Taekwondo Black Belt Exam in Korea

As many know, I have been taking Taekwondo lessons since coming to Korea. I love Karate and have been practicing it for about 10 years (though not as habitually since starting college) and had thought about training in another martial art at some point. After all, it can only make a person a better at the art. Right?

Well, since I already had a black belt in Karate, and I know many of the basic skills already, I was kind of accelerated though my training here. I ended up taking my black belt test in about 6 months. That seemed a bit fast for me, but who am I to question my master. When I was off of school for winter break, everyday I would go to lessons for an hour. Well, most days. I did have a life sometimes. The last weekend before returning to school I got to take my test. And boy was it an event.

It first began with Master Kim picking me up at 9am to go to a town about an hour away. Because of how they conduct the test, it is done in a large sports complex on certain days. When I got there, I was so shocked at the size and amount of people. When I took my black belt exam in the US for karate, it was in my own dojo and my instructors were the judges. Here, there were 9 judges (three for each event) who scored everyone.

My group was second to last in the day, so I had to wait until almost 2pm. The morning was for people testing for their 2nd degree (some kids from my dojang) and the afternoon was for those testing for their 1st (me).

The test is separated into three events and done almost conveyor belt style. You are  put into groups of 8. Each group sits in the chairs, moving up a row each time, until it is their turn. Then repeats in the next section.

The first sections is called 기본동작 (Basic movement) which is a set of 8 hand and 8 foot techniques that is done as a drill. The second section is 봄세 (Forms/Kata) here we preform 2 of the 8 forms taught before black belt. You are not told which ones you will preform until the day of. The last section is 규루기(sparring). You are matched up with another person in your division and spar for one minute without stopping.

Because the adult group I was in only had 11 people, I was matched up with a 할머니 (grandmother) and I just had to kick in her direction and I was done. It was very easy. They didn't want me to hurt her. Overall the test was pretty easy for me (I think its generally designed for children) and I was done quickly.

I didn't find out right away, but a few weeks later I learned that I passed the test (I didn't really have much doubt) and I received my certificate and embroidered black belt with my name on it. I will wear it with pride.