Should blackbelts be withheld until a certain age?

[SandanPJ]

We have a junior black, which is a different rank from shodan...but 18 and up for Shodan testing only..

[Tigerspirit]

I am 15 years old and i recieved my nidan tis year.i was 12 wen i got my shodan but i must agree wit u tat 7 is much to young. i dont tink i was ready 4 my black belt at 12 and i feel now i didn't have ta dedication and as a result my karate suffered. i was due for my 2nd dan last year but i left it a year to make sure i was ready. i think my karate as improved greatly and on sayin tis i don't tink i will grade for a long time. till i'm mentally and physically ready. Thank u!

[granmasterchen]

black belts should be given to those that truely deserve, those with the knowledge and understanding, i tell parents of children that i teach that they have to be able to understand what they are doing and convert the information to memory, not a quick class in a "bad" school and you automatically get your belt, i don't believe in that, i let the parents know that it will take time to earn the belt, but that obviously goes for adults. It is possible to get a junior black belt, but it is a touchy and risky move i believe, if the individual has the potential and knows what he/she is doing and i think that the individual would have to be in there teens to qualify, if they meet the requirements, then let it be.I feel that you should be around 5 to start learning, and that it should take typically 5 years to learn, depending on the amount of training involved, if the person is very dedicated and trains every day than that can be sped up, yet on average, 5 yrs. So they way i work it out children will have to spend at least 5 yrs, so they should be in their teens to test for black, at least in my school, yet when i have a kid, i will probably try to train the young one from an earlier age...but who knows, that is my two cents

[Dragonias]

I Totaly Agree with granmasterchen, But i also think that all clubs that give out belts within a year of joining are also McDOJO's coz lets face it, in a year, u might b able to have learnt all the kata, but u still have plenty of other stuff to learn.

 

Another problem is with giving out black belts to children, anyone below sixteen doesnt have the strength, disciplin, control, speed or stamina of an adult and can still get injured by a full grown adult with zero experience in martial arts due to the fact a child is just too weak, and there fore black belt should b given to adults only, and ive noticed when ive seen young black belts they often tend to slack of work and so on coz they think they are black belt and dont need to do as much work. It just shows u there imaturity

[ninjanurse]

We have a junior black, which is a different rank from shodan...but 18 and up for Shodan testing only..

 

My school has a similar Junior BB ranking's with a slightly different curriculum. When they turn 18 they can test for a regular BB but have to learn the additional curriculum or test into a lower rank.

 

[kajukenbo dad]

Rules are Rules and to watch a five year old walk around the Dojo is up to the Rules of your style or your Sifu...GoodLuck.......???????Black Belt

[Warp Spider]

How about you test the brown belt's against people at the same belt level to determine if they should advance? As far as I understand it, a practitioner with a black belt is supposed to be able to fight better than a practitioner with a brown belt.. so then theoretically they should be able to have good success sparring against all of the other brown belts before advancing.

 

It seems logical to me.. you could periodically hold a "tournament" of full-contact sparring and the best could be promoted a rank - obviously if they won they know what they're doing.

[battousai16]

ah, but you see, the problem that lies there is that there is so much more to the martial arts than just fighting. ones philosphy, understanding of the applications of techniques, behavior, they all factor in to achieving a blackbelt. even in a competition stand point, if i preformed the greatest form anyone had ever seen in their entire life, and then i got creamed in sparring, would that mean i wouldn't get my black belt? because i lost to some immature punk (not to say that anyone who beats me is a punk, i'm merely trying to counter balance what i said earlier ) has a faster punch, kick, and is all around faster than me? people seem to think that black belts are invincable. we're only human, afterall. at least i am. i've seen and heard some stuff from other people... granmasterchen, did i read your post right when you said you spun around on your head and kicked your sensei?

[major_motoko]

Hmm, this is a hard question because some young kids really are great martial artists.. but the majority aren't ready for it!

 

There is a 12 year old brown belt in my club. She was given that grade from another club under the same organisation so when she came to our club she got to keep her grade.. but she is awfull! Terrible technique, no speed or power and she knows nothing about the philosphy or history of our art. When I spar with her she giggles endlessly!

 

So if she tried to grade for Shodan, she would probably know the moves.. but she would NOT be shodan level IMHO.

 

However, there can be child prodegies.. just watch some of those olympic gymnasts that aren't much older than 9!

 

I think if the kid has been graded in front of a panel of judges, shows good technique (and as much power as someone that small can manage ) knows the history and philosphy and shows a level of maturity, sure why not give a BB before 16.. I'm just saying that these should be very rare cases!

 

osu!

 

motoko

[Ryu]

I think you should hold them back until the age of 16. If they can get, give them a Junior Blackbelt instead (a bleack belt with a white strip running through it's entire length). And when they come of age, have them take the blackbelt test, if they pass, they can have it.