How young is too young for a black belt?

Question

Just wanted to get your opinion on something, i do kyokushin karate, our dojo is quite strong and we have some great fighters in both the full contact and non contact tournaments

Iv noticed some people saying how much of a discrace it is to see young kids with black belts, but i disagree, we do have young kids who have black belts, quite a few actually, but their technique is absolutely amazing! way better than mine and some of the adult black belts even, the kyokushin policy basicaly is you can get your blackbelt, you dont have to have any full contact fights if your under 16, but you cant get your 2nd Dan until you turn 18 and you have to fight full contact then

I absolutely understand where the black belt for kids comoes from, parents always want their child to get that black belt, you cant blame them for not understanding karate, and the kids fees put more equipment in our Dojo, so i dont have a problem with it, what do you guys think?

Answer 1

Be wary of any school cranking out 8 year old blackbelts by the truckload. They're not selling self defense training they're selling a fashion accesory that will get your *** kicked up and down the street if you ever have to actually use it.

Many a time McDojos will dumb down the testing so pretty much anyone can pass or they'll move it ahead too much. Even if it is legit an 8 year old black belt just doesn't have the same polish and fine motor skills that a 15 year old black belt does and 15 year old doesn't have the same as a 23 year old.

The concept of belts didn't even begin until the advent of large group instruction during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Originally Martial Arts was taught in the master's own dwelling to a handful of students. Belts rankings were developed so an instructor could tell how far along an individual student is at a glance.

The quality of the training should be your focus not the belt.

Answer 2

How young is too young is a good question. It really depends on the student. Like others have said you can see really good 10-12 yr olds and really crappy adults. Remember, you are training the student the technique and the information that goes along with it. Now will that 12 yr old get smacked around by an adult, more than likely, but you never know that student may also know enough to kick the attacker in the groin where some one not trained at all may just freeze up. Even adults freeze up when confronted. Giving a blackbelt to a person who can do the test equally is right. Giving a blackbelt to someone when the test was watered down is not right.
My test was approx. 10 hrs long in the woods of God knows where at the time. The younger students that have tested since have gone through the same test regardless of age.
Also have you ever seen one of those 12 yr old blackbelts when they are 20-25. They are the ones who are incredible and would destroy any one.
Also at my school you dont pay to test every three months. This is not a Mc Dojo. You test for each belt when you are ready, if that takes you three months or three years for each belt you test when the blackbelts feel you are ready.

Answer 3

I have had some ultra traditional martial artists in the past dis me for promoting a child that is 12 or 13 to the rank of Shodan. Now these are children that started when they were six or seven, who oftentimes come to class 4-5 times per week and even attend more than one class in an evening. My answer has always been watch them do a traditional kata, or a more flashy one, or their self-defense (and they fight oftentimes even better). Usually these people walk away with the opinion that I must work with my younger students more than they work with theirs.

We are not talking about a student that just studies for 12-18 months and then gets a black belt at eight years of age which I am sad to say is possible in some schools. And yes-you are right-they pay for their lessons like everyone else but some schools don't give their younger students the time and attention they need nor do they do a good job teaching and developing them. Watch a good gymnastics class/program and see what they can get a child to accomplish!

If the child has earned their rank, can demonstrate the proper level of skill, knowledge, and maturity at 13 or 14 after 4-5 years of intense training it makes no sense to make them wait till 16 or later. At that point their abilities, skill, and knowledge can speak for itself. An ultra traditional martial artist who has a problem with this must still be riding a horse or horse and buggy rather than driving to class and we all know that oftentimes is not the case.

Answer 4

I do not find belts to be all that of a great thing myself. I do understand them in a business, however. As a martial artist or I should say Combat Martial Skills student I see no reason that a child have a black belt. As a "martial artist" that would like to have a "business" I could see black belt children, even though I do not agree with it. I train in many systems but the only one that is even close to traditonal is Aikido. IF I were to award rank in Aikido I still do not see anyone younger than 15 maybe even 18 as having a"black belt". I am not into tradition. I do not care for kata or tag and that is were kid can get black belts. If all you need is to learn kata then why not promote reguardless of age. If it is realism or real combat no child could ever, I mean ever, obtain a high rank.

Answer 5

when i was a kid taking judo you could not get a black belt until the age of eighteen, same is true with the karate school Ive been with for the last 13 years, i was with a karate school in the late eighties and early nineties that would just give black belts to anyone just to make money. this kind of thing makes the grading system useless, when i teach a class i use a white belt myself to to teach students that belt color doesn't matter its what u learn that counts

Answer 6

I don't think it's the age, so much as the technique. You can have a young child with amazing technique, good hand/foot timing, good power, great focus, etc. You can also have an adult with weak, sloppy moves, poor eye contact, etc. I say award a black belt by how good they are, not how old they are.

Answer 7

I'm OK with a first degree black belt kid, but there's a 7 year old second degree in my class and i think that's a little ridiculous. they're too young to understand the meaning of it or understand the discipline needed to be martial artist. plus there's the abuse of power issue.

i think your school has a good policy though. ATA will give anyone a black belt in about a year and a half. so sad....

giving black belts to kids in less than 2 years seems to cheapen it a bit.

Answer 8

Any institution awarding a black belt to a child is a fraud. Martial Arts America will happily take the money from an enthusiastic parent and "test" the child up the ladder to the highest rank money can buy. It's a scam.

Answer 9

I don't have a problem with child black belts as long as the standards are high enough. It is not just about fighting.

Answer 10

I think that basketball, football, karate, judo, eagle scouting, band, and many many other such things teach kids:

1. Respect
2. Discipline
3. Perseverence
4. Goal-orientation

I'm all for persons of all ages working on the above.