You're Not Old Enough!!

[sensei8]

The age IS the decider says the founder, says the Governing Body, and says the By-Laws of said style no matter what the masses might say because of the founders given right to say/do/enforce so.

[LLLEARNER]

What I'm about to express, is for conversation, and not for judgement to be passed, please. I was an unwilling student who was trapped in a By-Law for 5 long years.

History...

In the very early days of the SKKA, which wasn't founded until Soke, with then Kaicho, Dai-Soke, moved to the USA in the late 1950's. Slowly but surely, their Student Body grew in a respective manner.

Over some time, the Student Body was an equal mix of kids and adults. Promotion within the Kyu ranks slowly grew from Jukyu to Ikkyu, and the Hombu faced their first Shodan Testing Cycle.

Kids were excited about that!!

But their excitement was quickly dashed with one sentence from Soke...

"You're not old enough!!" Soke never offered an explanation as to why, except..."Because I said so!!"

Complaints reeled in from many parents, and as fast as those complaints came in, they were cast away by an unfeeling and dauntless Soke; he was firm in his commitment.

Here at KF, this very subject has been covered from many different angles from both sides of the fence; pros and cons. Hopefully, this thread's a different angle...hopefully.

From the era Soke was born in, 1917, passed away in 2008, and from where he came from, Nanjo, Okinawa, and arriving in the USA to establish the SKKA/Hombu in the late 1950's...

Shortly after the very first Shodan Testing Cycle, where kids have earned an Ikkyu, had came and gone, Soke was vexed just enough to authorize the Junior Black Belt for those Ikkyu who earned the right to earn a JBB. However, same Testing Cycle for the JBB AND Shodan, but no one under 18 years of age is allowed to earn Shodan. BTW, that rule still is enforced to this day!!

Was Soke wrong in not allowing kids to earn a Shodan Testing Cycle??

I don't think so. His organization, his rules.

As an adult, I find the idea of constant rewards for achievements to be unnecessary. The reward is in the doing, learning and self-improvement. I would not care if my Sensei did away with belts altogether. I am not doing this for a belt.

I admit sometimes it can be nice to see the physical results of achievement, but then I remind myself that the achievement should be internal self-improvement, not the adornment of a uniform. Occasionally, I also find the belt system to be a hindrance. It is too easy to settle at a level, and not continuously improve. I kind of like that as a rule for life in general.

That being said...

Kids often cannot internalize that thought process, and depend on the physical reminder. By the time they hit mid-teens, they should start to understand the difference between the internal growth and external displays.

However...

I don't think he was wrong. His organization, his rules.

[ineluki]

The age IS the decider says the founder, says the Governing Body, and says the By-Laws of said style no matter what the masses might say because of the founders given right to say/do/enforce so.

Just curious, given your trouble within your organisation that you have described in quite a few other posts... do you feel that those rules actually worked?

[LLLEARNER]

The age IS the decider says the founder, says the Governing Body, and says the By-Laws of said style no matter what the masses might say because of the founders given right to say/do/enforce so.

Do you really mean to say that when we join an organization we play by their rules? That we should not expect an entire organization to cater to our whim when they see just how special we are?

[sensei8]

The age IS the decider says the founder, says the Governing Body, and says the By-Laws of said style no matter what the masses might say because of the founders given right to say/do/enforce so.

Just curious, given your trouble within your organisation that you have described in quite a few other posts... do you feel that those rules actually worked?

Yes!!

Any dojo within the SKKA network can do whatever they want, it's their dojo. If said dojo doesn't want to support the SKKA By-Laws, then said dojo faces losing their charter for cause, it's the SKKA rules, it's their Governing Body.

Worse things can happen if ones dojo isn't part of any Governing Body.