Everywhere I’ve ever trained a martial art, there has always been a sense of ownership amongst the students.  Frequently, the students of the school clean the training floor after a workout.  There are many purposes to this, the most obvious being keeping folks from getting nasty rashes but like all things that start with simplicity and practicality, over time they acquire a ritualistic purpose as well.  In my experience, cleaning the floors where I train has always me feel like I had a stake in the school.

Given this notion of ownership through cleaning, it is a tradition in our system (and perhaps many others as well) for students who are up for testing to clean the school prior to the test.  This is especially useful if the student is testing in a space they’ve never been in before, as they get to check out the layout before hand and start to picture in their heads a successful day of testing.  As with any endeavor, proper set up is key to success.