Belt Test Anxiety

Best advice I can give is always repetition as well. Do it over and over so many times that you're completely sick of practicing it. Make it a part of you, and I've found that in doing that the anxiety tends to lessen quite a bit. You'll still be a little twitchy becuase you're amped for the test. But what you won't be is worried that you don't know or won't remember or perform well.

Another thing that helped one of my students is this:
Every time you go through practicing your kata or whatever you're practicing, start by closing your eyes and take 1 or 2 deep breaths in slowly and out slowly. Then, when your eyes open, jump right into it. If you practice this every time, it will have a psychological affect on test day that will just come: your subconscious knows that after those 2 or 3 breaths, it's on. So by taking them, your body will automatically start it's run through the activity as it normally does when you do that. Just some mental prep there.

I think the worst of this is that the amount of material I have to know for it is, IMO, immense, and since I have a full time job and a family, I simply don't have the time to practice everything every day. I'm doing as much as I can, but all I had time for yesterday was my required situps and pushups! I did do some visualization, tho, while falling asleep.

I have the katas down cold (unless I have a senior moment during the test, which is likely), but there are a LOT of self defense techniques, and I am weakest there. Being elderly, I also am not terribly good at any of the techniques that involve getting aloft (except the flying side kick--I rock that one.) I think I can make progress on those before the test, though; I just have to wait another week or so to work on them so that the torn ligaments in my ankle can heal a bit better.

And both of my kids have stinkin' science fair projects due at the end of this month, which I agreed (under duress) to be responsible for.

AND I used up my husband's goodwill toward excessive class attendance in November when I was preparing for the State Championships (it paid off in the tournament, but he sure got crabby!)

So I think it's the time pressure that's making me nuts this time around. <deep breath> /rant

I can do this. And I will.

Thanks for the advice, y'all.

Stac3y - Really all of this is self appraisal, you are bring more pressure on yourself then is needed. I know you want to perform well during the test,but trust me your Instructor is like me he watches you often in clas and he wouldn't ask you to test if they knew it was beyond you. During class you are passing your requirements every class, your Instructor Knows what you are capable of it is just up to you to do your best. Some people excel at test times others don't do as well wanting more from them self. But I suggest just let it happen don't think too much and don't be hard on yourself during the test. And above all don't quit during the test and everything will be alright.

Only a small percentage of people that started with you will stick it out to 3rd-1st kyu so you are part of the die hard group and future of the dojo. At this point they want you to make it, it won't be a given but you have past all the prior requirments you know what to come, its just time to do. Relax and don't be tense.

YOU are your greatest foe at this point, it is mind over matter.

Yeah, the visualization can go along way as well. Walk throught the whole test in your mind last thing before you fall asleep and first thing when you wake up. That helps me alot.

What style do you practice? If you don't mind my asking, I mean.
I was sixteen when i took my 3rd kyu -- waayy back in 1993. Totally frakking bombed it, too. To this day, I don't know why I had so much trouble learning Tekki Shodan and Empi back then. Looking back, I guess there's a lot I would have done differently; just sticking to the fundamentals -- really knowing my kata... sharpening my kihon to the degree that my progression would have been more apparent in my kata in the first place.. hell, not being hung up on all the kumite or self-defence stuff... Anyway, I eventually passed it and did much better when I tested to 2nd kyu.

My style is American Karate. The "parent" org's website is here: http://www.askkarate.com/. I've gotten the impression from some other posts I've read here and elsewhere that some clubs test on only selected portions of the curriculum, and that the testee might not necessarily know what portions those will be. ASK (at least the club I'm part of) tests EVERY kata, karate technique, and self defense technique in the curriculum for the third level of brown belt. Then a few more things are added for 2nd--an original kata and more combinations; and for 1st, a weapons kata and still more combinations. There's also a conditioning component to each test, and a written test. And I don't even want to THINK about the black belt test. Yikes.

Stac3y

Hello Sta3y:

You are right it has been discussed, many times before with certainty. The bottom line, it is NOT how we do under ideal circumstances that matters. Its how any of us do when there is a little extra pressure that is meaningful.

Doubtful the expecation is for absolute "perfection" at your black belt test whenever that happens, but rather how well you recover/cover from your screw-ups !

Jeff

Thanks, everyone, for the advice. My instructor has been working with me to make sure I'm ready, and I'm taking a practice test this Friday. If I get through that okay, I think it will alleviate my anxiety pretty well.

Cheers!

Stac3y

My advice would be to try and forget you are in a grading and just enjoy performing your kata.

I used to be very nervous at my first few gradings, but now I really enjoy them and view them as just another session to practice and improve my karate.

When I do a kata in a training session, I enjoy performing it, feel a sense of satisfaction once I've completed it, and keen to perform it again. When you do the same kata in a grading, it's easy to focus on what is at stake (failing the grading) and this distracts your mind as your thinking about something else instead of just focusing on the kata.

Hope this makes sense and goodluck.

I took my practice test Friday, and oh, boy! I am really sore. The jump rope portion was very hard--I'm not that great at it in the first place, and I was unable to practice it for almost a month because I tore some ligaments in my ankle around Christmas. So it hurt like hell and I had a lot more misses than I should have. Then there was shadow boxing--you're supposed to do at least 50 kicks in each 2 minute round. I think the best I did was 43.

I did okay on techniques and combinations and was mostly competent on the self defense sequences (by sloppy count, there are 58 of these, each done as both attacker and defender.)

Did well on the 10 katas, especially considering that those were the last things we did (and also we were in a very small room, so my co-tester actually kicked me in the ribs during one of them.)

I was so bummed at how hard a time I had getting through it all (I was really wrung out by the end) that I did the whole test again for practice on Sunday. I REALLY need to get my conditioning better!

I haven't had my official evaluation of the practice test results yet (hopefully that will happen tomorrow night), but one of the testers told me that I would have passed the first level test. I'll still be on pins and needles until I get a look at the complete results.

Thanks again to everyone who has offered advice and encouragement! 2.5 weeks until the real test...

Stac3y

Congrad you made it!!! Some how I knew you would. Good job.
Rest up and get ready for more fun!!

My brown belt test was last Friday night, and I passed!

I did better on techniques and kata than I expected, except for getting lost in the middle of the kata I've done more times than any other one (why? WHY?!?). I recovered well, though. My self defense was, predictably, weaker than it should have been. <sigh>

Anyway, I passed the test, and it's at least 50 classes before the next one, so I can breathe for a while. Whew.

Reminds me of my driving test Stac3y. In Driver's Ed, the first time I parallel parked, I nailed it. Every time I tried it after that I nailed it. When I went to take the test, the officer asked me how my parallel parking was, and I told him pretty good, so he said, "Good its open now, lets start off on a good note"

Hit the curb, hit the cone in back, almost hyperventillated before we got on the road because of it ... and I have NEVER parallel parked since.