what are the odds that a 22 year old has a fourth degree black belt?

Question

does that seem legit? i'm just wondering cause at this plac ei'm going to, they got this guy with a 4th degree black belt right. and hes 22 he toldme. and i just startedwondering... is that likely that someone has a 4th degree by age 22? hes head instructor

lol . the craft. what is he, a witch?

its karate.

and little girl, theres no way youre 13 and hold a second degree black belt. can you say mcdojo?

what i'm mainly asking is, do you think my instructor coudl get bona fide 4th degree black belt trainign and be so young or am i going to a mcdojo?

Answer 1

Pretty good, if they started training young. I know about McDojos and the like, but people CAN get black belt at a 'young' age. It depends entirely on their commitment to their martial art and how long and hard they train, and how well they perform in the gradings. It's also fine for someone in their early teens to be a black belt grade, and gone to a proper dojo, and just trained hard and frequently. That being said, do be warey or McDojos. If you're worried, I'd say go visit another dojo if you can, and ask if you could sit in on one of their sessions and see what they do in comparrison.

Answer 2

There is way too much karate bashing happening in this question...
The same thing can be said about any art, so folks, ease up...

I would say the odds of a 22 year old being a legit 4th dan are very very low. This guy might be the exception; but even here in Japan, where there are hundreds and thousands of children whose parents are real masters, there are very few that are even 3rd degree at 22...

Wondering is a good thing. Keep your eyes and ears open. You might be in a McDojo. But, I wouldnt jump to conclusions. Go around, look around, ask around... you will find out soon enough if you look for the answers.

Good luck. For your sake, I hope it isnt a McDojo...

Answer 3

What I think is worse is when a your dojo accidentally receives a size 0 black belt. What is a black belt? It's a belt, that is black and sure does a great job of holding up pants. Otherwise, it is used to establish rank. In the traditional martial arts of Japan, belts were uncommon until later times. (Though, I'm still sure that they used them to hold up pants)
They are also used for determining ones skill. If you have a good Sensei and you've dedicated yourself you could probably earn your black belt within a few years time. "When the student is ready, the master appears," I love this Japanese proverb, also something that my martial art's instructor has taught me.
"The Black Belt is only the beginning." Which is true, once you've obtained a black belt, the real training/perfection can begin.
One way I can tell if someone is legit about their rank and didn't just rush through training to becoming a black belt for bragging rights is if I never know and figure it out from how they train, you can tell when someone is good and has dedicated much time to perfect those simple movements.
Also, if your instructor goes around boasting of his achievement he might as well invent his own style and commercialize it for money if he's good enough that he can tell others about it. Think Rex Kwon Do from Napolean Dynamite. I hope that this helps.

Answer 4

This is a bad thing for a 20 something to be a 4th dan, and it happens because of a sad reality for most martial arts – there are no common standards within most arts.

Most of the main martial arts do not have a unified organizational structure. I’ll specifically name Karate, TKD, Kung Fu and BJJ but the list goes on. Without central leadership, each instructor sets his own standards and promotion criteria. So yes children do receive advanced ranks that seem completely outlandish.

My suggestion is that this 20 something, while they may hold the rank, is probably not as skilled and experienced as the rank would indicate. They certainly maybe a capable person, but I’d keep my eye on them. After all they are still very young, and susceptible to the foibles of youth. Yes I'd consider any school that this type of person leads to be a McDojo.

Judo is about the most standardized art I’ve encountered. Pretty much all Judo throughout the world is Kodokan Judo, innovated by one man, governed by one international body the IJF.

Answer 5

I know a young lady from my competition days who was a fourth degree black belt at sixteen. Her father was a top competitor and coach and one of the top instructors in the New York city area and she started at the age of three. Her maturity, skill, and understanding of her martial art was clearly evident in everything she did and this was ten years ago. Since being out of competition I have not seen her but she is recognized as one of the higher ranking black belts in her style which has its headquarters in Japan. She is obviously the exception I think and now a days with the fast promotion of students to black belt and the subsequent yearly testings for another degree it is not unusual to see some 4th or 5th degree black belts that are less than twenty-five years of age in some styles. A real 4th or 5th degree black belt that earned his rank or sometimes is referred to as "paid his dues" and took twenty to twenty five years to rise to that rank will have skills, experience, and an understanding of his art that is very evident and is very easy to tell that he/she has been studying a very long time.

Answer 6

Slim and none. My ex husband is 52 years old, I believe he is 2nd degree black belt Judo. It takes years. Some schools give belts just because you attend the classes. My husband trained since he was 18. 22 and a black belt, probably not.

Answer 7

It is possible, but not real likely. Even if he started at a really young age, I doubt it. We have students that started at 3 years old. And yeah, they get new belts every few months. You can't really hold the belts away from the kids, they will get discouraged. So, a child that is under 8 that starts in our school goes through dozens and dozens of belts to get to that adult Black Belt. I mean, honestly, a three year old learns alot from taking karate classes, but do you really think he even earns a yellow belt?? We will not do a Black Belt test on ANYONE under 16. Before 20, you have to be really outstanding. But, keep in mind I said it is possible. Private instruction can bring a person along very quickly. Or maybe he is one of those extremely rare, extremely gifted students(I've seen one, out of about 400 kids!) Just be careful. Ask a few questions. Legitimate instructors will whip out pictures, certificates, videos, all kinds of documentation. They will be PROUD of what they have done. Their instructors will stop by the school or have regular contact with them. Your instructor should still be "under" someone. Not that he can't run a school by himself, but he should have "his Sensei" that he is still learning from. If he is shy or evasive about talking about his credentials, take that as a hint, it is not all up and up!

Answer 8

It's possible. A lot of it would depend largely on the school's grading requirement and how soon the do their belt testing. Now if he just got it after signing up a year or two ago yes it is a McDojo but if he had been in it since he was a kid it's possible he learned the right way.

Answer 9

just because you have a 4th degree black belt doesnt mean you would be able to kick *** it just means you can do all the things that system requires to pass a 4th degree test

not saying he cant kick *** im just saying the belts dont make you a fighter belts are more about being able to do technique and stuff its not about applying it sort of thing if you know what i mean kind of like a a boxer who can do all of his moves flawlessly against a punching bag doesnt mean he can win a fight if you know what i mean

i think mcdojo should be replaced by the term mcstudent because even in a **** dojo or club you can still get some good skills people dont make you you make you if you know what i mean

Answer 10

the odds of finding one is about as much as finding a McDojo that will take your money and give you the rank. Unless that guy has been doing the same style since he was 5 or so, i doubt he's there. if he's been doing it for anything less than 10 years, i highly doubt that he's legit. as for being a head instructor, that's not impossible. he probably does know quite a bit and you can almost always learn from some one that knows more than you do. he's probably head instructor of that school because there it's probably a chain school and he's under someone of a higher rank than he is that trusts him with running that dojo and business.