Congratulations! You’ve passed in-club pre-gradings and have now been entered into another T.A.G.B. Grading. Whether this is only your second grading or your very last coloured belt grading we know that assessments can be daunting, so we’ve put together some information to help make you feel as prepared as possible. If you have any questions that aren’t covered below the please do not hesitate to speak to us.
Grading Requirements
The cost of the Grading is £30 and can be paid for via bank transfer to the same account as Training Fees using the Student’s name in the description. If you don’t have our bank details to hand please see our PDF below.
We won’t need a photograph of you as we will have one from your first grading that is printed on the front and back of your grading card.
Practicing For Your Grading
Extra Lessons
If you would like to, you are more than welcome to attend extra lessons between now and the Grading, even if you are usually only a part time student. If you are a Chipping Sodbury student you may wish to attend a class at Emersons Green to help familiarise yourself with the venue ready for the Grading. For more information on the times and locations of our Classes please visit Our Clubs page.
Home Practice
Practicing at home can be helpful in the build up to a Grading, but please make sure you do so in a safe space and notify other members of your household. Below you will find a PDFs listing everything in your Grading to help you with your practice; this can also be found in our Student Zone under your grade.
Theory
At each Grading you will be asked a few questions to test your knowledge. Questions will get trickier the higher up the grades you get, so be prepared to put more time aside for your theory as you advance through the grades.
We have tons of resources in our Student Zone to help make theory as fun and easy as possible. Simply scroll down to your current belt colour and start with LEARN to learn the new theory for your grade with our handy flashcards or Ninja Notes for younger students. Once you’re happy with this you can move onto REVISE to recap previous grades and TEST to try out our multiple choice quizzes.
Grading Day
The Grading will take place at the Emersons Green Village Hall on Emersons Way. Parking Eye manages the car park so where possible please use the Sainsburys car park and walk over; if you need to park at the Village Hall and are more than 10 minutes you will need to enter your vehicle registration in the touch screen at reception or online here.
Please make sure you come wearing a full White Coloured Belt Dobok (no T-Shirts) and if you are a 5th Kup (Green Belt Blue Tag) or above don’t forget your sparring equipment.
Official start time is 6pm; we will be opening the doors to let you in at 5.45pm and will be starting senior grade theory shortly after. As you come in our friendly door staff will be there to greet you and check you in. As you enter the hall you will notice tables at the front for the Grading Examiner and Administration Staff, non-slip silicone markers on the floor and chairs at the back for students. Please find a chair and put your shoes and socks under your chair.
We don’t have the space for parents/carers to stay and watch unfortunately but we will always have several friendly, knowledgeable Black Belts at the back of the hall to help calm any nerves, answer any questions and escort younger students to the toilets if necessary.
The Grading will start off with everyone lining up and bowing to the Grading Examiner, Grand Master Michael Dew (9th Degree Black Belt). After sitting back down the Grading will start with the highest grades in groups of up to 8. When it is your turn you will get called up onto the stage for your Theory, where a Black Belt will ask you a few questions, and then back down onto a silicone marker on the floor for the practical work which will be called out by Master Newman.
When everyone has been up for their floor work the 5th Kup (Green Belt Blue Tags) and above will then be called up for free sparring, and then everyone will line back up for the end of the grading. At this point anyone with an “A” or “above average” pass will have their name read out, and the best student in the grading will be presented with a Grading Award. Only the highest passes will receive their result on the night, everyone else will need to wait for their next lesson to find out their result.
Lastly, if there has been a recent Black Belt Grading you may see some of our hard-working Black Belts be presented with their T.A.G.B. and Tae Kwon-Do International Certificates. These promotions are not easy to earn and take years of dedicated training so please join in in giving them a round of applause.
Gradings usually finish between 7.15 – 7.30pm, so after bowing out our friendly door staff will check you out and back to a parent/guardian if under 16.
Belt Presentation
You will receive your result the next time you train. If you would like your result as early as possible then you are welcome to attend our Family Class at Chipping Sodbury from 6 – 7 pm on Thursday evening, even if you are usually only a part time student.
During the lesson (usually right at the start) we will present students with new belts and certificates. We will take a photograph for you of you/you child being presented with your new belt and send it to you either via Whatsapp or email if you don’t have Whatsapp.
If your belt is too long we will trim it down for you. Don’t forget if your new belt has a stripe, the stripe is only on one side, so you’ll need to fold it with the stripe on the inside to ensure it ends up on the outside when you have finished tying it. If you are finding it tricky to tie your new belt you can re-visit our How To Tie Your Belt page.
Newman Martial Arts 