. We sparred, did self defenses (hapkidos) and broke our boards. After this we did a questionnaire with our master. Finally we finished. We don't recieve our black belts for a couple months depending on how backed up Kukkiwon is in Korea. I'm not even an official black belt because I am still six months away from being sixteen.

Answer 4

I've been through 4 now, and each has been a different experience. My first dan was an 8 hour test over 3 days. Day one was the pre-test, one month before the actual test (about 6 hours). The test itself was just about 2 hours. The pre-test comprised about 75% of our score, so by the test you had already passed or not...

My second dan was also a two part test. The first in front of a 6th Dan for about 3 hours. Then in front of our Grandmasters (8th and 9th Dan) for about 3 hours.

3rd Dan was the hardest 2.5 hours of my life (at the time). Well... taking into account all the preparation/pre-testing, the whole test was about 9 hours or so... But still, the actual test in front of about 25 5th-9th Dans was grueling. Add to that the fact that I was testing alongside Daniel Sterling (MTV's Final Fu Champion, 23x world Forms champ), and you can imagine how poor the rest of us looked :)

My 4th Dan was similar time wise, but the actual test was about 4 hours long. That was by far the largest test I have ever been in. There were 43 candidates testing from everything from 1st to 7th Dan - including 19 new 4th Dan Master Candidates.

Now for the 5 years of testing starts for 5th...............

Answer 5

It was probably one of the most rewarding things I've ever done in my life. All those times I told myself "God, I don't want to go today....", all those times I skipped class (and once when I got caught), all those times I wanted to quit after each belt test finally ended and I made it. Heres how it went down:
- for an hour or so, we did pushups situps running punching and kicking
- afterwards we went through EVERY SINGLE 'one-step sparring' and 'kicking combination' for each belt, which took another hr
- afterwards, we had to break boards with a tornado kick - roundhouse kick, jumping spinning roundhouse kick, and finally a spinning hook kick. I was the first one to do it and hit the spinning hook kick so hard, the board went flying and landed in the wall. I couldn't believe it. I was thinking to myself, "how am I going to do this?" and ended up knocking that thing out of nowhere.

It was definitely long, arduos, and intense but was well worth it. I wish I wouldve stayed because you really start to learn everything once ur a black belt, but school was getting in the way and I instantly started to become more perseverant, work harder, and have more confidence. Congratulations on urs!

Answer 6

I just tested 4 2nd Dan. I don't know if I passed or not. I won't find out for about 4 months. Isn't that CRAZY???? Oh well. my black belt testing was fun. I got to go stay in a hotel w/ my boyfriend (we weren't in the same room or anything). But, as for the testing, the head of my federation grew up in Korea. It's hard to understand what he says sometimes. it got so hot in the Do Jang. The windows fogged up and everything. Nobody could c out. Anyway, glad u passes. I hope I passed 2nd Dan.

Answer 7

My blackbelt test was pretty crazy, i wrote a 10 page essay, took a written test, got community service hours, got kadre hours, made up a form (yeah, that part's pretty non-traditional), and then the actual test was 6 hours with an hour straight of sparring. But what was even more insane was the test of the two people last year that went for their blackbelt. One of them had back problems going into it and the other just got stitches. The one with stitches couldn't use his left hand and ended up getting a bloody nose, they both pushed themselves so much they were in tears by the end of it, it was incredibly emotional the way a blackbelt test should be. I was so proud of them after that, just like I was proud of myself after I completed mine. It feels so good to be looking down at your waist and see a blackbelt around it.

Answer 8

Im a 4th Dan In WTF, i did my 1st Dan when i was 12 years old. i had a basic warm up, basic kicking, basic blocking, taeguks 1-7, self-defence, breaking and sparring from 1 against one to one against 5. i also had to know the code of conduct. it was only an hour and a half. what martial arts do all you others do that keeps going for 4-8 hours.

Answer 9

wow! Congrats!,

My last belt test, was for the brown (Maroon) one and it feels so good when you earn a new degree specialy in martial art. I made pompse (Taeguk), combat (fight), and wood breaking with side kick. It was amazing!

well I was 15 years old. now I'm 26 and practice Aikido
thats so good too!

Be a Champion!

Answer 10

I had to write a thesis, 10+ pages. Two days of 6 hours each day. Plus an oral exam as well.

Took two days and it was tough!