Karate

John

I don't know, he won his first Association National Kumite and came second in his second. So someone thinks he is ok.



I can still kick his ass



thinking about it, he is a couple of years behind where we hoped he would be by now, a failed grading early on and then not been ready for his initial black belt grading. But so long as he keeps it up for as long as I am responsible for him, I'll be happy

BigStu1972

I was more referring to the fact that a lot of people in the Martial Arts world (myself included) don’t believe that you should be able to grade for your black belt until you are a senior (over 16)

John

why is that ?

PulsarPilot

I dont believe it should be an age thing so much, more that belts are given out to people who dont really deserve it. As I understand it, most Karate styles give out belts based on students being able to perform a set list of moves i.e Kata's?
Is there some sort of 'Kumite' type thing for a 13 year old to get his Black Belt?

Back on topic, my 6 year old goes to a Karate class (Shotokan IIRC) once a week, he started when he was 4, and after a slow start he's starting to resemble a Karate-ka
I have been doing BJJ for about 5 months now, really enjoying it so far, although it looks like it will be a steep learning curve for the first 5 years or so!

gwyper

Most associations will allow for second dan as the maximum before they are sixteen, but they are required to re-sit when they are 16.  It's quite hard if you make second dan at that age because you have a long wait.

I got my second dan at 15, but didn't resit because the grading fell just before my 16th.  I then made third dan at 21 on my first attempt.  Our association allows third dan to be sat from the age of 21 onwards.

shodan

I've just got back into karate after a 9 year break.  I was a 1st dan in Shotokan karate back then (Shotokan Karate Associaton) then moved away from the area, changed jobs, started a family blah blah blah.

Found a local club (Westwood Karate Academy in Southend - Shotokan style) and started training again towards the end of last year.  I've been 6 times in total.

Absolutely love it but i am finding it hard as I am trying to train as hard as I was before but the truth is I'm 34 years old now and have lost a lot of the strength, stamina and speed that I had before however and my kata is rather rusty too.  But I'm confident I can get it back, at least 90% of it.

I must be doing something right though as they have said that they would like me to regrade my 1st dan with them on their next dan gradings.

GaryMo

Started Shotokan Karate two years ago at 37 years old after my daughter started (she stopped at 8th Kyu). It looked interesting and the rest is history.
Currently a 2nd Kyu and am loving it. Age just isn't a restriction for me.

SBT

I'm an instructor,well i was about 6 stone ago lol.Trained both my kids from a very early age.Both are now 21 and have both, on and off been instructors themselves.

GaryMo

I watched Kuro Obi a few weeks ago, translated as Black Belt. An excellent film for anybody interested in karate.

shodan

That sounds good, I'll have to hunt it down..