Truscifi Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 Dh and I had our pretest yesterday. We each have a few areas to work on for the next month, but we are officially scheduled to test for black on August 10th! :svengo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn- Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 Good luck! We are still a long way away from that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillfarm Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 How exciting for you! I am still probably a good year+ away from testing for black and I'm already dreading it a bit. I am sure you will do great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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G5052 Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 Just survived that with my oldest. Seven years of study, a 10-page paper, and four sessions of testing. Whew! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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G5052 Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 7 years!! Ours only takes 2 years for 1st degree, but 2 years to get from 1st degree to 2nd degree. My son says that after that, it takes a looooong time to move up degrees of bb. What kind of martial arts does your oldest do? Every martial art is different, but most within the international organizations take much longer than two years for a black belt. In our branch of Aikdio, you must be 16 or older and have a minimum of five years of full-time study. Kids can't start until they are 9, and they are on probation for the first six months. A year after the black belt, they get a certificate from Japan on parchment that is hand-drawn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Tammyla Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 Good luck, and let us know how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 How exciting! I tested for my Judo black last year in August, and I was so nervous I tried to get my dh to take me to IKEA instead of the test :lol:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 Every martial art is different, but most within the international organizations take much longer than two years for a black belt. In our branch of Aikdio, you must be 16 or older and have a minimum of five years of full-time study. Kids can't start until they are 9, and they are on probation for the first six months. A year after the black belt, they get a certificate from Japan on parchment that is hand-drawn. This is similar to Judo, though kids don't have to be 9 to start (though you have to be 13 to perform chokes and 16 for arm bars). My boys all started at age 5. It's rare for a 16 year old to get a black belt; they prefer you to be 17 or 18. That is pretty cool about the certificate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted July 15, 2013 Author Share Posted July 15, 2013 We belt in kenpo (also study kickboxing, arnis, and small circle jujitsu), and it takes a minimum of 3 years, but that is only if you are really focused and work really hard. Those of us that have lives outside the dojo take a lot longer. We have been studying for 4 1/2 years. Oh, and it takes longer for kids. Ds9 started at 4 and is still a red belt so it will be at least another year before he can test for black. He takes a month off here and there though for performances (theater). The kids here don't have an age limit to do chokes or holds, but they don't start to learn them until they reach the advanced class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 How scary, but so exciting! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share Posted July 16, 2013 Good luck! :coolgleamA: My 11 yro and 10 are also testing for black belt in August. My 8 yro and 5 yro should be able to test for bb in December (they're both red belts). They're all scared - especially over the board-breaking. Also, it's expensive at that point!! I'm paying extra for their black belt testing and I'm upgrading their sparring gear (because their gear is trashed). It feels like we need a $ $ $ garden growing in the backyard for martial arts. We have to break boards for black, but we don't practice it in regular classes, so the first time we got to break was on our pretest Saturday. I was pretty nervous about it. I broke two boards, one with a palm strike and one with a foot stomp. It was actually really easy. They'll do great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share Posted July 16, 2013 How exciting! I tested for my Judo black last year in August, and I was so nervous I tried to get my dh to take me to IKEA instead of the test :lol:. :lol: :lol: :lol: Dh says at least I could break lots of things in IKEA since I liked breaking boards so much! The only part I'm really scared of is the sparring. We have to do five back to back matches, with a fresh person each time. The matches last 2-3 minutes each. I did make it through on my pretest, but barely. I had to hit my inhaler several times before I could even talk. :001_unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trulycrabby Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 Good luck, I'm sure you both will do great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 That's great! Congrats on your accomplishment to date, and good luck on the test! :) IKEA can wait. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 :hurray: Congratulations! I was nervous just testing for high yellow last month. :tongue_smilie: I was scared of the board breaks, but I was lucky enough to get some potato chip boards. ;) At our dojang, I think I'll have at least another 3-4 years before I'm eligible for black belt. I'm not looking forward to those sparring matches, either. I get heat exhaustion all the time from those stupid canvas uniforms. Sparring gear will just make it worse. BUt maybe I can talk them into turning the a/c down for me when I have to spar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 How exciting! I tested for my Judo black last year in August, and I was so nervous I tried to get my dh to take me to IKEA instead of the test :lol:. I could totally see myself doing that. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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TKDmom Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 We do weapons. Bo staff and nunchucks. And we have a few sets lying around the house. The nunchucks I have at home are oak, I think. Someone gave them to me and they are very heavy for their size. I've had to take those away from the kids. Too dangerous for them, their siblings, and my furniture. My 3yo will use anything as "her" bo and swing it around like crazy. She's not even allowed to start TKD until she turns 4, and then she will be in a "Littlle Dragons" class until she turns 7 and gets to start out as a white belt. She's super excited, though. She sits on the sidelines and copies the big kids during their class. And she tells everyone that she will get to have a purple belt next month. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 My 3yo will use anything as "her" bo and swing it around like crazy. She's not even allowed to start TKD until she turns 4, and then she will be in a "Littlle Dragons" class until she turns 7 and gets to start out as a white belt. She's super excited, though. She sits on the sidelines and copies the big kids during their class. And she tells everyone that she will get to have a purple belt next month. :) Awww! She's going to have a GREAT time when she starts classes! It's so good for them to be doing stuff like that - especially girls. It really boosts their confidence, self-esteem and safety awareness. It's also shown my son that there's more to life than Mario Kart! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share Posted July 16, 2013 :hurray: Congratulations! I was nervous just testing for high yellow last month. :tongue_smilie: I was scared of the board breaks, but I was lucky enough to get some potato chip boards. ;) At our dojang, I think I'll have at least another 3-4 years before I'm eligible for black belt. I'm not looking forward to those sparring matches, either. I get heat exhaustion all the time from those stupid canvas uniforms. Sparring gear will just make it worse. BUt maybe I can talk them into turning the a/c down for me when I have to spar. Ha! We just have to tough it out with the heat. And it will definitely be hot for our test - the a/c in our dojo is set on 78, but in the summer it often gets up to the low 80s. Fortunately for us the adults don't have to wear full gear. We only wear mouthpiece, gloves and shin guards. The gloves are 16oz boxing gloves though, so they add to the arm and shoulder workout, lol. We use traditional arnis weapons - olisi (short stick) and knife. Ours are plastic knives for practice though, and the olisi are not sharpened on the ends. Black belts practice with the bo as well. We keep trying to talk Sensei into adding machete since it is a traditional Filipino weapon too, but so far he hasn't gone for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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