First Official Black Belt Testing Email - IMPORANT

First, we want to welcome everyone to the first official week of Black Belt testing season. We have a lot of information for everyone in this email so please be thorough and don’t hesitate to reach out with questions. If you think you are receiving this email in error or are interested in postponing your testing until the next cycle, please let us know ASAP so we can adjust.

Monthly Attendance Requirements

If you are receiving this email, then that means you have successfully passed the initial attendance minimum cut off. There will be 3 more, minimum check points that must be completed during the testing process. As a reminder, these check points MUST be hit and anyone who misses will be immediately moved to the next exam cycle. The next cut-off will be December 1st and will be as follows:

Brown Belts: 96

Black Belts: 76

1st Degree: 176

2nd Degree: 276

Weekly Attendance Requirements

Now that we are officially in the exam cycle, every student, regardless of rank, must attend a minimum of two regular class days (not on the same day) per week on average. These classes must be either a Black belt, teens or advanced class (Black Belt club, Leadership and EIT do not count). Averages will be checked monthly and any student who fails to maintain this average will be issued a strike.

Fundraising Details

This year EFK will be requiring all candidates to fundraise and participate in our annual Kickathon. All proceeds will be donated to the Mastocytosis Society (TMS for a cure). This year’s Kickathon will be a team event with a relay format. Students will select a team of 4-6 students to fundraise and participate in the event with. On the day of the event, which will be December 6th at the Hilton of Woburn, teams will have to perform kicks continuously for 1 hour. At least one member of each team will have to be continuously kicking but can be subbed out at any time. The link to the fundraising registration page can be found here: https://givebutter.com/2EW0o3/join

Everybody must be registered on the website no later than November 10th.

Candidate Classes

One of the two required candidate classes will be held on December 6th, prior to the start of the Kickathon. Students will be required to attend a minimum of one other candidate check in class. These check-ins will be offered throughout the testing process at multiple locations. Students will select which additional classes they would like to attend and receive direct instruction/correction from Shihan or Sensei Ryan. The specific dates will be included in next weeks email.

Fitness Reminder

If students have not already started training their fitness, now is the time to start. Fitness requirements can be found on the black belt portal for reference. Students should be training as often as possible throughout the testing process. Daily fitness should include:

Jumping Jacks

Pushups

Planks

Wall Sits

Squat Thrusts

Running

Kata

Kata’s

Kata’s are an integral part of the testing process. Not only should students be practicing their ‘under belt’ katas but they should be training their testing katas as well. Degree candidates should be training their rank specific katas for the testing process. Brown belts should be starting to build their creative kata. References on how to get started can be found here: https://youtu.be/Gkaq5JyAz3Y?si=Wd79nyAdhRop6Z2f

Exam Date

As a reminder, the exam date is planned for February 7th at the Joyce Middle School in Woburn. This is a non-negotiable requirement, and all graduates must be in attendance for the entire event. Students should plan on being there for the entire day (8 am – 7 pm) which will encompass basics testing, fitness, obstacle course, sparring, and the graduation show. Breaks will be included in the plan for the day. Tickets for the graduation show will be available after Thanksgiving.

Tracker Reminder

As a reminder, if you want to be added to the online tracker, please email EFK with your child’s name and “opt in” noted in the subject line.

Tuition and testing fees

As a reminder, during the exam process membership must be kept current and active. Under no circumstances will students be permitted to request cancellations while testing. Invoices for the testing process will be sent out this week to all candidates. We ask that these are taken care of in a timely manner so that we can proceed without delay.

Now that we are in testing process students must be extremely diligent in their training. Testing is a perseverance challenge and requires students to remain fixated on their goals. The EFK staff will do everything we can to guide, nurture and assist students through the process but we find the most successful candidates have a deep support system at home. If you are having any trouble or questions throughout the process please contact your head instructor, Sensei Ryan, or Shihan Gary as soon as possible so we can assist you.

We look forward to the next couple months of testing.

Sincerely,

EFK Staff