Leniency on younger students?

[Truestar]

These past months I've been instructing and assisting at our Tae-Kwon-Do school. In the process I've made many decisions as far as striping different students towards their promotions.

Recently I've been working on form with the Dragons group which are around 9-11 years old. The forms aren't great, but I've kept in mind the following:

• They're still young, and the seriousness they take in the martial arts is going to vary based on their parents, the school, and themselves. This can still develop
  
• They are young, and haven't developed a lot mentally and physically. While this doesn't imply 9 year olds can't be good martial artists, they won't be at the level a 16 year old would be at at the same belt level.
  
• They are lower in their ranks, orange belts. So they have several belts and years to improve all around in stances and technique.
  

How strict would you grade students like this? My head instructor always checks things out form wise before striping a student anyways to see if my judgment is correct, but I'm just looking for some opinions and ideas from other schools.

[bushido_man96]

I think there still needs to be a level of performance that needs to be achieved. Good stances are something that shouldn't be slacked on, for instance. Stances aren't hard to do, so they should be good. Other things, like kicking high, shouldn't be a worry. Don't get too lenient, or student quality will slip.

[G95champ]

9-11 should be able to do the kata. It will take them longer but they should be able too.

Younger than that maybe not. Yeah they can memorize the pattern but thats not doing the kata.

Anyone below 8 Will prob. only go up one belt rank in our club. We take things into account as far as Age and stuff but if you can't do the stuff then you don't get the belt.

Just be up front with mommy and daddy and say look he or she is learning and the rank wil come in time.

[G95champ]

I should note we grade each person based on a scale if there 100 people just like them testing. Obviously certin ages can do more athletically and mentally but their still has to be a set standard.

The stance must look good.

The techinque must be crisp.

The kata has to be correct.

They must show power, speed, focus, etc.

Again a 8 year old is not going to look like a 20 year old and 50 year old is not going to look like a 30 something but if you take that person and say this is what a good person at that age and skill leval should look like you will know.

Again don't be in a rush to test if it takes 3 months or a year make them wait until they can show you that they are ready.

[Rateh]

Theres a rule at our school that if you are under 10, or going for a yellow belt, you can ask for a demonstration. Demonstrations are not done for forms, but for basic combinations and sparring combinations.

As far as technique, I am a little more lenient if they are say 8 and under.

[DWx]

IMO it depends on whether you consider a junior and senior with the same belt as equals. If you generally consider say a child blue belt as an equal of an adult blue belt then you should be testing them based on the same standards. I think to lower the testing standards will be detrimental to their training as they will have to go back at some point and improve it all again. IMO its better to get it right from the beginning rather than have them carry thorugh bad technique and habits.

You could take a different approach to testing though. For us you are expected to know stuff like application, terminology etc. With adults you'd just ask them to give you a verbal translation of terminology and get them to explain whereas with kids I find it better to ask them to show you the technique first and then ask them to show you when they would use it.

[ninjanurse]

I evaluate each student as an individual within the standard. Their strengths and weaknesses differ and should be taken into consideration-up to a point. I agree that allowing sloppy habits to develop creates problems down the road and it is best to fix them early. Once my juniors get to blue or brown belt I have a pretty good idea of their capabilities and I start pushing. At red belt there is very little room for error and I do not cut them much slack.

[crazyferret]

These past months I've been instructing and assisting at our Tae-Kwon-Do school. In the process I've made many decisions as far as striping different students towards their promotions.

Recently I've been working on form with the Dragons group which are around 9-11 years old. The forms aren't great, but I've kept in mind the following:

• They're still young, and the seriousness they take in the martial arts is going to vary based on their parents, the school, and themselves. This can still develop
  
• They are young, and haven't developed a lot mentally and physically. While this doesn't imply 9 year olds can't be good martial artists, they won't be at the level a 16 year old would be at at the same belt level.
  
• They are lower in their ranks, orange belts. So they have several belts and years to improve all around in stances and technique.
  

How strict would you grade students like this? My head instructor always checks things out form wise before striping a student anyways to see if my judgment is correct, but I'm just looking for some opinions and ideas from other schools.

I think the best way to deal with the issues of grading younger students is to have a separate belt system for them.

In this way you can still give them the motivation to progress, but at the same time, you aren't comparing them to adults.

[Tiger1962]

I don't think instructors should be too lenient on the younger students. I also believe that one should be a certain age before achieving black belt level. Being stricter on curriculum and knowledge of the m.a. style makes it more valuable and worthwhile when the kids DO reach their rank level.

I like crazyferret's idea of a separate belt system for kids because the idea of a 9 year old black black, to me, is ridiculous.

[joesteph]

My children are age seven, so they don't fit into the 9-11 year old group, but the system for them is a series of stripes (eight of them) first, then a test to go up one belt level. That would be one belt color per year, and stripes are earned, not just awarded, so a child might take more than a year if necessary.

There is a nine-year-old in class with me with a green belt and a stripe on it, and he's excellent to work with; the boy's a natural, not only in what he does but in instructing younger children. I don't know at what age he'll be able to test for dan membership, but he'll need another stripe, then a color change, then two more stripes, and then be permitted to test. The dan member who's fourteen is treated more like an adult, and his assistance is very professional; he's a "young man" on the dojang floor though he's a "kid" in high school.

I wonder, since so often a question (complaint?) is raised about how young this or that dan member is, is if there is less emphasis/concern on age and the lower belts, but a greater concern about dan membership, because, at least in American society, that black belt means a certain special step across a threshold in martial arts has been made, and that it stands for something greater than the next step up in belt rank.

I think that most martial artists accept that an adult with a disability/handicap will need accommodations, and will accept that this may mean that the recipient of the rank did not do exactly what others did, but worked to the best of his/her ability, and that means something. Does this also extend to dan membership? Will someone question dan membership, saying that grading is based on ability, not effort? I couldn't protest/question in such a case, it's just not in me, but I'm also just one person.

Do we make accommodations for those who are older but not disabled, that there is a limit that is reached in ability when within, say, middle age or even old age for most people? Should we say we accommodate for older age but not younger? It can always be argued that the young can wait their turn, but will we actually kill their ardor under the banner of high standards? Will they--and their parents--consider it "age discrimination"? Is it fair? Just? As Sophocles pointed out, there is a point at which even justice is unjust.

I've not noticed in the forums instructors who tested younger students and posted that these younger ones reached dan membership because they earned it. Is it because they are not forum members, or because they expect that if they post, they'll be chastized? Let's invite postings by those from a school in which "the young" (up for broad interpretation) have achieved recognition as dan members and that, in the opinion of the awarder, the student truly earned it?

Let's hear from them in the spirit of dialogue.