8 year old Asia Yu-Robinson performing Kanku Dai

[soccerplayer320]

So proud of my friend... Man I never knew she did this stuff until 5th grade and I didnt know she was that good till she won some world title or something last year

[jrmayer]

That's fantastic...I know a lot of parents who have kids that age and I've never seen such concentration and skill at such a young age. I'd be very proud if that was my kid.

[hthefc]

Hmm, i wonder what her parents are like.

[SuperGuitarist10]

wow she's eight and a brown belt, I'm 11 and a yellow belt... Much respest to ya

[Thousandsunnny2]

She is great! I can remember when I was that young doing the same kata. That kid probably will turn into an awesome fighter when she is older.

[chickenisgoodish]

To enemy8884, what you fail to understand is that kata is not ceremony. They all have movements that have very specific applications. What may look like block or punches to you are often times trap-sweeps, or even throws. Furthermore, they teach essential characteristics of speed, timing, control, spirit, power, etc. You cannot be good at the martial ARTS without having a thorough understanding of kata. Yahara-sensei once fought 37 yakuza at once, and he coincidentally greatly values kata.

[kgirl52]

Good katas.

Timing was way off on kanku dai and a few basic erros every body makes :s

But very very good for an 8 year old :)

[spacecadet35]

Nice kime, good kiai. Still the same basic hand and stance errors as everyone else online. But those errors are her instructors fault, not hers. Still she did Kwank dai better than an 8th dan and a 10th dan I have seen online recently

[MrDalley]

really good, she must have a good teacher, oss :)

[iBankai145]

Amazing and only 8 yrs. old

[vysokij]

A prodigy!

[horangiclan]

wow good form for a 8yr old...we call that form kwago yung...=] am going to second degree black belt

[splodgenessabounds]

very good indeed

[Zoso0201]

D:... fuck tengo 15 años pero este chikilla es mucho mejor que yo XD!!!!

increible!!! talento sin duda alguna!!

[Shindai]

Feels wrong to swear at a video of an eight year old but HOLY SHIT! Was not expecting that at all, very well done.

[roygbiv330]

cool

[misslivvy101]

thats my friend asia!!!!!!!! i just relized that!!!

[alhern67]

Fantastic Kime! She has great form and technique.

[kagomekr]

Is this ISKF, or JKA, or another federation thing? If it's ISKF, Is that the dojo in philadelphia with Teruyuki Okazaki?

[Dorci906]

Kicsitse csinálja jól a kiscsaj ááá!!

MIlyen katás lesz belőle........

[alexkaratekid]

Great job, Asia

[L3AnTaZ]

Heian Shodan is like Pinan san ichi kyokushin 8 kyu kata

[onyxm400]

Absolutely amazing, especially for 8 years old.  Way to keep those standards high!

[QuanYin71]

OSU !

[ninjastorm]

I belive that she did great for being so young. I put it like this, if you can demonstrate the technique and prove your dedication to the art thats all that matters, the belt is just a belt nothing more

[diegotussi]

Excellent Oss.

[Saulomo]

For a 8 year old, this is really great. Her body ain't mature enough to do it extremely good, but I assume she will grow up into a great karateka. Oss!

[yoyomuddy]

Oss.

[sanho111]

This girl pretty impressive. I need to put more effort on my training.

[kengland45]

We clearly need higher-speed video to capture these moves. That little girl clearly has a very high degree of dedication!!! This kata is challenging enough for an adult to learn, let alone perform well! She seemed to nail the jump at the end. Bravo!!!

[Bulosan21]

Phenomenal skill and talent for an 8 year old. Impressive kime and atemi. I've been training longer than shes been alive and I wish my kata snapped as well as hers. She is truly inspirational. Osu!

[nintai66]

When I read 8 years old I thought it was a joke but thats no joke. Whomever is teaching her I like your standards and the girl is very talented well done both kkep up the good work .....oss

[camargoito]

WOW ehhheeeh nice girl.... good

[erikaserikas]

enemy8884 hater comments shows a shallow view of martial arts. she'll probably never have to use her training in a life threatening situation (hopefully). look beyond the fighting aspect of martial arts and you can see confidence and discipline that the young lady will have in her life skills. she won't grow up to post negative comments on kids on youtube like you.

[shidopanther]

enemy8884 hater comments shows a shallow view of martial arts. she'll probably never have to use her training in a life threatening situation (hopefully). look beyond the fighting aspect of martial arts and you can see confidence and discipline that the young lady will have in her life skills. she won't grow up to post negative comments on kids on youtube like you.

[shotokan68]

Bravo! Well said!!

[shidopanther]

the focus and discipline the she has to perfect technique at such a young age shows focus and determination far beyond her age. she has better technique than adults learning the same kata. she will be successful in life inside and outside of the martial arts. a kid like this does well in school, sports, etc. that is what her karate training shows.

[Enemy8884]

well what can i say? impressive cerimonial techniques but blocks that wouldnt stand up to even the weakest attack and sloppy kicks, overall 2/5

[veggieshredder]

She's 8. Karate's a life long journey and this is where she's starting. If she keeps training hard, she'll be phenominal when she grows into herself.

