Baby black belts OR what’s the value of rank anyway?

So, I am gonna dive deep into a subject that is fraught with peril. No, it has nothing to do with calling yourself sensei. I’ve done that already. That’s still wrong.

No, it has nothing to do with whether karate is useful for sef-defense. I’ve weighted in on that, too. 

Only a fool would claim superiority in that argument. But what ya gonna do.

Nope, this one is on the teen/ youth black belt phenomenon.

The topic truly makes me bristle. The whole rank thing actually makes me break out in hives. This subset of that discussion, though, really makes it hard for me to see straight. It’s almost like channeling an aneurysm, really. But let me start with a question: is your rank system based on physical skill alone (technique, speed, etc) or do you require them to show moral and social maturity as well (i.e are they wise beyond their years).  Some will agree with me. Some won’t. I am OK with that. I am not here to win friends. But I am also not in the business of looking to make enemies. We can simply agree to disagree.

Way back when, no one expected kids to become black belts. They were learning karate, they were not earning or collecting belts. But now, in our shiny-driven society, belts are the thing. We market to the belt thing (e.g we are a black belt school, a black belt is a white belt that did not quit, etc). Black belts were a rare commodity. Most of the people you started with would likely be gone by the time you got to black belt. Now? Not uncommon for mass black belt gradings in a school. And I have yet to see many gradings where a student did not pass – in an adult or youth program. I have failed a number of young people and a couple of adults in my time. And bear in mind, I do not move anyone up for grading until I believe they are ready. So in order to fail, you have to mess up colossally. (in one case, the young man quickly approaching his teens forgot his kata after the first six moves then told me that that was all I taught him. His karate career came to an abrupt end that night when he was told he was not moving up- not just for being unable to complete the required kata but for lying and deflecting blame for his own actions).

A black belt is supposed to mean something. It is not a guaranteed event. There is certainly some quality control that comes in. Hell, there is a reason that the Six Sigma program uses kyu/dan ranks. In the same sense, the Six Sigma program is meant to ensure that quality of production is maintained; I get that people are not things. But if you dilute rank by promoting people that are not ready or do not have the requisite skills, is your art better or worse off? Is it more important to maintain standards or have lots of students in your school?

They're getting younger every year! Really, how young is too young for a black belt?

Some stories:

A couple of weeks back, when I was doling out the first round of uniforms to my new students, one of them came up with his mother and approached me on the issue of belts and rank. I discussed when and how that happens. I explained that the average time to black belth should be about five years, give or take. The conversation morphed to a classmate of the student’s who studies taekwondo at a local commercial school and holds a second degree black belt after a few years training.

Hell, I remember encountering one of these baby black belts back when I was in my late 20s. This 14 yr old was already a second degree black belt. She was fast and flexible, but she missed some basic cues (humility, respect for authority, etc). She tested me a couple of times. She pushed her knowledge. I gave her a number of verbal cues that she needed to listen more and talk less. She verbally flipped me off by saying she could do better because she knew more. And then I tossed her to the deep end of the pool. I gave her a basic basic task. I grabbed her wrist and said, “OK, what do you do now.” I waited for it. The basic “I am going to break your arm with my powerful block and you will let go” block that was the rage in most TKD schools at the time. Miraculously it always worked in the dojang. There it was. And then there it was. Again. And again. And again. But somehow I still had her wrist. Frustrated, she pulled her arm into my fingers, allowing me to tighten my grip. She tried to kick me in the head from her lead leg (bad plan). We had mats. I swept her bottom leg. That pissed her off. She pushed her luck in an effort to show off to her friends and discredit me. And now she looked rather foolish. And the anger on her face showed me that she was indeed not ready to hold that belt. At that point she became less verbal and less defensive. But the look of death was there for the rest of the class. 

I have seen this sort of behaviour again and again since that time. Most typically at tournaments. (The parents have also bought into the toughness of the black belt youth, which can also be a scary phenomenon worthy of its own blog post.)

A few years ago, I had twins in my dojo; the mother ran a dayhome. She was invited to the grading of one of the kids that used to be in her care. The student was testing for black belt at the age 10 or 12. The whole test was over in about 5-10 minutes for that kid. A kata. Some sparring – that did not require the student to score X number of points. And (plastic, rebreakable) board breaking. The mother lamented somewhat on the incongruity of what the child had to do for black belt vs what her kids had to do for their green belts: kihon, knowledge of counting and commands in Japanese, history questions, basic knowledge questions. Two kata, two ippon kumite of their choice. I told her that by the time they got to black belt, they would be fully ready for it. And they will have more than earned it.

What do I mean by that?

Well, let us harken our attention to folks such as Piaget, Erikson and even Skinner (not the Simpsons character… at least not directly). Hell, even Maslow’s hierarchy plays a role in this. Let me break it to you like this for starters.

Say you have a nine year old child. Said child loves video games. Said child loves video games, especially racing games. The child competes online and has participated in tournaments. He’s a steering wheel wizard, there has to be a twist.

But does that mean said child has the skills to handle real world conditions? Meh, maybe not. And I speak from experience. I started driving when I was quite young (try about age 10), including some time on highways (long story). Kids may be physically gifted. They may be fast. They may be flexible. They may mimic and imitate movement well.

