What is the point of testing?
I don’t know too many students who look forward to testing. Some it makes self-conscious, others get performance anxiety, some view the test prep training as a grind and so on.
At least in our dojo, there’s no competition and rank usually makes no difference in who you are going to train with. You won’t get a different coloured belt, except maybe black if you train sincerely for a few years. Regardless of your rank, you are only as good as you are on the tatami.
But testing is important. I use the analogy of the goldfish. They say that if you keep a fish in a goldfish bowl with nothing but water and the occasional feeding, it will eventually die. But if you put a rock in the bowl, the fish will swim in circles around it and live.
I think that’s one of the purposes of testing – to give you some kind of concrete focus in your training. It gives a focus for your sensei, too, to make a point of periodically reviewing your progress and advising you on areas that need improvement.
After you pass or fail a test, you’re still the same person you were the day before. A new rank doesn’t make you a new person. Students that chase rank often quit once they get a black belt — a ridiculous attitude, in my view.
I think that many students misunderstand what it means to fail a test. The examiners are not criticizing you or saying that you are a bad student. They are saying they believe you can improve and you should try again. I don’t believe that any good student wants to pass a test that the observers thought he or she should have failed.
I know many great Aikido practitioners personally who have failed tests along the way.
As a matter of fact, I considered myself to have failed my shodan test. The examiner was extremely generous in passing me, but the process brought home the fact that I had to make significant improvements before I even thought about taking another test. It was a valuable experience and very useful feedback. It opened my eyes and motivated me.
Gaining rank is not the purpose of Aikido. Testing is just one tool in the ongoing process of “sharpening your blade,”as they used to say, and it is the test itself, not passing or failing, that does this.
Testing is a snapshot of you at one point in time. It’s not a judgement – it’s information on where you should take your training next.