What happens at martial arts gradings?
If you, or your child are about to take your first grading, you’re probably feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement! This blog should help calm those nerves and prepare you for what to expect on your grading day.
The grading is essentially a practical assessment of your martial arts skills. You must pass a grading each time you wish to progress to the next skill level and achieve a new belt. As an overview, the belt system in martial arts consists of nine colours, from white at the newest skill level, to black at the highest.
It's important to note at this point, that not all martial arts-based disciplines use a formal grading system. For example, Kickstart, self defence and MMA might have an equivalency grading system, but do not follow the formal Dan system.
Before the grading day
Your Senseis will prepare you well for your grading, with specific training courses or lessons focused on what happens on the day. You will be ready to take on the exam, feeling confident to demonstrate your skills to the examiners.
If you are grading for Karate, JKD or BJJ you will need to have your licence with you on the day. As well as that legal requirement, you must also have your Gi or uniform and current belt.
It’s also worth packing snacks and drinks as it can feel like a long day, especially for younger ones.
What to expect on the grading day
You will be invited to take part in grading at a professional Dojo, such as our own premises in Abingdon or for some of our higher skilled students, Haxby Dojo in Yorkshire.
The actual examination takes an hour, where you will be in combat with an opponent that you may not know. Prior to this, you may be given an hour to warm up and go through your basics with your Sensei. We advise our students to arrive with plenty of time to allow for this, but we will give you a time slot for your formal grading well in advance of the day.
Expect to see more than one examiner assessing the groups, who sit at tables at the edge of the mats.
Two or three groups will be invited to the floor at once, for example in December our gradings looked like this:
· 12pm to 1pm White, Orange and Red belts
· 1pm to 2pm Yellow, Green and Blue belts
· 2pm to 3pm Purple belts and above
At the end of the day, the results will be announced, so you may want to be prepared to wait and watch the other groups, or come back after a break to hear how you’ve done.
Whatever happens on the day, we will be there to show support, and celebrate your effort, dedication and courage, and of course take a fantastic group photograph to show how proud we are of you in our next newsletter!