Black Belt Breaking Marshal Guidelines
By Dr Brice Valles, Paul M Papakura
Here are some pointers I am using when organising the breaking part of a grading.
- Meet with the candidates before the public part of the grading. The purpose is threefold
- Take measurements for the power breaks, both hand and foot techniques.
This allows me enough time to prepare a spreadsheet or a table manually listing the different candidates by decreasing order of breaking height. I end up with two lists, one for power hand techniques and a different one for power foot techniques. The order of candidates may differ between the two lists. The reason for sorting the candidates in decreasing order of breaking height is just for efficiency as it takes less time to slightly drop the height on a machine than lifting up. This said there are always minute adjustments to make
- I also discuss the specialty breaks so that I can come up with a plan as to which order those will take place.
If using breaking machines, I try to alternate between a candidate who uses a machine and a candidate who does not so that the machine can be set-up while a candidate is breaking with board holders only. Again to be more efficient on the day
- The third purpose is to reassure the candidates by removing uncertainties. I usually explain how the breaking part of the grading will be conducted and what to expect. I tell them when they will meet with the breaking team and that they will be to explain what their specialty breaks are, how many board holders they will need, and how they would like them to be placed.
This is for the candidates to feel better and not have additional stress
Naturally, I brief the breaking team about the different specialty breaks beforehand and explain in which order those will take place. The meeting with the candidates helps at associating candidates and breaks
- Prepare the spreadsheet / tables for the examiners
- I have only organised gradings' breaking in Auckland, so I usually have time to go home, prepare, and print copies of the lists
- At grading, I try to briefly talk with the examiners before the public session. The purpose is
- Tell them I have everything prepared and ask when they would like the information, either now or when it is time for the breaking to happen
- Give them the lists and quickly explain how I have organised the candidates
- Answer any questions they may have
In terms of equipment, the ideal situation is to have two breaking machines so that I can split the candidates across the two machines. I usually split in half so that I end up with those with high breaking height on one machine and those with lower breaking height on the other. With more machines you can distribute candidates more across the machines. Again this is to speed up the process and be more efficient.
The above applies to both Senior Dan gradings and Black Belt gradings with a few caveats:
- Senior Dans choose all their techniques while they are imposed at Black Belt gradings
- There are usually more candidates at Black Belt gradings than at Senior Dans
- For the overhead kick at Black Belt grading, I would organise the candidates so that those who can jump over the expected longest distance go first. Those with reduced or expected shorter distance next. Basically grouping candidates by distance covered from longest to shortest. The rationale is that it takes less time to remove, shields, boxes, people, whatever obstacles is used for the overhead than to come and set-up additional equipment
- For the high kick at Black Belt grading, the order does not really matter as we always use board holders and the set-up is basically the same for all candidates
I enclose a
copy of the spreadsheet I prepared for the 2025 Senior Dan grading as an example. More candidates than usual and three machines (a luxury). The number of boards is included but it is not necessary, in particular for Black Belt gradings. However, for Senior Dans, because candidates all choose their own three techniques, they need to indicate to the organisers how many they think they will need on the day. Consequently, I get that information before I even meet the candidates so include that as well.
Senior Dan Grading Sample Spreadsheet 
