How do you know when you got a good instructor

[AngelaG]

Oh...one thing to watch out for is someone that is in their 20's and claims to have a very high rank...say 4th dan or above. MAJOR red flag there in my opinion.

Does anyone believe in exceptions to this rule? By the time I am eligible to test for 4th Dan I will have been running classes every week for 10 years...but I'll only be 22. Is Montana saying I should test just because of my age, and not because of experience?

Don't get me wrong, I understand that there are many immature instructors out in the world, some in their 20's...some in their 50's. I may be showing immaturity by questioning this, but I feel I should.

I look forward to hearing some opinions on this.

Personally I think that 22 is VERY young for a 4th dan. But more to the point I think 12 is far too young to be taking lessons.

Certainly in the UK you have to over 18 to get instructor's public liability insurance.

Whilst I admire your spirit and consciencious attitude, I personally would have doubts about any dojo/dojang that was letting a 12 year old take a class. But as always, that is my own personal opinion.

[AngelaG]

Oh...one thing to watch out for is someone that is in their 20's and claims to have a very high rank...say 4th dan or above. MAJOR red flag there in my opinion.

Interesting...

I think most groups would agree that 18 is an acceptable age for shodan (Although a lot don't have any age limits).

So say 18 for shodan

Plus two years

At 20 they get Nidan

Plus 3 years

At 23 they get Sandan

Plus 4 years

At 27 they get Yondan

That's not exactly rushing through the grades (some groups do 1 year, 2 years, 3 years etc), and as I said it is not gaining a black belt at an age where they are doing "kiddy karate".

Bear in mind that a lot of groups say ages 14-16 for black belt and that can come down quite dramatically.