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John Lindsey
28th November 2003, 16:34
Easy question :)

If yes, what happened?

Steve Williams
28th November 2003, 17:17
No....... not yet anyway.....



One of my students did a couple of years ago though (only one of my students has ever failed a belt test).......
We killed him, and buried him in the garden........
Nobody will fail again.......

tenchijin2
28th November 2003, 17:38
A couple, in fact...

Nidan, I had this 'deer in the headlights'look and got creamed.

Yondan, because it was a ridiculously hard test, and I wasn't prepared mentally.

I really shouldn't say exactly what the tests were, my instructor prefers a certain degree of privacy about that.

But each time, I passed on the next attempt.

MarkF
29th November 2003, 04:42
No, but then I've only been tested twice, once at sankyu, and at shodan. Everything else was awarded on the premise that if you are ready to test, why do it at all?

I've carried that over into my own dojo, the students know they are being tested every minute of every class. When they are ready, they will know, but no test as such. I don't want to see false bravado or a style I've never seen from a student a test would bring out. If it doesn't come natuarlly, then they aren't ready to move on.

OK, well, I am not in a hurry to grade any mudansha, anyway, and those who ask, they aren't ready. You have to catch them when the least expect it, eg, tell them after class or on the way in "BTW: I've graded you and submitted you for approval, can you go over and roll out the mats? Thanks, I appreciate it." Or, like my teacher in the locker room: "You promoted."


Mark

shotofan
29th November 2003, 19:41
Once. I was going for my brown. I failed because was just so tired. I was out with my buddies the night before. The next morning around 9 am my sensei called and say he was calling all the senior students in for a meeting.

When we finally there my sensei said suit up and gett ready for class. At the time we thought nother day of suprise trainning. The trainning was very intense. At the end of class sensei told every one who passed, passed. And who didn't pass didn't. I failed because I wasn't ready. I just was to tired. But two months later I passed. The tested lasted for 4 and half hours with one break.

JAMJTX
30th November 2003, 18:05
I never failed a test. But then in my original school, testing was a formality. You only "tested" when Sensei thought you were ready.
It was more of an organized review to confirm Sensei's impressions.
There was only ever 1 guy in this class who I saw fail a test. That was because he slacked off during the test.

Other schools I have been in, there were regular testing cycles. But I avoided the possibility of failing by consulting Sensei or seniors before going out to take it, and skipped the day on that advice. There have been tests, even recently where I just bowed out of the day and plan to test next time.

Amir
1st December 2003, 14:22
I passed all the tests but my 1 Qyu was an "army recruitment gift". I had a very measurable performance back then. Because I just finished submitting my B.Sc. project and didn't sleep at all the night before.

My teacher knew my performance on the test was not my usual standard, and I would be recruited to the army the following week, and might not be able to train in a steady manner for a while, so he promoted me.

Normally, my teacher only tests people he believe to be ready, but some still require a second chance to pass.


Amir