Video Test Protocol

Video tests are no longer required for colored belt progression!  You are still encouraged to follow the video test protocol outlined below for your own records and to chart your progress.  Certificates will no longer be awarded for colored belts.  Due to the volume of students in my program, I am now only able to grade belt tests for 1st degree black belt and above.   When you have mastered all of the requisite and prerequisite material for your black belt test, notify me via email and we can meet in-person or virtually to perform a live test.  As always, testing is free!  On your journey to mastering the material, if you have any pointed questions along the way, feel free to contact me. 

If you are a dedicated student and have been studying the material presented in my Home Study Course, you can submit a video test for promotion by uploading videos to your youtube account are encouraged to record a video test for each belt level for your own records and to chart your progress.  Please contact me via email when you are ready for me to grade your video test.  If you have previous experience in American Kenpo or any other martial art and are interested in my home study course I will acknowledge your rank in that art, but to earn a 1st degree black belt or higher in my system I will need to see you perform the techniques in my system.  You are welcome to study the material in any order, so if you would like to begin with, say, Green and Brown belt and circle back to the earlier material, that is fine. 

After submitting your video test you will receive a detailed and polite critique of your strengths and weaknesses for each technique, kick, and set.  If you are promoted to a particular belt level, you will receive a certificate (.pdf) stating your name and rank. 

If you decide to submit a video test, I would like you to follow a few guidelines (updated!):

1. Your test video needs to be unedited.  It needs to be filmed in one continuous shot at a location that affords you freedom of movement.  You can mail your video test to me on a dvd, or upload it to youtube.  Your video test may be filmed in pieces, with each technique/set filmed separately at a location that affords you freedom of movement.  On youtube create a playlist for the belt level for which you are testing, and place inside all the related videos.  Title each video with the name(s) of the technique(s) or set(s) it contains.  The kicking requirements should be performed in a single video titled, 'Kicking Requirements.'

2. Clearly state your full name; your city, state, and country of residence; and the rank for which you are testing.

3. Name and perform all of the self defense techniques in the belt level for which you are testing at a slow to moderate pace on a practice partner with control and precision.  If no practice partner is available, the techniques may be performed in the air.  Perform each self defense technique from at least two different angles, and briefly discuss the important principles (Zones of Protection, Power Sources, Quadrants, etc.).  In essence, I want you to recreate my instructional videos, paying close attention to every detail.

4. Demonstrate the "right" and "left" side of each technique.  That means demonstrate the self defense technique so that the strikes and maneuvers favor your right (left) hand and foot.  This will convince me that you have not only learned and mastered the material the way I have presented it to you, but you have also taught yourself the "opposite side."

5. Name and perform all of the kicking and set requirements in the belt level for which you are testing.  Perform each kick from at least two different angles.  

6. Demonstrate each kick on both sides (right and left foot).

There is no need to demonstrate anything from the Basics section.  If you can properly perform the self defense techniques, kicking requirements, and sets, then you must have a good grasp of the basics.  The only cumulative tests are 1st and 5th degree black belts. 

Advice

I find it's best not to feel hurried when memorizing the material.  When I was a student I learned at most 1 to 3 new techniques per week.  I practiced the new material every day for a week, and then included it in my family groupings practice.  Another tool I used to remember the techniques was to keep a 3-ring binder and write down every step when learning a new technique.  It was much harder to forget after writing it down, and I had a nice reference while practicing.  No matter how quickly I learned the material for a given belt level, I usually waited 3 to 6 months between belt tests to be certain I had it well memorized.

I should also mention that my students routinely make mistakes on their video tests, yet I am very forgiving and pass almost everyone.  I view the colored belts as one big belt level where the student learns and explores, and the video tests are really just an opportunity for me to provide some feedback.  The only test I expect near perfection on is 1st degree black  belt.  If you make the binder of notes I suggested, you are welcome to have that with you when you film your video test.

Though I am very polite, I think some students get discouraged when they read my critique of their tests.  I wish this was not the case.  I feel I would be doing them a disservice if I didn't identify their mistakes and offer suggestions.  My hope is for the student to take my advice in stride, and push through the colored belts with little delay.  I care more that my students are exposed to the material than having it perfected, at least until 1st degree black belt.

Copyright 2020 Geoff Johnson.  Any unauthorized reproduction or duplication of this website or its material, including pictures and logos, is strictly prohibited without permission.   Contact Geoff Johnson's American Kenpo Karate at KenpoGeoff@hotmail.com