Parent’s Corner
by Sije Veronica Sas
Fu For You Fall 2023
Martial Arts Gradings are a way for a student to demonstrate to their instructor their knowledge of the curriculum. The first sash or belt your child will receive at Waterloo Kung Fu Academy comes after an in-class assessment. All other rank advancements will happen on a specific grading day. Your child will be tested on both their current and previous rank requirements. There is never an expectation for anyone to grade. If your child doesn’t feel they’re ready, there is no issue with them staying at their current rank and gaining more confidence in their techniques.
So how do you know when your child is ready to grade? The easy answer is that you don’t! Your child’s Sifu will let your child (and you) know when they are ready to test for their next rank, you don’t need to ask. Several weeks before a scheduled grading, Sifus start looking at their class to see who might be ready to advance. As grading day gets closer, they will then perform in-class evaluations to see who knows and are confident in all their requirements. Evaluations happen up to a week before a grading, and sometimes even the week of the grading. Just because your child isn’t on the grading list, doesn’t mean that they won’t be! If they’re not invited to test, that’s okay too. There will be plenty of gradings held throughout the year.
Once your child is on the Grading List, there are still things to do. One of the most important things is to carefully read the Grading Letter that was sent home. This letter contains information about how to prepare, such as practicing at home and how to prepare the envelope they will present to Sigung. The bottom portion of the letter needs to be returned to the Academy before grading day.
There are some ways that you can help your child prepare for a future grading. The most important thing is to make sure your child has the Waterloo Kung Fu Academy Student Handbook. This can be purchased from the Office and contains all the requirements for the Youth and Junior programs. You can go through the requirements with your child to see if they know everything at their rank and lower. The better they know it, the more confident they will be in a grading. You can also use the Handbook to keep track of their classes. Each rank has a minimum number of classes and months needed at that level before they can grade. Please keep in mind that this is a *minimum*. Very likely they will far exceed the minimum number and that is normal.
Gradings can be stressful, but also an exciting time. Putting too much pressure on your child might cause more stress than needed. The most important thing to remember is that we want your child to enjoy Kung Fu. Enjoyment leads to more productive practices and hopefully they will be excited to grade when they are ready.