Martial arts testing held in Stuart

By Angela Jones

The Mat Room was filled with high energy and anticipation on June 1, as 18 of Rutter’s Martial Arts’ students awaited their turn to demonstrate their knowledge and skill needed for a belt advancement.

Students who tested were from the Stuart, Bassett and Floyd locations. They included: Jonathan Poff, Hunter Hubbard, Gabriel France, Josey Long, Levi Marshall, Devon Booth, Kaden Shepherd, Zane Johnson, Caleb Ragans, Levi Boyd, Loren Marshall, Pamela Upchurch, Blake Poff, Natasha Jones, Noah Jones, Brandon Evans, Justin Ashworth, Nolan Poperowitz, Chase Poperowitz, Andrew Pack, Zeke Pack and Emily Turner.   

Martial arts is a high impact sport that requires continued education and self practice. Students are required to practice routines daily at home, attend classes for instruction and critique, learn various forms, stances, self-defense tactics and one-steps. All of the skills in the listed areas were taught over the course of three months and demonstrated during testing.

Testing results will be provided to the students within two weeks of their test, indicating advancement of belt color or rank.

Belt rank and colors depend on the style of martial arts training. When testing, students may remain at the same color belt for more than six months prior to advancing to the next color. They will only obtain a stripe on their current belt, to indicate the skill level has been obtained to advance to the next level of training.