 What is the minimum age you would give someone a black belt to me when I teach? I don't give anyone under 15 a black belt because in my opinion someone who is 10 won't be able to defend themselves against a 30-year-old Excellent question sensei of shallon keppel karate. Thank you for bringing this up. I Have received heated messages from this before because we've done topics about kids getting black belts should there shouldn't be This is not an easy topic and there's so many things I agree with and disagree with the whole concept When I taught at the schools I taught at we did give kids black belts, but they were junior black belts and we were very Very adamant on the specifying the difference between a junior black belt and adult black belt The junior black belt in our school all it meant was that that kid has now graduated from the kids material They understood that they had a certain level of adult material they worked on and they got their junior black belt And then from that point on and that you should took them about four years on average But from that point on they They they started the adult curriculum to work towards your adult black belt Well, which is going to take them probably another three four years So we do the math on that if you've got a kid who starts at five and you know You're gonna make them train eight years nine years. Okay. Well, they're gonna be like approaching their early teens You're starting to dance that gray area of should they be black or not Can I would you say a ten-year-old defend themselves against a 30 year old? Define defend yourself. Are they gonna go fists up into a sparring match and take on a 30 year old not very likely If a adult comes up and they grab them are they gonna be able to do something to break the hole and get away Very possibly if they've been taught well if they've got the reflexes um Defense in terms of they're gonna beat up a 30 year old. No, that's not a very realistic scenario Although I have worked with some 12 and 13 and 14 year old students who were built like adults We had a 12 year old in class He was as tall as I was and he had muscles and he was strong Is he gonna put up a fight for 30 year old you better believe it Dude, I was a little apprehensive sparring him because he hadn't refined his control yet But he had the size he had the strength and he had the skill He was he had to work on control, but he had that skill. So some kids Grow better than others and yes, sometimes a 14 year old or a 12 year old can defend against an adult Depending on the adult, of course, are you talking about a 300 pound bodybuilder attacking them? Yeah, probably not But the average male. Yeah, they had a fairly good chance Again, if some were to grab them or try to hurt them They could at least have a very good chance to get away. So in my opinion, is there a minimum age? I don't think there should be a hard death set age saying okay 18 and no one else under I think it depends or should be judged on the individual student when you feel like they've reached that point where they could defend themselves If it's a 12 year old who could defend themselves against the adult then so be it if they can't do until they're 18 So be it but I do think it's important if it is a school that has a black belt program for children I think it's important to make that distinction that these are not adult black belt ranks that these are this you are graduating Your children's curriculum now you're going to adult curriculum So what we did was in the class for these kids and we made them work for it You know, it's not like they just got that junior black belt one day. They had to train for a month They had to do their miles. They had to do push-ups their calisthenics They had to spar for an hour with each other or two hours They had to do two hours of techniques and goddess It was a whole day for them. They sweat they cried sometimes they bled They fought for their junior black belt like we would expect an adult fight for theirs So they got to wear a black belt in class But they would have but then they would have a colored stripes through that belt or a colored tip to say okay Now you're a white belt in the adult material You're starting over and then they would work for months and after each several months They would get the next color belt. So by the time they got their adult black belt They were ready for their adult black belt. They were 15 16 17. They were at the age They could perform so no, I don't think there needs to be a hard dead set definitive age I do think it needs to be a range I think anywhere from 12 to 18 anywhere in that range only because I have seen a handful of 12-year-olds who could It's not common, but there's a couple out there who can do it It's gotta be when you feel that student. They have they have to have the curriculum for one They have to understand the academics find like they have to know what they can't just memorize the moves If that student can do the moves and they understand Why they do those moves and they can formulate and freestyle and make good judgment calls and have that discipline Then how have they not earned that as opposed to anybody else if they can do it Then I think they've earned it and that's just my personal opinion I know a lot of people say there should be a hard age and that's fine for your school It's just I'm just talking about where I'm coming from