Getting any belt in a martial art like Tae Kwon-Do is a great achievement. It shows dedication, perseverance and a lot of hard work! However, achieving your black belt is really special.
Atherstone & Castle Bromwich Tae Kwon-Do has helped hundreds of students achieve their black belt (and beyond) since opening in 1991 and this blog is going to talk you through how you can also get your black belt.
Progressing through your colour belt gradings
The TAGB has a structured path for students to progress towards their black belt (and through their subsequent Dan gradings).
When you begin your training, you will be presented with a white belt (10th Kup) along with your Dobok (suit). After a minimum training period of 3 months, and with your instructor’s permission, you will be eligible to enter your yellow stripe grading (9th Kup).
With each belt comes new techniques, new patterns (Tul), new Korean terminology to learn, and harder gradings! Once you reach your green belt, the halfway point, you will have to train for at least 6 months before your next grading.
The colour belt order is:
- White belt
- White belt, yellow stripe
- Yellow belt
- Yellow belt, green stripe
- Green belt
- Green belt, blue stripe
- Blue belt
- Blue belt, red stripe
- Red belt
- Red belt, black stripe
Regular training
It’s no secret that practice makes perfect! To get better at Tae Kwon-Do, pass your gradings, and then achieve your black belt… you need to train every week!
Our schools are open on Tuesdays (7:30-8:30pm) and Saturdays (10:00-11:30am) in Atherstone, and Thursdays (7pm-8pm) in Castle Bromwich. However, training for your next belt requires lots of practice outside of the Dojang.
Some say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in something. If you trained for just one hour per week, it would take you over 190 years to become an expert!
With regular training, you can achieve your black belt in 3-5 years.
Black belt training sessions
After achieving your red belt, you will become eligible to attend black belt training sessions. Before taking your black belt grading, you must attend at least one session. We recommend taking as many as possible to give you an idea of what you will experience in your grading.
For more information on attending, ask your instructor or visit the TAGB website.
How do you know if you are good enough to take your black belt grading?
Your instructor will let you know when you are ready, but how do you know that yourself?
- Technical skills
You will learn 9 patterns on your road to becoming a black belt. Once you have learned every pattern, from Chon-Ji to Choong-Moo, you will be a step closer to getting your hands on your First Degree Black Belt.
Along with the patterns, you will need to perfectly execute kicks, blocks, strikes and stances with power and precision.
- Sparring requirements
You will need to be able to perform three-step, two-step, one-step, semi-free, and free sparring. This might sound like a bunch of jargon if you are new to Tae Kwon-Do, but you’ll pick it up along the way!
Free sparring is what you see in competitions. You will be sparring against multiple opponents (one at a time), ranging in age, gender and weight category. This allows you to show off the techniques that you have learned so far against another person. In the black belt grading, you will wear full sparring gear and will usually spar during the second half of your grading.
It is a very good idea to enter competitions before your black belt grading to practice your skills, learn to cope with the adrenalin that comes with fighting another person, and to improve your fitness.
- Theory and Korean Terminology
In each colour belt grading, you will be asked 3-5 questions by some black belt representatives. You will need to get at least 2 correct! In your black belt grading, you will be asked at least 10 randomly generated questions. This could be the meaning of your patterns, the significance of your belt colour, what certain moves are called in Korean, and about the history of Tae Kwon-Do.
The earlier you start to learn your terminology, the easier it will be when you get to your black belt grading.
- Fitness and Endurance
Your black belt grading will last for several hours and it will test your physical endurance. Remember, you have been training for several years by this point, so your fitness will need to get better with every grading you take to show your commitment.
Fitness includes speed, stamina, strength, and flexibility… so make sure you train regularly and do extra exercise outside of club hours!
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