"How long before I'm a black belt?"

"What rank do I have to be to learn how to...?"

"I'm a blue belt. What rank are you?"

These are questions we've all asked at one time, torturing our instructors. They are also the questions we got tired of hearing after a while, being tortured by our students. I'd love to give you answers to the above questions. Tell you how to respond to your students. But I can't. Each school is different. Different requirements for rank. Different time frames between tests.

However, there is something I can do. This section will show you the testing requirements I went through/used where I trained. Now before I continue, let me re-iterate... I did not train in a JKA/ISKF/ABC/XYZ sanctioned dojo. To be honest, I don't even remember where these testing requirements came from. When you look at them though, you'll see a steady progression from basic through advanced techniques, kata, etc.

Before we continue, I'd like to say two things. First, I feel that testing should NEVER be done based upon a time schedule. Yes, there are time periods between tests, but these are minimum waiting times. They are there because we felt that very few students could really grasp the techniques and philosophy behind them in less time. However, these time periods do not nor should not imply that every X months a student will be tested. Students should be tested when they are ready. We want people to pass these tests, not fail.

Second, everyone should remember that a person does not wake up on the day of a test and miraculously become a black belt. They have already been a black belt for a few weeks. The test is just a way of formally acknowledging the fact. For this reason, if you are not allowed to test after the minimum time, don't get discouraged. You're just not ready. When you're ready, you instructors should be only too happy to give you the rank you deserve.

So, having said all that, the tests available are:

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