Blackbelt at 16?

[battousai16]

actually, this is a wee bit off topic, but at 32 he's not the most affluent. it's teenagers who spend most of the money in the world; thus, major companies target younger crowds. if i want something, i can just get $10 from daddy or a credit card from mommy.

 

also, as long as i'm off topic, i'll point out britney spears can't be president, she'd have to be 35 still, well said.

 

and as long as i've jumped into this discussion, i'll point out that i got my first black belt at 12, and man, i worked hard for it. like you, we're talking 5 hour a day, 6 days a week (it was over the summer ). i figured i was mentally ready for it. maybe i was. and i thought i was mature enough for it. i doubt that now, i still don't think i'm mature enough for it and i thought i was physically ready for it, and i really wasn't. not in the slightest. though you probably wouldn't believe it to see me now, i was a really small kid. i'd never lost any fights i ever got into, but that's because, like mentioned before by someone, it was against other 12 year olds. y'know, scuffles at recess. if i was confronted on the street, i can tell you exactly what would have happened: i would have thrown a reverse chop kick (y'all might call 'em round house kicks) at his/her head, and s/he probably would have barely notice. then s/he'd push me down, beat the life outta' me, do whatever s/he set out to do, and leave. it wasn't until 15 i could actually hold my own, and even then, at 17, i got beaten by a group of guys. after 10 years of training, i got beaten by 4 moronic foot ball players. such is life. at any rate, thank god i didn't run into any trouble before then. someone might not have been as nice as the foot ball players were.

[Drunken Monkey]

....the point is, a black belt isn't just about what you know or what you can do.

 

most of you here know that i'm not a big fan of the belt system but that is probably because of the perception of others of what a black belt means, not with the belt system itself.

 

add to that how succeptable kids are to people's remarks and ideas and you begin to see a problem emerging (also might explain why you hear stories of kids boasting....)

 

like it or not, the black belt does represent something

 

AND

 

it is beyond what you can do or know.

 

i know that's not a very solid argument against young black belts.

 

put it this way.

 

lets take an average 18 year old guy who just qualified for his black belt.

 

and

 

an average 25 year old who has just qualified for his black belt.

 

and

 

an average 35 year old who has just qualified for his black belt.

 

now lets put in the 12 year old who has just qualified for his black belt.

 

um, get the picture?

 

the point isn't really about size.

 

it's about your state of development.

 

one of the instructors at the ishin-ryu palce is a small woman (black belt, didn't ask what dan cos i'm not that rude...); smaller than me and you guys know i'm not big.

 

the point here is she is a fully developed adult.

 

another little scenario..

 

let's take two people same size+weight.

 

one is a 24 year old woman, five years training, just attained black belt.

 

the other is a twelve year old boy.

 

same training, same grading.

 

are they going to be the same in terms of ability(even though, technically they should?)

 

i don't know....

 

just tossing up questions.

[Guest]

should be based on skills. I don't care for these Mcdojangs pumping out toddler bbelts all for the sake of a buck.