Most martial arts schools I have seen are really good at keeping people through their intermediate ranks, but then loose a larger amount of students as they approach black belt. This is because of a few problems that you can overcome easily if you take the time to address them. The first problem is because the black belt test is scary, but the one I am going to focus on for this post is that they stop seeing progress.

The Traditional Ranking System

The traditional way to set up a ranking system gives your new students some quick easy wins with fast advancement. They can gain 2-3 ranks in 3-4 months and they are seeing huge leaps in their skills after the first few classes. Then, as they get better, they have to wait longer for new ranks and have a much harder time seeing progress.

No wonder why they lose focus and motivation as they get closer to the goal, black belt!

How I Changed My Ranking System

Seeing this issue, I changed my system to provide more consistent wins to all of my students and not just the new ones.  Along with these changes, came some changes how I taught but not what I taught.

The first thing I did was to address the spacing between ranks so my students could be "tested" at more consistent intervals. This included adding some belts and stripes so I didn't shorten the amount of time it took to earn a black belt. I felt this was important because it takes a long time to learn the skills and mindset needed to be a true black belt.

Next, I started evaluating everyone on that consistent interval. I used 8 weeks because it felt long enough for advanced students to gain knowledge and short enough that I didn't mind making my new students wait that long. I certainly don't progress everyone every time because not everyone is ready, but I make sure that anyone who doesn't show that they are ready for the next rank knows what they can do better and (as importantly) knows what they are doing great already.

Finally, I adjusted what was required at each rank to reflect the new amount of time available to learn it. This meant adding a technique or two to my beginners and spreading out some of the advanced ranks material.

On top of this, I made sure it was clear what was expected of each rank. I don't just tell them what techniques a required. I tell them how I expect them to be done. If you are a beginner, you should be able to step where I told you to step. An intermediate student, should be controlling themselves and be able to adjust distance naturally. Advanced students can control a partner who knows what is coming while black belts should be able to to control anyone. This way of adapting can be applied to everything we teach and means that old techniques become new and different as you progress.

Taking the time to find ways to show your students the progress they are making more frequently will help them stick around long enough to reach black belt. You can be proud of the quality of student you are producing and keep them moving forward.

Bonus Thought: Stop "testing" and start evaluating. A test is scary. They are often outside normal class times and add a whole lot of stress to some of your students. So much that some of them won't want to go up in rank because they are afraid of the test. Evaluations can be during normal class times are less stressful to think about than a test when presented the right way. An evaluation is a great way to measure and then celebrate progress. Win. Win. Test are pass fail and lead to a demoralizing loss if you aren't ready.