5 year old black belt in India?!?!

[isshinryu5toforever]

CNN put up a story about a five-year-old little girl who is now a black belt in Karate.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/10/08/karate.black.belt.five/index.html

It doesn't say what style the little girl is in, and I'm not usually one to jump into this side of the too young for black belt debate, but clearly 5-years-old is crossing a line.

My main problem with the article is that it will only encourage other people to push their young children into martial arts, and then be disappointed when their youngster isn't getting a black belt by the age of 10.

I'm not trying to create a big argument about "being too young to have a black belt" either. We've had plenty of those. I just thought people would be interested to read the article.

[rogue2257]

I saw that article yesterday when it came out. I was honestly stunned at what I saw. Without being able to see the girl and how she acts or performs, its not really possible to say whether or not that she's good at what she does... but my experience tells me that that kids are not usually ready for black belts.

There's a huge difference between knowing a bunch of forms and really understanding the meaning behind the actions and the kids I've dealt with are generally not at a level of maturity to deal with that. I'm not saying its impossible... but to me the notion of a 5 year old black belt is utterly absurd.

Now, to be perfectly honest, I got my black belt when I was 14. We had a recent black belt promotion who was 14-15, but he is at a point where he deserved it.

I feel like I need to address the line at the end of the article: "She is already a mini master but if she makes it to second dan she can start teaching -- just like her father." I don't know about the rest of you... but the idea of a 5-6 year old teaching a karate class seems absurd to me... almost like a joke.

I suppose I could be completely wrong and the girl could be some kind of prodigy, but I have a really hard time imagining it. The story seems so sensational to me that I have to wonder...

I know you didn't want to get into the argument about being too young to have a black belt, but I had such a kneejerk reaction to it that I felt like I had to say something about it.

[The BB of C]

Very interesting. I'm not sure what to think of it. I suspect it's Isshin Ryu karate that she learned. That style has exactly fifteen katas and (at least in my school) you have to know all of them to get your black belt.

[bushido_man96]

Every situation is different, but in most cases, I just don't think I could go with something like this, as an instructor myself.

And getting to 2nd dan and teaching at that age, I wouldn't feel comfortable with that, either.

[isshinryu5toforever]

Very interesting. I'm not sure what to think of it. I suspect it's Isshin Ryu karate that she learned. That style has exactly fifteen katas and (at least in my school) you have to know all of them to get your black belt.

I'm not sure either, but Isshinryu has 8 empty hand, 3 sai, 3 bo, one tuifa, and absolutely 0 nunchaku katas. So yes, 15, but none of them use particularly exotic weapons. I also took note of the bo being called the "Chinese stick."

Also, I have trouble believing a 5-year-old could learn and remember Shi shi no kun or Chatan yara no sai. The other weapons katas are considerably easier, especially Hama Higa no Tuifa once you get the figure 8 motion down, but the two I just mentioned are much, much longer.

[BDPulver]

I've met some practicioners from india a long time ago. Isshinryu is a big influence there.

Traditional isshinryu is the 8 open and 7 weapon. The added now is kama, nunchuku, bo-bo and bo-sai.

[NewLevel]

I smell McDojo!

[Shotokan-kez]

Hmmm...another difficult one. We have young black belts but never 5. My little boy is 5 and he just starting out. Hard to imagaine a 5 year old having a black belt really

[patusai]

It's a wonderful world. Let me try to be politically correct here. To each his/her own style and way of doing things. Although I am intitled to think pooly of the decision and disagree with a 5 year old becoming a black belt, my thoughts really don't matter. If they did, the sensei would have asked me and he/she did not. As for what style, being trained in Isshin Ryu myself, maybe it was a "brand new" style that the 5 year old trained in. Maybe the 5 year old was awarded the rank with the understanding that in 10 years she can claim it : )

[sensei8]

I've only one thing to say about this but I'll keep it to myself!