Testing requirements included 20 poomsae (patterns or forms of about 20 movements each), including a creative poomsae of my own design, 40 different kicks, and numerous other combinations, with a few creative combinations of my own. The testing culminated in sparring against a single opponent, and then sparring against two opponents at once.
The last time I tested was April 2020, peak pandemic time, 5 years ago. It took about 18 months to prepare for this test, including about 5 to 10 hours per week since the start of the year.
With this rank I have earned the title 사범 님 Sabeom Nim, meaning one who teaches, and who can perform all of the requirements at a high level. In our system, you must be 4th Dan to judge Black belt tests, and to award others the rank of Black belt. Achieving this rank checks off an item on my bucket list. It will be about 4 years until I am eligible to test for 5th Dan, and from today's perspective, I wonder whether I'll test again.
Glad to have that behind me.
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