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| Grading | ||
| Taijiquan syllabus | ||
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Grading
If you want to move up a grade there are 2 things to keep in mind:
Weekly attendance
Workshop/boot camp/private lesson attendance
Sifu Waller will not grade you if you have not
committed to enough training opportunities this year. This is standard practice in most martial arts classes.
Not revision
Grading is not revision. It is pass or fail.
Corrections
Some students find grading to be very rewarding and useful.
They are truly grateful for the opportunity to correct their many errors.
Fragile ego?
Other students are affronted by the realisation that their taijiquan quality
isn't quite what they thought it was...
Instead of humility, they respond with vanity, ego, emotion,
pride, arrogance
and defensiveness.
This latter attitude is cringy and not appropriate for a martial arts class.
Compared to an instructor, what possible worth is the opinion of a student?
Charity?
There is absolutely no scope for negotiation. The
instructor's word is final. We keep grading
friendly and informal, but if you don't know the material, you don't now the
material.
When you come to the dojo, it is a recognition the
teacher there has something you want. He will give it to you in his own way.
You must accept that. If you do not, you are free to leave. The dojo,
however, is never run by consensus.
(Dave Lowry)
Self-assessment is worthless
A student is unfit to judge their own
training.
On what basis is the student assessing their
taijiquan?
How are they measuring the skill?
What criteria are being applied?
Which qualities do they consider to be valuable?
Do they really understand
The Tai Chi Classics? Does their
art embody the Taoist
precepts?
A martial art has measurable skills and clear standards.
Opinions are irrelevant.
Fit to judge
Unless you are a qualified taijiquan
instructor, you are in no position to evaluate the quality of your own
training.
And even then, most instructors are grateful for
corrections and new insights.
Corrections are vital
Frequently an individual is making a whole range of mistakes - ranging from
minor to major - that they are completely unaware of.
The long-term practice of errors is
harmful to the body.
They need to be identified and corrected ASAP.
No longer a
beginner?
Prove it.
The whole point of the grading is to give students the
opportunity to prove that they are no longer a beginner.
Expect no latitude or
charity. This is your grading.
External examiner
Most martial arts ask an external, impartial examiner to assess the
quality of their student's skill.
The examiner doesn't know the students and marks the material on a
'pass/fail' basis based on the performance of the
given student.
Sadly this practice is uncommon in
Chinese martial arts.
What will be tested?
Every single thing you have encountered in the syllabus so far.
Sifu Waller is very thorough.
The student has
nothing to offer but an absolute willingness to follow the teacher's
instructions and direction without question or comments or personal
improvisation.
(Dave Lowry)
Can you use handouts for reference?
No.
If you need a handout, you don't know the material well enough.
Passing
If you pass the grading you get to move up a
grade. It's that simple.
Try again next month
If a student is not yet fit enough or
competent enough to move up
the syllabus, they stay where they are and work
on the deficiencies exposed by the
assessment.
Focussed revision and refinement is advised. Repeated failure will be considered 'struggling'...
Still a beginner
Students who are still making beginners mistakes need to spend longer
working on the errors.
They won't go away by ignoring them and learning new things.
If you can't do the material you've already been shown, why ask for more?
You won't be able to do that material correctly either because the
basics are poor.
Further reading
•
Mirror
•
Corrections
•
Refinement
•
Comfort zone
Page created
1 March 1997
Last updated
28
June 2012
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