Dominus

Yeah 10 isnt a good age, but 18 is stilla bit too high. A good age for blackbelt would be 14 or 15.

I find it absurd that some schools actually give kids blackbelts at such young ages, like 6 or 7. I mean really, do they REALLY think a 3 foor tall kid can defeat a big thug that jumps you on the street? These little kids will then end up going to school and challenging some much bigger guy to a fight and end up breaking every bone in their body. Sure they may have done the forms right and everything, but are they REALLY qualified? Schools need to be more strict when giving out belts, and their should be an age limit of at least 10 before you can get a black belt. Who agrees?

Is that enough time to master traditional karate? When I say "master", i dont mean get a 9th degree blackbelt and be able to win every tournament in the world, but I mean at least get a blackbelt and get the hang of it. Many people tell me the original traditional karate is the best out there. Is it true?

I am interested in this because I believe that padding is not good for training, since on the street, you won't have pads or protection, and you need to get used to that. Anyway, what styles don't use padding?

My top 3 are: The Karate Kid The Best of the Best Rush Hour/2

If it was a VERY serious fight where the person who started it was very violent and threatened to even kill the karate student, and there was no teacher around, the student wouldn't really have a choice, would he? If all he did was simply defend himself and maybe lay a blow or two just to put out his attacker, than thats understandable.

Oh and I have already been taking TKD for 3 years and have a blackbelt in it, but I don't think that is enough, which is why I want to learn some stuff in Japan.

Well I will be there for 6 months, and I want to learn smething that will actually benefit me if I ever need to defend myself. I would prefer the traditional karate though. How is Judo?

What is the best type of karate I can learn there? Give some suggestions.