EnchantedEva > Status Update

I hope it goes well!!

Thanks Noelle!!

That's so impressive!! Hopefully the test goes well!! How do you usually test for belts in karate??

In jiu jitsu, usually you just get a new belt if your coach notices that you're improving during practice/matches, and you don't really test for it, so I'm kind of curious what you usually do when you test for a belt lol

Thanks Lillian! I’m karate, about every 3-4 months (much longer once you get into the brown belt ranks) our Sensei runs three different testing (beginner, intermediate, advanced.) You go in and basically go through everything you’ve learned for your belt level, and some lower rank stuff too. It includes kata, sparring, self defense, answering questions, basic technique, and board breaking for testing for brown belt and above. For black belt, it’s MUCHHHHHHH harder. Testings that have been run at my dojo have ranged from 6-11 hours long depending on the amount of people. You go through EVERYTHING Sensei has ever taught you, and then whatever else he comes up with too haha. It’s a huge mental and physical test because you’re doing karate nonstop for…well longer than you would be at school😆 I DEFINITELYYYY don’t have that kind of stamina, but I think I have the willpower to push through and do it anyway. Basically, Sensei doesn’t want you to give up. If you give up at any point during a black belt testing, you automatically fail. If you don’t break your boards, you fail. So…safe so say I’m pretty scared for my testing😅

Danggg that's crazy.... I'll be praying that it goes well!!!

And I'm sure you'll do great!!!

Thank you!! I’m definitely going to be training my butt off in this next month in preparation😆

I’ve been sick this entire week so I haven’t been to class since last Thursday which means I lost a week of training😭
But hey, at least I got sick now and not closer to testing!

Oof... That sucks 😭
At least you have more time before testing though!!

Yup!

I’m curious, since you don’t do traditional testings, how does getting your black belt work for you?

Usually it'll take years to get your black belt--maybe 13 to 15 years ish, and I'm pretty sure your coaches watch to see if you can do all of the skills that black belts can during practice and matches and competitions, and if you can, or with a few almost black belts at my academy at least, they'll contact another academy to get another opinion on if you should get it/to make it official

How long does it take you to get a black belt in karate??

Cool!! I’ve heard jiu jitsu takes much longer to get your black belt—I didn’t realize it was that long! It depends on the dojo for karate, but the average for us seems to be 6 years? Honestly I’m not sure. I think my Sensei got his in six. If I get mine this year, I’ll have him beat because I’m at the start of my 6th year! So it takes at LEAST 5 years at a good dojo (some promise it in 3. Don’t go to those dojos haha) but typically takes about 6. It also depends is you start young. If you start when you’re, let’s say six years old, it might take you 8 or 9 years until you’re old enough to be ready. It just depends on on the person and dojo😅

And then you have my mom who took probably 30 years to get hers😂
(She started young, got all the way up to her black belt testing and had to quit right before it cause of medical issues. She took a 25 year break, came back when I did, broke her foot and had to take a year off, then tested into a bruise belt (the belt before brown), went through the brown belt ranks, tested for her black belt last November, and finally earned it!!)

I’m super proud of her😁

And my grandpa also earned his at the same time she did! He did karate back in the day with her. I think he actually earned a black belt back then, but when he came back 25 years later he had to start at bruise belt with my mom and then they both earned their black belts together!

And my boyfriend just earned his this past May! I’m really hoping I can do this testing so that we’ll have earned our black belts in the same year😁

EnchantedEva wrote: "And then you have my mom who took probably 30 years to get hers😂
(She started young, got all the way up to her black belt testing and had to quit right before it cause of medical issues. She took a..."

Oof... That's impressive that she got her black belt though!!

EnchantedEva wrote: "And my boyfriend just earned his this past May! I’m really hoping I can do this testing so that we’ll have earned our black belts in the same year😁"

That'd be so cool if both of you guys got your black belt in the same year!!

EnchantedEva wrote: "Cool!! I’ve heard jiu jitsu takes much longer to get your black belt—I didn’t realize it was that long! It depends on the dojo for karate, but the average for us seems to be 6 years? Honestly I’m n..."

Hopefully you can beat your sensei!!! And that makes sense!!! By the time someone in jiu jitsu has been training for six years they might be a purple belt or maybe a blue belt lol
And true I feel like dojos that say you can get a black belt in three years or a year or something are scamming you lol

I absolutely agree! I mean, some styles like taekwondo work the belt system faster, but the point of a black belt is you have proven that you can defend yourself. You just can’t do that in three years.