Post Testing Feelings

One of my favorite parts of testing is watching the faces of the students who test, and seeing how they process all of the different emotions that go into it. Testing is hard. It’s scary and nerve wracking. One of the things that we try to do is make it that way as much as possible. We want our students to learn how to deal with nerves, stress and fear. If they are ever in a situation where they have to defend themselves, they will go through very similar emotions, and our job is to ensure that they can control them. Testing never gets easier to do or go through. Actually, it tends to get harder as you progress in rank. The difference between testing for your Yellow Belt and testing for 6th Degree Black Belt is that you have simply gotten better at controlling your nerves and emotions through years of repetition.