Not sure if I like this.
We're here to learn karate, an activity which is done by, er, being active and doing things. What does answering general knowledge questions have to do with developing skills in the art? Fair enough for people going for instructors' qualifications or some formally recognised qualification (in the UK there are NVQs, national vocational qualifications - these are attained by putting together a portfolio of evidence demonstrating knowledge and doing something).
But I don't think there is much value in giving black belt candidates 20 questions. After 3-5 years of training (at least!) you'd think they would know something about their style in question. I wonder if anyone has ever failed to get a Dan grade because they didn't write their essay?
And who marks these exam papers and essays? Are the people setting them qualified educationalists? What is the nature of these questions - I bet they are easy to answer if you have a web connection and google. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the people setting the questions used google to get their answers too....
I can't imagine footballers/cricketers/baseball players/race horses/etc having to complete a written exam so they can get to play in the first team or whatever.
Written exams in karate? No thanks.
(PS. I have an NVQ Level 3 in Management and team leadership. How very nice.)