[Enemy8884]

she wont be any better than any other idiot that ever did karate basically because shes doing karate, and its shit.

[shogunsan21]

So very good, I will show this to our students.

Syl

[popmakpop]

011111111

[pat13wx]

Wonderful katas. Very inspirational, too. I showed this to some of my younger students to demonstrate what they too could achieve with regular training and good determination.

[thetruthboss]

This kid is good, the way she moves into her stances, the snap, the technique..at her age she should be proud of herself, credit to the instructor, I don't disagree with kids becoming 1st Dans even though their grade should be recognised as a Shodan-Ho, when they reach 16 then grade them again as an adult. Keep up the good work girl...total respect.

[CP3YankRedSoxfan]

I learned the second 1 when I was a yellow belt but I quit karate last year

[Kwon85]

nice Kanku Dai ! awesome ! very impressive

[xkaliber72]

that's how we do it in SHOTOKAN !!!too young for black belt though.

[rookie66]

oh my dayysss this kid is amazing no one can say nothing about this kids katas, she did a black belt kata first which if done with 100% effort will leave u nackered no matter who u are so its understandable that her heian shodan had a few mistakes but she still did it superb. she's inspired me to get up and train right now lol osu

[hannahmontana9896]

she is really good

but the last 4 stances in heian shodan

need a bit more work. i might be wrong

im going for blackbelt in nov. but i can go this may.

[redneckninjanc]

There is no question...she is damn good. So when I say this, it is absolutely no knock at her or her instructors...

I just have a hard time accepting that a child can truly understand what it means to be Yudansha.....technique aside.

Nevertheless......damn nice work.

[MeanEyedCats]

100% in agreement.

At my dojo you have to be an absolute minimum of sixteen, and first kyu, which takes 8-10 years depending on how old you are when you start.

[shoemoodoshaloo]

Disagree. I think that almost no kids can, but this girl's technique is so well understood, that she has developed great body connection before the majority of adult black belts and she should be rewarded with a black belt.

[tigerheart57]

Well, I don't care if she gets her 1dan or not.. But hey ppl, her kata is amazing. Trust I teach kids, U rarely will find such kids. Hey little Girl keep it up and hope to see u in one of the competitions in the future. Take care

[norm58]

FABULOUS!!!!

[sempaiamy]

Wow! I'm 22 and I'm going for my shodan in May, 2008. This girl is amazing! She has such good focus! My god, she's only 8!

[Ziziky]

please dont think im creepy but i would just like to take kick or punch from this girl... never seen so small kid doing so well... and can't imagine what amount of power can she get into her movements in such age..

[shotokan68]

Many of her opponents have shed tears after taking a good shot from her, boys and girls alike! She's got great focus and a very good understanding of kime even at her young age (now 10).

[blankcanvas123]

That Takes Effort. Trust.

[NvrFear]

WOW i'm 14 and i'm just learning the start of this karate this kid is INSANE!! Keep it up

[bagiograte8]

kwl lol im 12 and im just started to learn this kata in my karate club!

[psycopathicpenguin]

wow. yeah normally i'm against small kids gettin black belt so fast, but just learnt this kata and this girl is amazing. her power and technique and kime is reeeeely mature and STRONG!! all those big hard-back men in the background SHOULD b scared! :P

[woodyv00]

as far as I know you have to be at least 15yo to get 1DAN...

[congi]

Amazing girl.

[broeselbroccoli]

wow.. impressive..

[babyphat233971127]

we had to test that day thats when we had to meet her that day was very sceary for me

[mooosh1001]

believe it or not, I take karate at triangle's best karate... where she does.

[midnight1O6]

Was she the one on the newspaper *_* Glad she's not in our dojo, or we'd all be knocked down like BAM

[babyphat233971127]

i wasin da corner over there lol i was sceared dat day i had to test

[lounakin]

I'm usually very sceptical when I see such young black belts but her kime and stanses are mature enough for this kata. Well done... impressive!

[mariemini3]

WOW! Je suis jalouse! Trop de talent dans un si petit corps... Je lui souhaite un avenir génial. Fait-elle de la compétition? J'en suis certaine.. Si je pourrait avoir le quart de son talent, je serai la fille la plus heureuse au monde!!

[dermatitta]

GOOOD :D

[aiko4321]

Incredible.. She s really amazing.. All the best for her future

[orbelus]

is good, I think kanku dai is not for children

[dermatitta]

That was realy good;D

[arfhabverfklsznf]

What tha....

Thats UNBELIEVABLE!

that 8 yr old girl does kata better than I do! and I'm not that bad, If I may say...

some people are just born for kata, man...

That girl...

unbelievable...

[nanashi87]

Now THATS traditional martial arts. Very nice.

[bombqueen1]

jesus...natural gifted with plenty of kime

[Xadreos]

omfg...HOW!?!? There aren't even words to describe that...watching an 8 year old performing kata at that level...that's unbelievable...

[CrossXC]

Wow...All I can say is that I'm beginning Kanku Dai as a new Sho Dan and this girl is incredible. I thought I was a hard worker, but she's only 8!

