After lining up and introductions the examiner had someone from the audience pick a lad go stand by them and the testers were then told to do as many push-ups as they could do in one minute ... counted. Then they had to do sit-ups in one minute ... counted. Then they had to do squats in one minute ... counted. The numbers were reported to the examiner, and then it got hard.
Next was a few of the forms (there are eleven in all.) Break for some more counted calisthenics. More forms (each one was done three or four times, sometimes facing the front, sometimes facing the back (we usually practice facing the front. Then single out one or two kids for they may not have done it as well as the examiner would have liked, but not to worry the rest of the kids were kept busy doing sit-ups, push-ups, or squats. To break up the monotony the forms were intermixed with power test (that is kicking pads they had about 25 different combinations to execute,) self-defense (oh demonstrate that you can make an attacker wish they had not gotten up in the morning,) pre-arranged sparring (just fun little vignettes to prove competence of basic sparing techniques - these are very exhausting work) and of course all these were accompanied by push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. Did I mention that the examiner had them do sit-ups, push-ups, and squats?
Well after about 90 minutes of this hard work the fun began ... sparring.
This was not your average three one minute rounds shake hands and drink a sports drink. This was tough. First round was easy, pair up with another kid. Then they introduced the black-belts, most of which were in their mid to late 20's. The fighting was designed to break the kids and frankly it did. Dennis and the 11 year old lost it. I think the hardest part for Dennis was that he thought his fourth fight was the last, then they called him up for another. He fought well at first, then broke down crying when he was kicked hard in the gut. He rallied himself for another go and did quite well until he was kicked in the face. Then it was very hard for him, to keep on going. But he did get back in the fight.
This was the last fight which was a good thing, as he was crying and could not continue. They had a one minute water break where I spoke with Dennis and through his tears let him know that all the kids were crying. Then the examiner had the boys, and the black belts, line up in a circle. One child was chosen and then the rest of the members of the circle had 15 seconds each to kick the living sh_t out of the victim in the middle. I was weeping during Dennis last two fights, crying during this event and it took quite a bit of self-control not to walk-up to the examiner and stop the proceedings. (The examiner may be a 6th dan but he about half my size and I was sure I could make my point.)
Well it was over Dennis lived through the sparing. I helped him remove his pads as he could hardly stand-up. The 11 year old and Dennis were up for breaking some 18 mm boards (that is a nominal 1" for those in North America.) While the other three kids had one minute to do more push-ups than their last counted minute, then yes the next minute was to do more sit-ups. The examiner told each of them the number they had to beat.
When it came to breaking Dennis broke all his boards. It took him a few tries for one of the kicks but he got through it just fine. Now for him the exam was done. Just sit on the side and watch the other children break the boards. I don't know if the examiner was being kind by not requiring him to do the push-ups/sit-ups or just forgot.
When the boards were all broken the kids lined up again and the examiner told them to do 200 sit-ups. It took a few seconds for the children to register the request, they went down to a person and started doing the sit-ups. The examiner had a heart and stopped them after a few.
The results came in and Dennis was given a provisional pass pending a re-test of the forms. Dennis had made a few very notable mistakes when the examiner had them face different directions and the examiner believes that Dennis would do better if he did not have the distraction of the other kids.
I was very proud of Dennis. He showed amazing fortitude to stay in the test and proved that he has an indomitable spirit.
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