November 22, 2003 (Sat.)
Aika's (First Degree) Black Belt Testing at Lehigh Valley Taekwondo
Before We Get to the Juicy Stuff ...
Testing Details
I can't say anything about testings at other schools because I don't know much about them. At Lehigh Valley Taekwondo (“LVTKD” hereafter), however, I can say for sure that a “testing” is only a name by which we call this event; it is, in reality, nothing but a “ceremony.” Our head instructor (“Master Lee” hereafter) allows students to “test” only if he deems them ready to go up in rank. In other words, I would have not “tested” for this black belt if Master Lee did not think that I have earned it already through years of training, and that first Dan is the appropriate rank for me to hold. Thus the idea of “passing” or “failing” here is rather irrelevant.
At LVTKD, a red belt (second Gup) testing is called “the Wall.” It is the first very hard testing one has to face and go through to go up in ranks. Next testing (first Gup) will be even harder, and yet the next one (first Dan black belt) will be the hardest.
Why are the “test” so hard then?
So why do we have to go through such hard “testings” if we know we are worthy of the rank and we won't fail?
While martial arts are widely commercialized worldwide and some schools even allow you to “buy” your black belt, Master Lee keeps our school “traditional” in every aspect. This means that black belts (and other high-rank holders) should be strong physically, mentally, and have superb techniques that are appropriate to the rank. Black belt testing (and other “walls”) is an opportunity to demonstrate just how special they are.
One of the messages here is “Don't think you can pay your way through this school – if you want to be a high-rank here, then be as strong as they are.” It also gives others a chance to see what the candidates can actually do. High-ranks are often looked up as a role-model; who wouldn't like to see their role model demonstrating his/her strength and techniques?
Such testing also works to prove their worth to the candidates themselves – by achieving what seems like an impossible task, they understand what they can actually do, and feel that they are really worthy of wearing that new belt.
So how was the testing?
Considering there's been a testing that lasted for over 10 hours, ours was rather light ... it lasted for only 5 hours total. It was not at all problem-free, though, because of the injury. Our testing was already once postponed since spring of 2003, due to all candidates' numerous injuries. Even so ... out of four adult candidates, three of us were still injured prior to the testing. Furthermore, two of us headed straight to the ER right after the testing. Talk about pain!
Testing Details
* You'll have to understand one thing – because my elbow has been injured, I haven't done ANY push-ups for the past two and a half months. On top of that, I was not allowed to do ANY arm exercises for the same period of time. Doing these push-ups, though not too big in numbers this time, for the first time in a while this day was simply ... torturous!
** Imagine a little pad, that's not too high nor too wide to jump over with your feet together a few times. Now jump over them and back 100 times (total of 200 jumps) ... and you are not allowed to stop in the middle. If you stop (or if your foot gets caught on the pad, or your feet end up on both sides of the pad, etc...), you'll have to start over from one. It's easier said than done ... trust me.
*** We knelt on the floor, and stuck our arms straight forward; the pad used in the hop-overs with a 4lb weight added on top was placed on our forearms. Now, we had to wait 5 minutes in that position without lowering our arms at all. After all these push-ups and punches, you have NO idea how hard that is.
# Because my partner was injured prior to the skit demonstration, I was not able to demonstrate it. So, Master Lee decided that I'll demonstrate just how well I can cope with an actual violent situation. He had me stand in the middle of the room, surrounded by four big men. At his signal, any one of them attacked me from various directions in any way they wanted. Boy ... this is my LEAST favorite kind of exercise! I punched, kicked, and stumped my way through ... so hard that my stumping leg's ankle got jammed.
Post-Testing Injuries (additional)
Thus concludes the day I've been fearing for the past year! Now I am a proud black belt holder.
Videos and photos will be added within a few weeks ... so please drop by again!