[terramel]

O.o

Incredible! Never saw a kid so young doing katas so gracefully like she did.

[kwfkarateka]

What a lovely performance. OK, she had a couple of wobbles, her back stance was a bit high and her arm was a bit low sometimes, but for an 8 year old that was incredible. I thought actually she could do with slowing down a little on the heian shodan!

[Shodan234]

Spectacular

[LawrenceTrent]

Oh my god that is absolutely incredible!

[Cumaki]

Omgaaad very nice for a 8 year old kid even i dont do it much better hahaha

[joetrouble069]

Excellent!!!!!

[makai2006]

My God! She's real GOOD!

[DumbDoorKnobs]

... more spirit than many 5th dan

[Cumaki]

Holy shit!! that was nice O.o

[robtlegend]

superb girls got a great future welldone..... ooosssah

[briank1977]

Wow! I'm 29 and I've been doing karate continuously since I was a teenager and I don't think I'm anywhere near that good!

[SilvrDragon52]

Excellent. I haven't learned Kanku Dai myself, but I would say slow down a little bit as your technique sometimes follows a little prematurely into the next; perform every technique as if it is the only technique. The same for Heian Shodan, and careful not to lift your heels. Keep it up!

[AVbullet]

omfg beast

[puset00]

wow, she's good, imagine what she'll be 5 to 10 years from now.. lolz

[mariemini3]

she will be a killmachine!

[joespiteri]

wow shes good for a 8 year old but shes got some compitition with someone from my old club in wales(UK)she can do empi,kanku sho and kanku dai bt shes 9.Ive been doin karate for 11 years n only 15 won gold y'day.This gorl could win most catergeris in all tournements

[Anchy2006]

Wow! I did karate for 8 years (just how old she is) and i never got as far as to learn Kanku dai even though i had a brown belt.

The girl's concentrated and has poise and stamina. Good for her!

[tom1young2goo]

amazing its rare to find someone so young and so deticated to her training i have 15 year olds who are purple belt and have a hard time doing those katas see did it with great speed, and timing you have a very special child on your hands....and shes so cute! kia!! :)

[jliu6190]

good.

[Shazor]

all i have to say - WOW. seriously, for an 8 yearold. almost reminds me of the japanese kids that i saw in the Gichin Funakoshi cup. keep up the hard work!!

[tikay945]

very cute girl

[vysokij]

Bravo! Good focus and rhythm.

[ShodanMark]

Wow, she's better than most adults I know! Well done!

[R1436]

A future world champion was born.

[balrais]

Awesome kata.

She's got more kime than many of my friends I train with in Montreal.

Way to go! She's really got skill for an 8 year old...

[Roni1984]

is the second one the one you have to do for the yellow belt ? because i know it lol i did karate several years ago as a child and i only got till the yellow belt but i wonder if it is the kata you need to do in order to get it. otherwise i learned it afterwards.

[shotokan68]

Yes. It's called Heian Shodan.

[andrei199104]

What a pitty that she'll have to train 10 years to get her Nidan... The minimum age for nidan is 18. I would have agreed that this is a great kata, until our club joined JKS (Japan Karate Shotorenmei). Now I think that her front hand on shuto is a bit low, at the beginning there shouldnt be a snap as the hands are lowered and gedan barai is kinda flicky. There may be more but I don't have time now to analyse the kata carefully.

[shotokan68]

Thank you for your analysis. Perhaps you would be willing to share a video of your performance of the kata with us so we could all benefit from viewing the "proper" way to do the kata. Let's give credit where it's due. This was an excellent kata for a child and even for most adults.

[andrei199104]

I'm not saying it's the wrong way to do the kata. In fact, the first time I learned Kanku Dai, I learned it the same way as this girl did. But as we became affiliated with a different branch of the Okinawan Shotokan, the movements slightly changed, and these are the changes I pointed out. I didn't say her Kanku Dai is bad.

It's a bit like for some people Heian Nidan is a strange form of Pinan Shodan, and for others it's visa versa.

[josepcla]

te quiero! eres mi idola!

[m1620166]

she happens to be quite good, granted the sequence of moves is pretty simple, but how long has she been training?

[wupingpow]

holy shit

her karate is pretty amazing, but wuts even more amazing is an 8 year old who is dedicated enough to practice kata to that level of performance.

[LethalGuppy]

well she s really cool... i did never see na 8 year old girl doing these katas this way..thats pretty hard stuff

but in my opinion, young children like her shouldnt have shodan, cause I have some doubts if they really understand what this means

but shes awesome :)

[Lizzyiscute]

cute

[KhmerKomSot]

An extra kiai there on Heian Shodan, but good overall for her age. I do think 8 yrs old is too young for shodan; however it would be ok if they have classes for kids her age group.

[BigDave297]

That is really impressive indeed!

[laurah9298]

Wow - this is amazing! Well done!

[colin540]

Awesome job!

[serenityskywalker]

WHOA!! we're not even allowed to get our black belts till we're 16!

[bradmurray]

Very good for an 18-year-old, let alone an 8-year-old.

[iTuber69]

AWESOME! Excellent kata from anyone at any age. Did she get her shodan?

[shotokan68]

Yes, she did!