Grading

List of Awarded Grades

Grading Explained

Wing Tsun Kuen Grading

WTA offers grading in several disciplines, such as Wing Tsun Kuen, different weapons and other skill, ability and capability areas. The following description applies to Wing Tsun Kuen grading.

Understanding the True Grading Purpose

Grading serves to establish a grade or level (sub-grade). Where a grade or level indicates the curriculum that a student has completed and the curriculum that is currently taught to a student. Thus, it is to reflect knowledge.

However, it is often mistaken as a representation of skill, which it is not.

Rushing through Grades

The aforementioned misconception, combined with an insufficiently developed correct mind-set, results often in a student’s desire to grade as quickly as possible. The reason may include fear “to be left behind” – although there is no single path that applies to everyone, or the psychological desire to race to the top” – although there is no top.

Typically, such understanding, or lack thereof, hinders the student to develop the right mind-set, which is required to correct the training attitude. Subsequently, the student will acquire knowledge quickly, at the expense of developing little or no skills and understanding. Of course, often, such students conclude that, whatever they have gained knowledge of, does not work, failing to recognise that they themselves just didn’t manage “to make it work”, or, in other words, they didn’t develop an understanding of the difference between the knowledge to do something and the skill of doing something.

The WTA Grading System

To assist students in avoiding the above described pitfalls, we established the WTA Grading System. Although we are putting time and effort into the development and execution of the Grading System, we advise you, the WTA student who wants more than just grades, who wants to develop a martial art mind-set and practical Wing Tsun skills, to reflect on this explanation and your training status, before registering for grading.

System Grades versus Delta Grades

WTA provides students with the option of studying the Wing Tsun system, as such, or the Wing Tsun system for practical application. Where at the highest level of System focus, a student will focus on mastering the meditative energy through motion, where students of Practical Application will focus on precision, speed and impact of execution.

Students learn the WTA philosophy of “Wing Tsun is the art of subtlety”.

Accordingly, we refer to technical levels as Delta Grades, to remind us of the fact that little differences makes a big difference when it comes to progressing knowledge to understanding, to ability and into capability. Not to mention that the shape of the Greek delta symbol Δ associates with the WTA symbol, which is a stylisation of angles, a key element of applied Wing Tsun.

Delta Grading is different from System Grading. When we talk about Grading without qualification of the type of grading, it refers to System Grading. Achieving System grades with high scores is the prerequisite for attending Delta classes and, eventually, obtaining Delta Grades.

Grading System

The grading system consists of the following parts:

1.      Student Qualifying for Grading

1.1       Student achieved, or is expected to achieve by the grading date, the minimum attendance points

1.2       Student participated in the General Theory Class, at least once within the last 12 months

1.3       Student participated in all Theory Classes assigned to the specific Grade

1.4       Student demonstrated the required mind-set, or willingness and ability to develop it

1.5       Student was and is in full compliance with the WTA Protocol

2.      Registration

2.1       Those students, who achieved the prerequisites, qualify for grading and are listed in the ‘Qualifying Grading Candidates’ list.

2.2       Students listed, may register for Grading.

3.      Grading Assessment

The assessment is based on the WTA Training Philosophy:
Develop Your Mind-set, Develop Your Body, Develop Your Skill

3.1      Core Assessment Components

The core assessment components include:

Having maintained the qualification criteria up to the date of grading

Grading Application

Theory Grading

Fitness Grading

Skill Assessment

Mind-set Assessment

Finally, an assessment of:

3.2      Best Progress Criteria

In addition to the core assessment criteria the Sifu-assessment considers the impact of grading in view of what is best for the individual and for the group.

3.2.1     Best Individual Progress

If a student passes all of the core assessment components, but the Sifu-assessment is that advancing in curriculum would be detrimental to the student’s progress, then the student will be invited to a (free) grading review meeting with the Sifus.  Upon the meeting, the Sifus will determine the final grading outcome. The Best Individual Progress assessment occurs only very rarely.

3.2.2     Best Group Progress

Martial Skill is acquired through the transfer of knowledge, advice and corrections by the Sifus, practice by the student and the training with other students.  Thus, each student has an impact on other students, especially on those within the same training group.

If a student grades too early, it will have a negative impact on all other students in the group. This aspect, Best Group Progress, is to be considered by the Sifus, when finalising a grading result.

Related information

If you have questions about your eligibility or grading result, please find more information in the section ‘Not Passing Qualification or Grading’.

For Grading information:  “Grading Notification and Registration”