The grading on the weekend was a difficult one for us, as we had to deal with the issue of students not quite making the grade. We were caught off guard, and handled the situation awkwardly. We’re talking about a 9 year old grading for blue belt, and a 10 year old grading for green. At intermediate to advance levels, there’s less room for leniency; so although both performed well, it wasn’t quite enough. They missed the mark by a mere 3-4%. However, how they handled our clumsy efforts with the delivery of the news, made me swell with pride.
My heart broke to see Jeremy cry… a little boy, angry and disappointed with himself. But before leaving, he wiped off the tears, strode across the mat and shook hands with all the instructors, earning the applause which followed.
We mistakenly awarded Jamison her belt and had to tell her afterwards that she didn’t make the grade. Although she could keep her new belt, she was still required to do a re-grade. When she walked in to class tonight, she handed me her green belt and her certificate, stating “I don’t want it until I’ve earned it.” I was stunned by the maturity of the gesture.
There were many things we could’ve done better, and how we go about doing so, is being discussed amongst the team. However, there were also many important lessons learnt from this experience… one of them being:
Everybody falls; but only few manage to do so with grace.
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