Pitiful!
...
A blackbelt should not only be about knowing the techniques it needs to be about maturity and balance of the mind. No style anywhere in the world should allow a person under 16 or 18 years old become a blackbelt and if you want to be technical i believe even then it is too soon and is the sole reason behind people thinking martial arts is becoming watered down.
I have done martial arts all my life and BJJ since i was a toddler. I still was not eligible for my blackbelt till my 20's because of stringent guidelines that say that people under the age of 16 shall not become a blue belt. This was the entire reason why the coloured belts (other than white/blue/purple/brown and black) were created for children because otherwise you had children who had their white belt with 4th stripe by the age of 7 or 8 and they could not advance rank for 8 years.
This si shocking for a variety fo reasons. I don;t need to restate the age of the studnets. It took 7 years so what was eh 3 when he began. How much does a 3 year retain and how much ca they do? But not to pick on that 1 child. The entire class was bad. One studnet may have had a reason. But there was no escuse for other students lack of good technique/ The kumite was horrible. There was no real intent with any strikes. When they executed a throw there was no fluency of motion or flow. What that says to me is that the person stopped and allowed themselves to be thrown. This means it will not work in a real attack. There was not focus on any of the strikes.
I'm shocked that possum said there is not grappling in karate school. Every school that I associate with all do grappling. I;m certian we are not the exception to the rule. I also associate with chools outside of our organization so it is not just our organization.
I'm shocked KW didn't point out how bad it was. Because it was bad for a black belt. If these were white or yellow belts then it would not be so bad.
If I were to use one word to describe this I would say pitiful like pugspaw or I was say horrible.
I've said for a long time that I go back and forth on the subject of kid black belts. So I'll play the devil's advocate now, since you clearly got comments from the opposing point of view.
For one thing, the work they're demonstrating in this video is far and away better than many schools: The video says it's a Karate school. How many Karate schools do grappling? Not many - but this one does. Punching to the face - particularly for minors - is also not often seen. Well done here.
The kids are doing throws and falls, which to me is interesting because insurance won't let any of my schools do this (I wonder if they insure kids who play football or hockey...)
They are doing forms as a group and are more or less staying in time, suggesting they are all performing them as taught. Too often, I hear an instructor in the background calling out the techniques to do - even for advanced belts.
Were they perfect? No, of course not. But they showed that they practiced a lot. If we are to believe the video, this is the kid's 3rd attempt - and 7 years - to getting black belt, suggesting that the belt isn't simply given away. This isn't seen often in schools, either.
These kids were working toward a black belt, which can only mean one objective thing: they worked harder, longer, and better than any of the folks in their school. They will perform different had they been in any of the schools I've been to, and I'm sure the same for any of the schools for anyone answering here. Nevertheless, I don't see it as a joke, nor would I be testing them for black belt. But, considering that there are many black belts who perform miserably, I'd say these kids are a cut above them.
I didn't like that black belt was labelled a "goal" by the video editor, and I didn't like that a black belt was hung up on the wall as an incentive. I didn't like that it took an abnormally long time - this can easily be construed as hazing, though actual context is important. I saw some horrible pushups and some slow kicking in sparring.
Since black belt means different things to different people, I've decided I'm not going to criticize their hard work and deny them what they've worked hard at. I've seen some great kids who are not black belt, and some horrendous adults who are. In the end, they represent what their instructors hold in high regard: a model of excellence for their school. No one's perfect, and no one's insinuating that they are masters or even just experts.
For my part, I say "well done, good effort".
I think is better to put the age of 16 at list, as a minimum age for black belts, because this with all the kids running around with black belts, is just making people laugh...If someone is that good he/she can get it at the age of 16..Is not that old....and I think it can be a fair age for the ones that start from 4 or something...
I don't care how "intense" they think the test is, that was disgusting. No ten year old should be a black belt, and no black belt should have the low skills shown in the video. They are not black belts, not even half way. The first ten minutes of a legitament test puts this "20 hours" to shame.
I saw a lot of things wrong in the first minute or so that indicate that maybe standards are not as high as they should be. I saw almost no hip action when he punched or blocked. Most forms of karate stress that and it is one of the most basic ways for a person to project additional power in their technique and one of the basic things karate emphasizes.
When he was doing his hip throw he was bending over too much which is why he is taking that extra little step sometimes and almost trips over his partner after he has thrown him. I also thought his falling technique was a little flawed and he ended up to much on his side. Your butt has a lot more padding and landing more on your back keeps you from breaking your hip.
I did not bother to watch the rest but he would not have been more than a orange belt in my school.
i made it to about 30 seconds before i got sick,
my dog is a better 24 degree black belt then they are a 1st
I am curious what you guys think about this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU_GykaHSHg
