Martial Arts in their good "un-mollested" by mc-dojo forms, are entirely that... A Martial Art. A fighting art designed for war. To kill or incapacitate an enemy until they are no longer a threat in a real self defense scenario. It's not a sport, it's not point tag, and it was not designed for children.
Another fellow user wrote this excellent piece regarding child black belts which should be a no-no for obvious reasons:
EDIT: I have never heard anyone give me a good reason for any child ever being awarded a black belt. No matter if it is supposed to be a real black belt, or junior black belt. There was no such thing in the 1960′s and into the early 1970′s. The McDojo started this practice. Children are not mature enough to learn real marital arts self-defense. It is watered down play time at best.
The martial arts in the 1960′s was a brutal, hard contact, no protective gear, realistic fighting experience. Many adults could not take the abuse. so no one can convince me that if adults run for the door that some child could ever study and earn a black belt in that way….
The guys that are in favor of children having black belts are either children, or so young that they were not around to see what the martial arts were before commercialism changed them. In the 1960′s there were no children black belts. there were no children training in the martial arts in the U.S.A.
Black Belt Magazine stated that less than 3% of the public was even interested in studying the martial arts at that time. Less than 3% of adults ever reached black belt. Of those few, less than 50% ever reached second degree black belt.
Today 85% of all martial arts students in the U.S.A. are children. Now you see the problem… If this does not convince those that thing that children should have black belts, then I guess you should continue training in a school that gives them to children.
EDIT: No reputable martial arts school would tell anyone how long it takes to reach black belt. Any that do have promotion figured out based on time, not knowledge, skill level, or the ability to use what they teach effectively. No instructor knows how long a student will take to reach black belt level. Each person is different. Frankly, many people don’t have what it takes to ever be a legitimate black belt.
For comparison in the 1960′s and 1970′s most legitimate martial artists that reached black belt had spent 5-7 years of serious training to get there. A few students might do it in 5 years, but that was rare. Many guys I know did not see their black belt until they had studied 10 years or more.
But I must say something that is generally not understood. Or that is to say has been presented in a totally incorrect way to the public. Black belt is a big achievement from a legitimate school. however, black belt is considered a beginner, not an expert. The Asian attitude is that a student reaching black belt has learned the basics. But, they are not necessarily good at them. It is at black belt that the real learning begins.
In Japanese all color belts are collectively called Mudansha, and all black belt levels are know as Yudansha. The term Mu-Dan-Sha is meant to mean “nothing”. This is because as I said upon reaching black belt, you are only beginning to learn the true art.
See my correlation. 14 is a great age to start. Not too young, not too old. The correlation is the age. How can you be too late at 14?
It's better than being 6, attending a mc-dojo, and be given a black belt and huge dose of ego and false confidence.... right after you pay a ridiculous price for your belt test.
So, no you are a fine age. Just stay away from mc-dojos.
Age are not a barrier if you really interested to learn Martial Arts, the most important is your presence in the practice, focus, timing and concentration to easily adopt things, just listen carefully on all instructions given by your Instructor to understand its techniques correct methods and applications.
As for the sibling rivalry thing you've got going on there;don't let it affect your game. Even if your brothers way better than you at his arts than you at yours it's vital you don't dwell on it, my brothers compare themselves to me all the time and it does no good but cut them down. Whenever you compare yourself troy someone you see all the beauty/good in them and all the bad in yourself. Making you feel worthless,take it from someone who knows. Just because other people have been training longer than you don't feel intimidated when you enter the dojo. The first few lessons are always the hardest in my opinion. (Well,emotionally anyway)
AKBAN is right about the child blackbelts,their fakes. Just a piece of black material mummy and daddy bought them.
Hello I'm 14 and a girl. When I was younger I always wanted to learn martial arts but I knew I wasn't mature enough to handle such a thing yet. My brother is great at Jiu Jitsu and Mauy Thai and I feel I would be constantly comparing my self to him; I have a habit of comparing. Even though I don't want to participate in something similar to my brother I want to do tae kwon do. I was not allowed to go to classes with him for whatever reason my parents would come up with. So always just practiced basic. Even though my punches aren't the strongest my kicks are filled with a lot of power and when I learned the basic stances for kicking I was a "natural" I also play lacrosse but my team always wanted you to be better not for yourself but for the team. I like the individuality to constantly better yourself for you, and if you fail there's only your self to frown upon not a whole team and yourself. I am shy; I feel that I will be embarrassed most of the time for not really valid reasons but wearing a white belt? I need a push towards this but I feel it's kind of late? Because the teachers are 4th degrees and up and the dojo owner is a 9th degree and in there picture they had very young kids wearing a red belt 1st cup.
