Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Is it possible to fail the red belt Karate grading?

27 replies

M3lon · 11/11/2019 17:30

Asking for a friend....

Actually its my DD who is doing it and she has never done any sort of test/exam of any sort before and I'm just really worried about it.

She's only been going for about 6 weeks and doesn't seem to know very much about it at all....

She really doesn't need her confidence knocked!

Any pro tips gratefully received!

OP posts:
Bunnybigears · 11/11/2019 17:34

It is possible but not likely. Is red her first belt after white (everywhere seems to use a different system we did white, yellow, orange, red) so by red yes they can fail but if it's her first then its very very unlikely.

JulietTango · 11/11/2019 17:35

I have no idea about karate but as a judo coach there's no way I'd fail a grading for anyone's first grade.
Not if I wanted to keep them coming anyway

Original poster
M3lon · 11/11/2019 17:36

red is the first grading in her class - I'm hoping that there business model isn't daft enough to support failing students after 6 weeks.....

OP posts:

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General sports
ErrolTheDragon · 11/11/2019 17:42

I really doubt the instructor would have her doing the grade if she was likely to fail. My DD did karate through junior school, it seemed to me that the quite frequent gradings with coloured belts serves to boost confidence and let everyone know they are progressing.

parrotonmyshoulder · 11/11/2019 17:49

My DD cried all the way through her first grading and barely made a fist. She passed! They are much harder on adults!

AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 11/11/2019 17:55

My DS got all the way to black belt without a failed grading. The instructors tend to delay offering grading to those who are not quite ready, the first couple of belts though they are much more lenient and want the kids to be confident. This was MMA so they head to be skilled and prepared enough for the higher belts because they were then put in the cage for 20 minutes during their lesson, and it would have been dangerous otherwise.

Original poster
M3lon · 11/11/2019 18:07

parrot my goodness - that's good to hear, although I'm sorry she found it such an emotional struggle. I think its slightly more likely I'll cry all the way through than DD, but its a distinct possibility.

OP posts:
parrotonmyshoulder · 11/11/2019 18:16

She’s stuck with it and has done 5 gradings now. Hates ‘performing’ but in our club the children always grade in a group. Only the adults have to do it in their own (that’s me - I hate it too but don’t cry!)

Rowgtfc72 · 11/11/2019 20:35

Dd is 12 and just about to grade her brown one stripe belt. Her instructor only grades them when they are ready. Only twice has he said "not quite but nearly, shall we try again next week" The really nervous kids are encouraged to grade with others. Dd has graded alone for the last two belts and will almost certainly grade alone this time. She nearly did a runner last time.....
Good luck to your dd!

IWorkAtTheCheescakeFactory · 11/11/2019 20:39

Her instructor won’t have allowed her to grade unless they know she is ready. And the first belt is literally only the stuff they have been doing in class on repeat. She only has probably 4 commands to remember and they’ll be doing it in a group so if she watches everyone else she’ll know exactly what to do.

sunflowerfield · 11/11/2019 21:12

The instructor won't let her do the grading if she isn't ready. Failing red belt will be very unlikely anyway.
6 weeks is very fast progress though. Some kids go through red/white pre grade at our club just to give them confidence and feel of achievement.

Doobigetta · 11/11/2019 21:28

The only person I ever heard of who failed a grading was an adult who didn’t stop talking all the way through it.

namechange4052 · 11/11/2019 21:37

6 weeks is very quick, but the sensei must think she is ready. The first grading is really simple.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 11/11/2019 21:56

My DS got his red belt on his 5th Birthday Grin

He did get up to green (I think it was red/yellow/orange/green) they got progressively more difficult .

I would love him to take it up again .

Original poster
M3lon · 12/11/2019 09:25

Thank you for all the support.

I think DH must have put some extra time in with her as she can now tie her belt properly, pretty much recite the dojo rules and seems to have worked out which blocks are which.

I'm feeling a bitmore confident now - and to be honest I'd rather she felt she had mastered the basics, than pass because everyone does.

I'm still nervous for her, but SHE seems more confident now so I'm burying it deep!

OP posts:
ErrolTheDragon · 12/11/2019 09:28

Tieing the belt properly is a major achievement!Grin

lilyboleyn · 12/11/2019 12:08

I used to work at a martial arts school.
The kids never failed their belts, especially if they were just starting out. If they weren’t good enough we wouldn’t let them test. There’s no point demoralising a child by failing a belt test so early on in training.

Once she gets much further up - several years down the line, perhaps but unlikely.

Bbq1 · 12/11/2019 12:23

My ds 14 is a junior black belt in karate and his sensei was always very guiding and supportive when it came to grading. They generally won't enter people fir belts before they're ready. Their only fail pupils who really have no clue ir haven't tried. I doubt any good sensei would ever fail a beginner. Your daughter will grade up. Good luck!

Jjou · 12/11/2019 12:24

It's unlikely, really, I've never heard of anyone failing their first belts. Is she doing provisional red (red with white stripe) or straight red? If she can do her kata etc. she'll be fine. We're not allowed into grading when DS does it, but I think they're fairly gentle with them for the first few.

massistar · 12/11/2019 12:28

Numerous gradings across karate and jujitsu for my DC and never failed any. Instructor wouldn't grade her if she didn't know the basics to pass. My DS was on verge of heart attack once as they didn't call out his name as passed at his colour belt but it was they'd double graded him without telling him. :-)

JamieVardysHavingAParty · 12/11/2019 12:47

She'll be fine.

Instructors don't like having to tell small children that they failed their very first test, because it destroys the child's confidence, so they don't let situations like that happen in the first place! The instructors will have monitored how she was doing for the last six weeks, and if they weren't happy with her progress, they would have had a private word with you about waiting until the next grading.

KilburnOriginal · 12/11/2019 12:57

She'll be fine, its only a short grading for first belt. My husband and Son have been doing Karate for 5 years now, never failed a grading, but they have skipped some if they felt they weren't ready but that has been more recently where there is more to remember.
We have to watch from a viewing balcony, they do it in groups - kids and adults at ours - so its less daunting.

Hope she does well and enjoys it...

SpiderCharlotte · 12/11/2019 13:16

Ah please don't worry, DD did her first grading at 6. She took it very seriously and did really well until she spotted her brother next to her and pushed him over for 'looking at her funny'. She still passed (and was given a very well deserved stern talking to by her karate teacher).

Original poster
M3lon · 13/11/2019 12:42

spider lol! that's adorable!

She's been practising some more and I've sent her off for the day with a fierce hairstyle in the hopes that will help!

I'm far more convinced she is at the standard now, and she is too. I've been bigging up that they can't take the work she put in away from her, even if they don't happen to acknowledge it tonight.

Now I have to go slay my own demons at work. It would be nice if anxiety storms didn't seem to turn up in timed pairs!

OP posts:
Original poster
M3lon · 13/11/2019 21:01

....and in completely unsurprising news, DD is now the proud owner of a red belt!

She came home looking a bit disgruntled, because everyone got one, even the people who REALLY didn't know what they were doing....

Thanks for the support!

OP posts: