Sometimes as an instructor, I may feel that a student is not quite up to par with their technique to be advanced to the next level. There are times where I may fail a colored belt student while there are other times where I might promote a colored belt student to their next rank anyways! I am tough on my students and want to maintain standards, so when I decide to go ahead and promote the not-quite-ready-student, I am not doing so to compromise my beliefs of what I think a green belt should look like or what a brown belt should look like etc. I decide to promote them very intentionally so that maybe the promotion will motivate them and encourage them to grow into their rank.
Hoping that someone grows into their new rank is a controversial topic, but I will explain how it works and why it might be beneficial from my Tang Soo Do perspective.
When splitting a class up, the class is typically split up by rank. Students will spend a lot of their time with other students of the same rank when learning new material. Having a student grow into their new rank will allow them the accessibility of training with students that are at a higher level than they are. When surrounded by students that are at a higher level, they will learn and grow by osmosis. They will be pushed to reach the level that their peers are. If these students are held back, they can get complacent when they are around students that were previously junior to them. By human nature we will acclimate ourselves to the environment we are in. We will either rise up or get comfortable depending on the people we are around.
While the environment we are in may play a role in how we learn, we must also look at what we are learning and working on. By hoping that a student will grow into their new rank, we are giving them access to new material which will provide them with some excitement. Especially at the lower ranks, students can fail to see that how well you know the techniques is just as important or more important than how many techniques you can do. They may feel that since they know the forms and the techniques that they are good to go when in reality the quality of their technique is what really needs improvement. This can get frustrating for them and again, lead to complacency. With new forms and techniques to learn at the new rank, they will be motivated to train more and by virtue of that, improve!
When considering this approach with a student and whether it is the right decision or not, it is important to consider the student’s attitude. If the student takes feedback well and is coachable, this approach may work, while if the student is not open minded and willing to improve themselves, this promotion will be an empty one and they will remain complacent. How do you feel about having a student who may not be ready, grow into their new rank? Let us know in the comments.
