The highlight within many martial arts clubs and special events is the grading test.
A moment in time when recognition is given to those who have worked hard, and are of the required standard, to be awarded their next grade level in the martial arts in the form of a certificate of rank and showing their achievement in the form of wearing the next coloured belt. Grading examiners who have become qualified to conduct such exam tests through hands-on training, and in some cases written tests, will be fully aware that a number of things are required of them when it comes to assessing a student, or a lower ranked black belt, regarding what to look for when conducting such a grading test. But in some cases it will be the time honoured experience that they will gain over the years that will make all the true difference in the end. Ask any valid grading examiner what they look for when conducting a grading test and they will all say that accuracy of technique, stances, speed, power and understanding of what they are doing are the key elements. Allowances are made for mistakes, and the general quality of standard of course, regarding the lower student ranks but such allowances become less and less as the required standard becomes far more vital when it comes to senior and higher black belt grade levels over time. However it will be their acquired various experiences of conducting a grading test over a long period of time that will be needed the most when facing some not so clear situations, and considerations, that a new grade examiner will be totally unaware of in the early days. Unlike taking a written question and answer test that simply involves scoring ten out of ten to pass, a grading test in every sense of the word is a judgment based assessment on the part of the grading examiner. And that can and does throw up problems in some cases. Everyone thinks that conducting a grading test is a simple case of telling the students to do some moves and pass them if they did it right. In fact even grading examiners will think of it that way during those early days of doing that job. But what if there are other things in addition to take into account? And for sure there will be. A grading test is based on a book of disciplines that is called a Syllabus. For each grade test level there is a list of test items, (called disciplines), that a student must perform up to the required standard, taking into account the rank level involved, in the correct way. But of course everyone knows that bit already I would imagine? However the first thing an examiner must do is rather than focus totally on all the things that a student did right, he or she, must instead look for areas of weakness. It is those areas of weakness that makes all the true difference when it comes to the final assessment in the end. It is those areas of weakness that need to be mentioned to each person after taking the test and also something to highlight for future study and practice. Now we come on to the more complex, or should I say more complicated, part of an examiners problems. And for sure they are a problem if you follow the book of rules that we call a Syllabus to the letter. But before looking at the grading test itself however there are a couple of things to take note of first. The thing is that some of the more traditional schools of combat, meaning old school instructors in the main, will allow a student to decide for themselves if they should take a test or not. This simply means that they will inform the instructor if they wish to take part in the next available grading test, or not, and pay the required exam test fee before the day of the test itself. In the event that they fail the test then in most cases they will be able to take the test again in a few short weeks time. This is commonly called a retest by the way. Although some instructors may make them wait until the next available main grading test day that comes along again. Some instructors however will not allow a student to take a grading test, a paying customer take note, until they say so. Their reasoning is that they will know when a student is ready to take a test or not and therefore the option to take a test or not is not in the hands of the student. Of course if the instructor really does think that there is a great risk of failing then that for sure is good advice. The thing is, not even an instructor can predict the outcome of a grading test on the day. That being the case some instructors will not give advice and only simply say that it is up to the student to take a test or not based on how confident the student is themselves regarding their chances on the day. Some instructors will do a pretest. This simply means that they will do a mock exam test before taking the real formal test. In part that is a good idea but telling a student that they are ready and will pass the formal test is not so good. For sure if a student is told that they will pass the test then they will not put all their effort into the main test knowing it will make no difference regarding the outcome. In addition they may also make some mistakes on the day of the formal test but still pass. That for sure does not look good in front of others. Before covering the subject of the various methods used regarding the test itself let's now take a look at some of the problems that a grading examiner will face over a period of time first. A grading exam test should not only be a fair one but also fair to all the students taking part, and more importantly, seen to be fair by all. For example, should a student be allowed to pass a test even though he or she has some physical restrictions and as a result they did not complete all the requirements or not do some parts of the test correctly due to their condition? Take the case of one student who was physically unable to fully lock, straighten, his back leg while performing a specific