Kids and gradings

[DoctorQui]

I've always found myself puzzled by the amount of latitude afforded to kids when they are graded or even put up for grading.

I do understand that kids bodies are still developing and some moves they just can't seem to get or understand, mistakes like leaning forward in an oizuki and not keeping shoulders square, or not twisting the body in a jodan gyagi uki are commone kid mistakes BUT I have seen kids put through and passing gradings where their concentration just isn't there (picking nose, fidgeting and fiddling with gi, missing instruction because they are more interested in what is going on elsewhere in the dojo etc), they don't really want to be there and their kata, techniques and stances have fundamental errors yet they are awarded their belts and promoted beyond their ability.

Where do you draw the line?

Is it reasonable for a parent to be told that MA really isn't for their little one rather than keep promoting to try and rouse interest only to have a 1st Dan who should really be a 7th Kyu??

[MasterPain]

It mentally prepares them for facing the Peter Principle in other areas later in life.

Life skills training in the dojo FTW!

[chiliphil1]

I think that they should he graded on the same scale as adults. Of course kids won't have the same power, intensity, or ability as an adult, but what I mean is that they should know the material completely and be able to demonstrate it to a point where it is obvious that they understand it and are ready to progress.

Passing someone when they are not ready not only hurts them in the long run, but also the image of the art and the school.

I personally sat on a testing board where there were some kids that were not ready to move on, and I voted that they should not pass, but was overridden by the chief instructor and the kids moved on.

One school of thought that we the studio had was that if a kid did not pass, they would become discouraged and quit karate.

I believe that failure is a part of karate if you do not work hard enough, and that failing should inspire you to do better next time, not to inspire you to quit.

[darksoul]

This is why I don't like teaching kids.

[blacknebula]

My Sensei will not let someone (either kid or adult) grade if they aren't capable of demonstrating the required skills and focus. There is one boy in my dojo - he was orange belt I was yellow, he was orange I was orange, he was orange I was green, he was orange I was purple. They finally let him grade in July and he got his green. I think for that kid to stick it out in the face of so many people getting promoted around him says a lot about his character!!

[DoctorQui]

One school of thought that we the studio had was that if a kid did not pass, they would become discouraged and quit karate.

This is exactly the issue I'm referring to!

So many kids start Karate, so very few see it through to Dan which is normally when you keep them.

To pass a kid because they may get discouraged and leave is a nonsense imo, as that kid is likely to leave anyway. Passing people who should not have passed is enormously damaging for MA!

[chiliphil1]

One school of thought that we the studio had was that if a kid did not pass, they would become discouraged and quit karate.

This is exactly the issue I'm referring to!

So many kids start Karate, so very few see it through to Dan which is normally when you keep them.

To pass a kid because they may get discouraged and leave is a nonsense imo, as that kid is likely to leave anyway. Passing people who should not have passed is enormously damaging for MA!

agreed completely, I misworded my statement, I meant the school had that view, not myself. One of the instructors we had was strict, we were required to take small tests for stripes on our belts, only when you had 4 of these stripes, plus the required time could you test for rank, but he was the exception, the other instructors I had leaned more to the side of pass them all, and then they will learn if they weren't up to snuff then. I disagreed with that heavily, and I personally had no problem failing someone who didn't meet the requirements of their rank, but was always overruled by my higher ups, hence why I think the stripes were a good idea. If you had the stripes, you were ready, if you didn't have them you could not even test.

[Dobbersky]

The best way is to run two different Syllabi, as I do one for the Junior Grades (kids) and one for the adults.

The syllabus Basics is exactly the same but Kata and use of Kata as well as sparring is totally different. How am I to grade a 10 year old to Full Black belt if I would not alllow him to spar FULL contact with adults. Hence why I have a minumum age of 16 for Adult Grades.

I think that if you don't spar full contact and your style is about technique with a few self defence moves thrown in then actually there is no difference in adult or Junior grades. If they have to spar full contact then one must make a difference in their levels for the candidates safety for one

[Harkon72]

There a so many McDojos with the policy of "if you pay, you pass". Little Johnny will fail his grading in our club if he hasn't worked for it and is sub-standard. He can try again for free. Many so called martial artists measure their Dan grade in pounds sterling and expect to pass if they have paid for it. Thankfully we have a very good pre-grade system and fails are rare. One child failed his grading for a bad attitude once, his karate was good but he showed no respect to the other students in class.

[Lupin1]

I agree with Dobbersky on having two separate syllabi. There's no reason a blue belt for a child has to be the same as a blue belt for an adult. We don't tell the middle school varsity basketball team they have to play with the same skill as the high school varsity team to be called varsity. It's two separate levels, and that's fine. I do think that if a kid starts around the age they're mentally and physically ready, which I don't see until 8-10, they probably won't be getting their black belt until they're close to being an adult, anyway.

I also don't see anything wrong with stripes or other achievement markers for kids to keep them encouraged. I was a 2nd grade teacher for two years and now I work with middle school students-- kids do need those small signs of progress more often than adults do. It's not a matter of feeding ego or anything, it's just that kids can't process on their own as well that they're improving-- they need more encouragement and signs that they're improving. Of course, when I see adults with stripes all up and down their belts, I see no reason for that. I even like the idea of limiting adults to maybe white, green, brown and black and giving the kids the full range of colors to give them more area in which to grow (as long as those colors are given with the purpose of extending the time and not just to let kids get a new belt every month).