Your opinions

Right, I'm 20 and I'm a shodan mon, with one gold tab, which i got when i was 14, after which I got a bad injury and with other things decided to quit,.. I ended up having a four year gap, starting training again earlier this year.

Well when I started training again I was told I would keep the grade I was, do revision for a while and then start training for my shodan,.. which I did.

Then yesterday I get told I have two choices,.. I can either
A) continue with my gold tabs, of which there are 10 and i have one, or
B) do the senior sylabus being graded for each belt

What I don't get is why the sudden change in what my Sensai wants me to do,.. I know I've had a big gap in my training but I've been training again since March (so 8months) and missed at least 2 gradings,.. so why the sidden change????

I'm quite happy to revise every belt, but why do I have to pay for being graded on something I already know, I know some of the moves are slightly different but not drastically. Yesterday I went over the white and yellow belt sylabusses and knew them off by heart, today i went over some of the orange belt, helping a shodan teach it to a yellow belt,.. i realy dont get why i have to be graded on all the belts again at senior level,.. why cant i just do my shodan,.. to make it worse there are two others doing exactly that, yet one other who started after me doing what ive now been told i have to do,.. but he did it straight away so is already onto senior yellow.

Sorry for the rant just miffed,.. what do you lot reckon???? fair or not?

How much are you being charged???

Charging extra for a grading really doesn't sound right to me no matter what.

if you have to pay its unfair if not just do it and prove yourself. failing that take up a real martial art.;-)

No idea how much gradings are, never done one at this club. I know they charge though because the price includes your belt and badges for your Gi.

Will just have to have a word with him and see whats going on.

And what you mean proper martial art lol

a belt costs £2 and a badge probably the same...

So 2 + 2 = 4.... offer him / her £4 ;-)

I got charged £30 for a white belt once..... and it came with my Gi..:-p

Haha!!

Well Monday I did a lovely bit of revision with a new yellow belt to the club and they didn't even seem to know the white belt stuff, i spent the evening holding a kick pad or strangling her explaining what to do lol.

Yesterday I got told to work with Lucy (a shodan, going for nidan in march), now i usually work with Lucy, but doing more advanced stuff,... but last night pretending i wasn't sure what i was doing i got her to ask our sensai,.. and,... i have to be graded on ALL the senior syllabuses with my first grading of white and yellow in December. Now I don't mind re-grading as such but i wished they'd of said when i started instead of telling me i was going for shodan,... because I've in effect missed two gradings since i started,.. my first grading in effect should be my third,...so instead of doing white and yellow i could of been four belts further on. But hey ho, don't plan on quitting again :-))

I do hope you're not expected to pay to re-grade???

You sound like you know what's what, I'd speak to the instructors if they are asking you to pay to re-grade. That's a little bit too greedy on the cash front for me.

As far as I'm aware I will have to pay to re-grade,... they haven't said otherwise,.... but I didn't grade with them to start with I graded at a different club, which I couldn't track down when I started training again.

I guess if I have to pay I have to pay,... kinda unfair but not much I can do :(

So even though you're working with a dan grade, helping her with her nidan techniques for a grading and also being expected to train lower grades in their techniques, you yourself are still going to have to start at the bottom. Seems like someone's taking the piss there just a bit.

Its not a situation i would be happy with

It really is too bad that you cannot find any way of tracking when you graded at this other club due to the fact that I know that most all reputable clubs will let you prove to them that you know it before the paying aspect even comes into play.

If I were you I would check to see if this other club still is up and running or if you can contact your previous sensei to see if he/she can give you anything that may prove that you have previously taken the training that your new sensei is wanting you to pay for.