But they are not emotionally, mentally or physically mature. Their decision-making skills are not there. Sure they can punch, but is the punch mechanically proper, or is it a push with a fist? How do they handle stress? Do they get mad or do they focus? Are they likely to hit someone in anger? Or will they be a bully and arrogant to others based on their rank?

So, do you promote them on skill alone or do you watch them develop into a strong person emotionally, physically and mentally? Do you reward them intrinsically or extrinsically?

Intrinsic rewards are things like praise and recognition for a job well done. Maybe you make it verbal.  Maybe you use them demonstrate kata.  Maybe you get them to help out as an assistant with the younger kids as a development function. Perhaps you show them variations on their techniques or show them new moves and skills than enhance their existing abilities.

Or do you give them extrinsic rewards – promotions, a specific spot in the line-up, etc.

Put another way? I have seen 8 yr olds who are great shots. They can sight a weapon and fire ata target and bingo! Bullseye every time. Should they be considered expert marksmen/ Should we make them snipers? Well, aside from Geneva Conventions and the whole child soldier thing, one need to look again at the differences between having a skill and having all the tools and abilities that are required for that skill.

As I said, above, you can reward someone who has skill but is not ready for promotion by giving them more material to learn and master. But they also need to see and understand that the extra knowledge is a reward, not a punishment. Maybe teaching them how to do ukemi or nage. Or give them a new bo kata to work on while they continue to work on their old bo kata, etc.

Again, back to Erikson’s industry vs inferiority stage. You can reward and encourage them without giving them a big cookie. Sure, maybe they look ok or good now, but what happens when they begin to grow or change? What happens if they don’t improve on the kicks even after you give them constructive feedback? What happens if you moved them through too fast in the early ranks and now they choose to coast, knowing that they do not have to do anything but show up?  Don’t think it can happen in karate? It happens in classrooms, too.  And these are folks with actual teaching credentials.

Beyond that, their bodies are changing in their early teens; those changes can bring about some very powerful lessons on how to use their bodies in their techniques – in other words, flexibility is great, but when you know how your body works, you’ll be able to make those kicks work, sound and look a whole lot better. And how about use of hips, body conditioning, etc.

Piaget’s cognitive development cycle also plays a role here, too. Kids under 7 are still very egocentric. It’s all about them, even when it is not.  You really want to give that kid skills to hurt others? Or a black belt that reinforces their thoughts and perceptions on their perceived skills? Yeh, that could be a big whoops. Between 7-11 yrs, their thinking is more organized and logical. They are going to apply some rudimentary special thinking. Abstract and hypothetical thinking is not super strong here. 11 and up, that will come into play.

My aforementioned point about the wrist grab?  Some kids will pick up that they have to look for weaknesses in the grip. Or find a way to create some sort of advantage to be able to escape the grab. Repeating the same thing over and over again because that was what you were taught and “it works in class” sort of defeats the logic of having to test a hypothesis or think outside the box. My young friend above went from rote thinking to reactionary – without thinking of outcomes… or consequences.

Hell, even martial wunderkind Benny Urquidez did not get his black belt until he was 14, and that was unheard of back then. So, I am gonna dinosaur the hell out of myself here and say that I find it hard to believe that all of these young black belts out there have his pedigree or his maturity (bear in mind, the Urquidez family were pretty hardcore fighters of all stripes – lotsa discipline in that family). Way back when, karate used to look at black belts the way BJJ folks do. Maybe one day, they’ll fall to the same trap we do.

Young black belts can take heart in the fact that Daniel-san had even less training
time, experience and knowledge than they did.  His promotion to black belt was very quick!

Now, to be fair, there are some amazing young black belts out there. Mahiro Takano comes to mind. Amazing focus. Superb concentration and power for someone her age. (and yeh, sorry, culture does make a difference, in my mind). But for every kid like Mahiro out there, there’s a truckload of other kids who maybe were not ready for the leap.

See, told ya. Right now you are saying to yourself “how dare he pick on that kid.”  But really, am I picking on the kid? Or am I calling out the instructor for moving the kid up early? The kid only does what he is told/ taught. But you cannot tell me that more time in the lower ranks would not make his stuff look better.

I won’t even begin to take on the whole kobudo thing being taught in a TKD school.

So, if we want to use physical skill as the bench test for black belt, can you really say that kids are ready? Nope. But again, don’t blame the kids. Blame the instructors. And the parents for continuing to buy into the lie.

So, how old do you have to be to get a black belt?

What is the right answer? Well, I cannot say there is one. Not one specific one anyway.

But I know what magic number I use.

A couple of weeks ago, a fellow yudansha asked about this on one of the FB groups I am in. I, like many others, indicated that 16 is the golden age. Before 16, you can give them a provisional black belt, also commonly known as a shodan-ho. It’s not a formal rank. But it is a placeholder. You have many of the requisite requirements for a black belt, but you are not quite there yet. When they hit 16, make them go through it and make it formal. By that time, they have earned it.

One other thought guides my ideas on rank; I have heard time and again throughout my journey that there are two essential criteria that guide one’s promotion to black belt. They apply at all levels, but they must have equal weight when being applied to the move from mudansha to yudansha. They are thus: technique/ skill and character. The maturity demonstrated as one moves from one level to the next defines the student’s true growth. No growth should mean no rank. At 8, 9, 10 years of age, the character has not finished developing. Don’t burden them with more they can handle.