From January there will no longer be a charge for 9th kyu (yellow tip) gradings.
The standard test fee of £20 will apply to all students attempting yellow belt and above. For students who are already at 9th kyu and paid a £5 fee, when the time comes to test for yellow belt will only pay £15. All future gradings will be £20.
Also in the New Year we will be introducing an additional format to the grading system for junior students called “Mon” grades.
These will be used as an intermediary marker in conjunction with the current kyu grade belt system from 8th kyu (yellow belt) up to and finishing with 3rd kyu (brown belt) as a way for instructors to monitor the junior students progress more easily and for the students themselves to see where they are in terms of their development more clearly. There will be no charge for the Mon grades.
There are four Mon grades between each kyu grade (each represented by a red tip on the end of the belt) which are awarded to students after a certain number of classes have been completed and that the student has become competent in the relevant part of the syllabus as described below.
Syllabus requirements
From Yellow to Blue Belt
1st Mon – Kihon/Ido Kihon & Combination
2nd Mon – Line Drill
3rd Mon – Kumite Drill
4th Mon – Kata
For Purple belts working towards brown belt
1st Mon – Ido Kihon & Combination
2nd Mon – Line Drill & Kumite Drill
3rd Mon – Kata & Bunkai
4th Mon – Kumite
Number of lessons
As a Yellow Belt (8th kyu)
Mons awarded about every 5 lessons
As an Orange Belt (7th kyu)
Mons awarded about every 8 lessons
From Green – Purple Belt (6th – 4th kyu)
Mons awarded about every 10 lessons
When we come back in the New Year all juniors will be awarded the appropriate Mon grade according to their current number of completed lessons and skill level.
If a student who takes a belt test and is only awarded a provisional pass (“Kyu-Ho” grade), the coloured tip of the previous grade will be placed on the opposite end of the belt to the Mon grades.
