Watched Fall 2009 Black Belt Testing

This last weekend (Oct 2009) was West Coast World Martial Art’s Fall Black Belt testing.  In the morning, we went and watched the 16-year old and under kids test.  We wanted to support my friend’s daughter and also get a feel for the Black Belt testing.

I’m soooo glad I went.  I realized I have learned about 80% of the techniques.  I just need to master them before next fall and I know I can!  Seeing the testing first hand helped calm my fears of the test.  Now I understand the basic process, I’ve seen the venue, know how they test so when I’m out there it won’t be quite so overwhelming.

I still plan on going and watching the spring 2010 testers especially the adults so I can see the differences between Adults & Kids.

The adults start testing at 8am and the kids test around 10am.  I’m bummed that I won’t be testing side-by-side with Raquel but now I understand how they do it.  They put all common ages together.  Raquel will be in the 9-year-old group which looked like the youngest age group testing.  I don’t think it is possible in the WCWMA program to start any earlier than 4 and they prefer closer to 5 years old.  Raquel started when she was 4 in May of 2006.  She turned 5 that July.  When she wants to, she has amazing focus and concentration especially for an 8-yr old.

After the morning tests, the families had to leave and the candidates practiced for the show for the next few hours.  They then had about 3 hr break before the evening show at 5:30pm.  During the show, each candidate goes out and does some of the curriculum.  They don’t each do all the tests but one group will do Palgae 6 and another will do Palgae 7, etc.

The amazing part of the show is the board breaking.  During the morning test, every candidate was allowed one attempt to break their board.  Some did break it and some didn’t.  During the show EVERYONE was given unlimited opportunities to break their board until ALL had completed the task.  In some cases, it was down to one or two candidates still trying.  The whole audience was cheering them on and a big roar of excitement when they did.

One of the things I want to make sure for our testing especially during the show is that two of our Santa Teresa Instructors hold boards for each of us especially for Raquel.  Many KJN & SBN are out their holding and in many cases the candidates didn’t know the person.  I want someone who has been training with me all along to help me.    We had a board breaking seminar last month and I successfully broke 3 boards and twice I broke them on the first try so I have a basic understanding of what I need to do to break the boards.  During the seminar, it took Raquel about 15 tries to break the board so if it is going to take her that many tries during the testing, I want someone she trusts out there telling her she can do it.

After the show, the candidates then had to do their final test which is conditioning.  This part had me very worried especially with my knees.  I can’t run.  I can’t do burpies.  I’ve now learned that “injured” people can still pass the conditioning test they just have to do different tasks so hopefully even though I will be training with my “class” I will be able to strength my muscles that I will need during my version of the test.  To ensure we are physically ready, we have decided to join the Saturday Black Belt conditioning training now instead of waiting until we are candidates in May.

During the whole day, the natural planning person in me was figuring out the logistics of the day.  Lupe & I will start testing around 8am.  We know Raquel will want to watch us so we will need to get my parents to come that early and take care of Raquel while watching us test.  I want to make sure we get some good photos during the testing so I need to arrange another friend to take pictures.  I’ve already talked to my friend Henry.  He is a Black Belt in Taekwondo and is also loves taking pictures.  I figured he would be the best person to take our photos.   The final planning will be the down time between the morning and evening.  All advice we have received is to plan on staying at the testing site.  Bring food, drink, shade etc to “camp out” for the day.

It was an amazing day for my education and also giving us a chance to support the current candidates from our school.

Till next time……

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