By Master Milad
The short answer
- Their instructor only invites them to test when they’re ready. That invitation is the vote of confidence.
- Your job is the week before: practice with them, get them to class, keep it light.
- Nerves are normal. Nervous kids usually do great.
- New to Endurance? Your first class is free. Book it
Belt test week is a big deal at our schools. Kids feel it, and parents do too. Here’s how to help without adding pressure.
Who decides they’re ready?
Not the calendar. Every belt has a minimum number of classes and months, but that’s only the floor. The instructor watches your kid in class and decides when they’re ready.
So if they’ve been invited to test, someone who sees them train every week already believes they can do it. Tell them that.
The week before
- Practice the pattern at home, five minutes a day. Short and often beats one long session the night before.
- Get them to class. Test week is not the week to skip.
- Ask them to teach you. Kids who can explain a move to a parent know it cold. And they love correcting you.
- Check the uniform the night before. Clean dobok. No T-shirt under the top on test day, even if they wear one in regular class, and nothing under the pants but underwear. No jewellery, nails trimmed. Belt tied properly: ends even, clean across the back.
What to do about nerves
I’ve watched thousands of kids walk onto the floor at a test. The nervous ones usually do great. Nerves mean they care.
Don’t tell them “don’t be nervous.” Tell them it’s normal, every black belt in the room felt it, and they’ll forget about it ten seconds after they bow in.
On test day
Come early, sit where they can see you, and watch. You don’t need to coach from the bleachers. They’ll find you when it’s over.
If they break a board, great. If it takes two tries, that’s normal too. (Is board breaking real?)
If it doesn’t go perfectly
Some kids don’t pass the first time. It’s not the end of anything. It’s usually the start of the best few months of training they’ll have. The kids who come back and earn it often remember that belt more than any other.
The black belt is a common time for kids to want to quit, and it’s rarely about the test. (My kid wants to quit. Now what?)
After the test
Celebrate the effort, not just the belt. Ask what was hardest. Then put the new belt somewhere they’ll see it.
About the author. Master Milad Bahrami opened Endurance in Port Moody in 2014, and today it’s three schools: Port Moody, Burnaby and Port Coquitlam. Read his story
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