How Young for Shotokan Black Belt

[pdm2409]

The club I belong to has a minimum of 3 years but once you attain the last belt before black you must train a further year before being put forward for black. I attained mine after 5 years but at my wish as i felt i wasnt ready after 4. Did me the world of good as i now have my 2nd dan and am working towards my 3rd we have had some kids as young as 9 attain their black belts but in their defence they started at the age of 5 and they did have a natural flow for the style... like everyone else has said every school has its own standard. its just a case of picking a good club that your son enjoys...

[BlackSilver]

In my dojo, people under 18 are hardly given the black belt.

Children take an exam every year to earn "half" a belt if you know what i mean.Adults take, if the exam is successful, an entire belt per year. The exam envolves kihon, kata, kumite and an oral examination, in which the practitioner can be asked to name techniques in japanese,stances, the history of karate, of our own style or other styles, of particular things which belong to the martial arts world (like who were the samurais, the geishas, what is the ju jitsu and so on...)

Anyway, i think that, apart from the way of giving black belts, it's important to educate children not to see it like the finish line of karate. Otherwise, as soon as they get the black belt they will stop practicing.