type of punch. Not the students fault of course if he has a physical medical based condition that is beyond his control, but if that is taken into account and he is allowed a pass rate while others must perform such a task fully and correctly or fail then is that a valid and a fair thing to do? Many would agree that such a consideration is a valid one but when do such considerations need to stop to make it fair to all, is the next thing to take into account? Some think of the test items, (grading disciplines), published within a Syllabus in the same way as a religious person would with God's Ten Commandments. Written in stone and the same rules for everyone. So when it comes to a martial art grading test, many would say, it makes no difference at all when it comes to being young, old or with physical limitations, all would be tested in the very same way. This ensures the grading tests are fair to all. Taking this situation beyond just a simple, and somewhat small thing, to allow for - what if the student is far more physically disabled in various ways? How can a grading examiner justify awarding a black belt to someone, for example, who clearly cannot fulfil the test requirements like everyone else in the true sense of the word? They may have worked very hard and deserve such recognition but if they did not perform the required set test disciplines like everyone else did then is that fair? You could regard this as a very valid consideration for someone in that unfortunate position but is it truly fair on the others? Is it really fair to award a black belt, or any other rank level, to one person that can complete the required test disciplines correctly but also to another person at the same time who cannot meet the required standards in full? So under such situations therefore what is the true definition of a black belt? More so if they then become an instructor but are unable to perform, or demonstrate, such techniques to other students themselves? Does this make a mockery of what a so-called black belt expert is? And does it lower standards if such allowances are made all the time? To overcome such problems various categories have been introduced over the years for children and those with clear to see physical limitations and so on. A good idea to a degree but this also means that the coveted black belt now has no set meaning anymore as it is now these days no longer a set test for all. Or to put it another way, many now get awarded the black belt, but now based on different test values for different people. A situation that was not welcomed by many true traditionalists. Even when it came to training methods things became somewhat broken apart to cater for other types of groups. Way back in the early days training was in every sense of the word a group session for all. They all learned the very same techniques, fitness workouts, set forms and so on together. And all within the same class together. No separate child and adult classes, they all did it together. Now finally we come to the part that involves what being a grading examiner is truly all about and what is involved. Any experienced examiner will know that when a student, or a class of students, does more or less everything right, allowing for a few mistakes and less than good quality of standards by the lower graded students and beginners, then making a decision as to passing or failing students is a very straightforward situation to be in. Unfortunately that is not always the case however. And if conducting exams for a lot of students that same day then of course the possibility of some not being up to the required standard will be increased. Part of the assessment for sure will be making a judgment call when a student is less than the required standard, or if more than a noticeable few mistakes have been made on the day. Even with time honoured experience of conducting grading exam tests this is not always an easy thing to do. Faced with such a situation the first part of such an assessment will be based on a number of things that needs to be taken into account. Has the student in question attended classes often? Meaning of course have they turned up and put in the work needed? Have they worked hard and tried their best? Have they been disruptive or shown a bad attitude at times? These somewhat unwritten rules really do need to be included if a judgement call is required when a student’s test is something of a borderline case between a pass or fail mark. Unfortunately such judgement calls can be wrong at times and as such some students may unfairly fail, or pass, a grading test. To overcome this problem, and to help ensure fairness, many grading tests are carried out by a group of examiners who will collectively agree on passing or failing someone. In some cases an independent examiner will conduct exam tests. On the specific subjects of attending lessons and the point scoring system that some have adopted, this tends to work to varying degrees. Attending a minimum number of lessons between grading periods does tend to work most of the time. However the point scoring system can become a problem if not strictly kept to, with regard to other considerations to take into account, when using such a method. Sadly there is no perfect system available when it comes to conducting grading exam tests, so the question - Are martial art grading tests fair? - is something that only you can decide for yourself based upon your own experiences of these things. For more related articles on this subject click on the article links. >The Time Honoured Black Belt< >Unfair Results< Written by - Dave J. Lomas. Awarded the 7th Degree, (Dan), Black Sash in Kung Fu in 2001. Triple awarded Hall of Fame. Practitioner, instructor and examiner since 1973. Now retired from teaching. More profile information >> Comments are closed.
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