The four-week lead-up to my Taekwondo grading was a whirlwind of preparation, pressure, and perseverance. From revisiting foundational techniques to navigating the emotional tension of high-grade expectations, each week brought its own challenges. As the grading approached, the focus sharpened—pad work, patterns, sparring, and theory all demanded precision and resilience. It wasn’t just about passing; it was about proving to myself that I could rise to the occasion.
Week One
As this was the week just before the grading, it was mainly spent going through everything that would be required of us to do during our grading, which includes:
- Identification
- Theory
- Pad work
- Line work
- Patterns
- Step-Sparring
- Free Sparring (with kit)
We started going through everything that we would need to know.
Week Two
This was the week of the grading, so everyone was cramming to ensure that they knew the content that was necessary. During this time, many of the people who were grading were definitely getting worried about all the content that had to be covered. Among the people grading, there were many high grades, so the tensions were high, but everyone did what they could to ensure that they were prepared.
Week Three
This is the week after the grading, when many people got to find out whether or not we passed, and we would have an entire week dedicated to celebrating and getting our feet wet when it comes to new content.
Week Four
This week is spent on learning some new content that we had, with many of us starting to learn our new patterns and what we now have to learn by the next grading (6 months for senior grades).
The Grading
This grading was the hardest grading that I have ever done, and not because I was worried about the content or that the content itself was hard, but it was the layout of the grading itself. The grading was around 2 hours long, in sweltering hot weather, with limited break times and a towel that was already soaked; it was difficult to constantly remain at 100%.
I arrived early at the grading to warm up and to help any people who may need some help, whether it was remembering part of a pattern or just needing a little bit of support. Despite warming up early we all had to sit down for the theory part of the grading at the beginning of the grading, so whether or not my warmup was effective or not is a question for another day.
We then jumped straight into pad work, doing punch combos and kicking combos while running to a from pad holders. It was by this point that I started to realise that I may be taking this grading slightly too seriously; when compared to everyone else, I looked a bit like a puddle. After the pad work, we jumped straight into line work for a bit, doing combinations that we were told to do by our examiner.
It was at this point that I really needed a break and as we had people ranging from White belt to red belt some of them had to go sit down as they had finished all the line work so I took that opportunity to ask to have a drink.
The next part of the grading was the patterns, which, as we had such a wide range of grades then I had to do 6 patterns some more times than others. I personally believe that I performed each pattern as good as I possibly could have given the environment.
- Chon-Ji (19 moves)
- Dan Gun (21 moves)
- Do San (24 moves)
- Won yow (28 moves)
- Yul Guk (38 moves)
- Joong Gun (32 moves)
The second-to-last part of our grading was our step sparring. For those of you who maybe don’t know what that entails, it’s a series of pre-arranged “step” scenarios, where you take a number of steps depending on which one you're doing.
- 3 Step-sparring (3 steps)
- 2 Step-sparring (2 steps)
- 1 Step-sparring (1 step)
I was glad that I got to do step-sparring with one of the black belts, as that meant that I didn’t have to worry too much about my partner not blocking correctly or anything of the sort. The black belt I was with allowed me to make full contact on the block, and so did they. This meant that afterwards we both had sore arms, but that’s besides the point.
The final thing we did was full-contact sparring; we took a break beforehand and put on our sparring gear. I sparred a variety of different people, some younger than me (yet the same height), some way older than me. I only fell down once, and that was against the person who was much older than me, as it felt like but I got up fast and continued to spar.
Overall, I’m proud of my performance in the grading, and I believe that I deserve my belt. I’m now a 3rd kup and my next pattern to learn is Toi Gye, which has 37 movements and was the pen name of the noted scholar Yi Hwang, who was an authority on Neo-Confucianism.
Despite the sweltering heat, the relentless pace, and the physical toll, I gave everything I had during the grading. From supporting others to pushing through exhaustion, the experience tested not just my skills but my mindset. Earning my 3rd kup feels like more than a belt—it’s a symbol of growth, grit, and the journey ahead. With Toi Gye as my next pattern, I’m stepping into the next chapter with renewed focus and respect for the art.
Stay tuned, stay super, and I'll see you next time!
