TESTING
Some schools, notably many Brazilian ju-jutsu schools, don’t test their students before giving them their rank. The instructor will often just walk up and present the student with their new belt/stripe etc. They believe, and for many who compete in tournaments this is true, that the student has tested by fighting every night on the floor of the school. Other schools actually conduct tests or gradings as they’re known in the UK and Australia.
WHY WE TEST
In Warriors Krav Maga we test for several reasons.
1. We don’t want any allegations that the student is receiving the rank because he’s a favorite of the teacher.
2. We want to see if the student can perform their techniques under pressure. Pressure that’s created by an audience of people and fatigue brought on by physical endurance.
3. We want them to pass in front of their peers so they can agree that whatever their personal relationship might be the person testing did indeed perform.
4. It’s a chance for instructors to evaluate where they might be falling down. If 1 student for example does a crappy front kick it’s probably the students fault. If all the students perform crappy front kicks however it’s more likely to be the instructor’s fault. That way we know what we need to fix.
Do They Ever Fail?
I hope so. There are many schools guilty of “if you turn up, pay your dues, you’re going to get your rank.” That’s horrendous. I even saw a forum where a Chief Instructor lambasted his instructors for failing someone claiming it’s not right to humiliate someone. Imagine if he was in charge of selection for the Navy SEALs?
There are standards and they must be met. This does several things all of which are positives. It doesn’t demean the value of the belt like it would if everyone got them. It doesn’t embarrass the person getting the rank who knows he wasn’t ready. Most importantly it’s critical that instructors never send someone out into the world believing their capable of something they’re not capable of. I’d rather a student learn in our school he’s not yet up to par than to hear the news they got attacked outside and severely injured or worse.