Wrapping up the curriculum from 2011, hundreds of Third Law students tested during the first week of January, earning stripes, patches, stars and new belts.
Every first Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and now Friday, kids as well as adults are tested on how well they absorbed the curriculum from the last month. This year, the tests have been more challenging than ever after students learn a lot of techniques throughout the month. If you ever felt overwhelmed don’t worry, that’s a good thing. As Master Roberto says “If you’re not feeling overwhelmed, you’re just not trying hard enough”.
Coach Joey tests the Tiny Ninja's on what they learned and how well they do the techniques.
A lot of times students are nervous about taking the test because they are so worried about forgetting a move or doing a technique wrong. If you don’t know what you’re doing wrong, though, you’re not going to be able to get better. Testing will help you improve a lot because it is the one day out of the month where you get to review all the techniques and get to know specifically what you need to work on.
On Tuesday, adults tested in No-Gi. Last month for the adult’s BJJ curriculum we worked on taking the back, so this month the test is all about defending the back. Wednesday was the Little Ninjas and Juniors tests as well as the adult BJJ Gi Test. All the Little’s and Junior’s did great and earned another stripe on their belt. For the adults, in the morning class, Gary Waskovich and Jason Kurek got their next level belt as well as Carty Seay in the night class.
Little Ninja Dominic holds up his completed life skill worksheet for Teamwork
For Thursday, it was the Tiny Ninjas and MMA Intro students’ turn to test what they learned during the month. For December, the kids were not just tested on techniques but very important life skills as well. Each month they get a life skill worksheet, and if they complete it by the test day they get a gold star patch for their Gi.
The worksheets track their implementation of the life skill of that month, encouraging them to take steps at home and at school to show they understand what the life skill means. For example, the life skill of family, if the child does something like helping his or her siblings without being told than they get a certain amount of points. Their parents give points throughout the month, and if they get 20 by the end they get the star patch. In Tiny Ninjas, Sabrina Sadaty earned her gold star and also was promoted to white belt with one gray stripe.
Then, to wrap up test week, the Teens took their test on Friday. They all did a great job and earned there black stripe on their belt.
Coach Joey puts a stripe on Ben Walker's belt during the teens test at Team Third Law BJJ & MMA
Now we can look forward to the new year, tackling the curriculum that is constantly changing and evolving. Great job to everyone who has done the test! Let’s keep up the good work in 2012!
