BLACK BELT SKIPPING - What They're NOT Telling You!

9:39:00 AM Tkd kwan 4 Comments

This is a nice video about black belt skipping tests. 
Some people would agree about this way of earning the new black belt Dan while 





others would see it as a joke. 
Here is a video talking about the topic👇



4 comments:

  1. I'm curious how old this video is because I was told by the kukkiwon USA representatives that skip dan had not been allowed in a number of years. It is possible someone lied or this video is talking about something that is outdated

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yep. It happens. She ain't lying. And that is a shame and a sham. Her reasons (pro skipping) are sound; it is expensive and time consuming to test up, so I get it. But to answer your question, skip dan has always been allowed - but with limits. It could only be done once per life, and, could skip no more than 2 dans. That is, you can go from 1 to 3 (or 2 to 4, etc). For every dan you skip, you still had to demonstrate everything for every skipped dan at your test. (Which is to say, you had to do the additional forms. And lets face it, the forms are the easiest part.) But now, it seems there is no limit to what can be skipped, and if what she's saying is correct, you can skip 1 through 5 and go right to 6.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It strikes me that there is a conversation to be had about skipping *any* grade. Is it more or less egregious to skip from 10th kup to 8th kup (incredibly common in the UK)? What about 7th-6th?

    Ultimately, I would imagine, the justification behind these promotions is that the student is performing at a higher level than the next belt would suggest. At the same time, it also sets the student up for proving themselves and a higher pace of learning. It's not all rose-tinted glasses.

    Does this stop just because some is an advanced learner/black belt? Are competition fighters the only people that dedicate themselves to TKD in exclusion of grading/promotions? What about the instructor that has spent their time teaching and learning more about martial arts to enhance the experience of their students? What if someone had tested to 1st dan and then just didn't bother to test for another 10 years? They then got their 2nd dan and didn't bother testing for another 10 years? They kept on training, but not testing? Is skipping then permissible? Or should they have to wait another 7 years (5 for USA TKD) to get to that "master" level where they're teaching?

    Wait. What about the practitioner that moves to another country and never get their Kukkiwon certificates because they were so expensive (relatively) at the time? They're now functionally relegated to 1st kup until they pay the time dues to get to their actual, tested grade?

    Should a competition fighter be able to do it over, say, someone that focuses on poomsae because they are "the easiest part?" Or is the suggestion that sport fighting is the real essence of Taekwondo?

    It's a conversation to be had, for sure, but based upon the Kukkiwon's published guidelines, I don't think that it's that heinous of a thing.

    FWIW, the information on the Kukkiwon website conforms to what Andrew Jennings said: once per life, one grade skipped only.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In UK in 1970s junior judoka could get as high as orange belt on their first grading, skipping both mon and at least one belt colour.

      I think it's fair enough at a certain level. I mean, I'm graded first dan in (non-ITF) Ch'ang Hon and began training in a Kukki club. I asked about the possibility of transfering my grade (according to whatever ther dictated). It took the national body over twenty months (holding on to my money, of course) to decide it wasn't possible. However, I could grade for 1st dan as long as I paid for all the kup grades too (actually, I'd thought this would be a requirement from the start). So grade skipping seems fine as long as you pay for it.

      Delete