Testing Procedure
The testing procedure begins with training, training and more training. There is no fast track to earning belt ranks in American Style Nunchaku – you have to earn every rank with hours and hours of training. Make no mistake about that.
One thing that has to be clear from the beginning to every new potential student is that even though our style is designed to be a home-study program, which you can train at your own speed according to your own schedule, we still require our students to keep in close contact throughout their training.
The testing procedure is an continuously ongoing process. You are constantly evaluated by your instructor and when you have reach the required level of skills and experience you will automatically be invited by your instructor to a promotion test. This is why it is so important to stay in close contact so that the instructor can see your development.
Our program is not one where you only contact us when you feel you are ready for promotion. No, we want to stay in close contact also between the promotions, and see you train and develop in the style without it beeing a promotion test. There is a strict time-in-rank requirement between the promotions. We never let students test before that time is up, so please don’t ask.
In American Style Nunchaku the student is not the one who decides when he/she is ready for promotion. Infact, we consider it inappropriate for students to beg for promotion. In ASN it is the Certified Instructors that recommends students for promotion to a Certified Examiner. In many cases these roles are held by the same person. It is never the students themselves to bring up the subject of promotion.
When you get an invitation to participate in a promotion test make sure you are ready to perform at your best. It is now you have to prove that you are ready to wear a higher rank in the style. Participation in a promotion test does not automatically mean you pass. On the contrary, most of our black belts have failed at least once at a promotion test. In ASN failing is considered to be a normal thing on a student’s path to excellence. Infact, before we give a student a black belt we want to feel confidence that the student is not a quitter, who gives up and quits if life hands them a challenge.
Black belts in our style can be proud. They have been tested thoroughly and the have truly earned their belts.
All colored belt promotions can be done online through Zoom. However, for black belt we want to see you in person. We want to establish a close personal relationship, spend some time and get to know you better. After black belt you are a representative of the American Style Nunchaku, and we want to make sure every one is worthy.
