A 4 Year Old Black Belt?

I was scanning some local reports on line relating to Taekwondo and martial arts  when I stumbled onto an amazing article.

A Martial Arts Black Belt was awarded to the youngest practitioner ever! And the practitioner was only four years old.

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Four Years Old? A black belt?

I was trying to picture it. The only thing I could conjure in my mind, was a rather fanciful picture of an attacker attempting to abscond with this tiny child, and as the bad guy did so, somehow the child became a super child and was able to grab the guy by his lower leg, toss him up into the air and then over into the nearby garbage can already full of the black belted super child's previous discarded conquests.

As I mulled this vision over, it struck me that this event was more reminiscent of a video game rather than a real life scenario.

I am a martial arts school owner located in central Florida. And I have students that range in ages from 5 years old to 75 years young. The arts my school offers are WTF style Taekwondo, bo staff and nunchakus, and the Korean style of swordsmanship, Haedong Kumdo.

I have students that have been awarded black belts at various ages, but never any younger than 9 years old.

Upon reading the article about this 4 year old receiving the most prestigious belt in martial arts, I found my self analyzing my own school's  criteria that enabled a student to receive the black belt.  

And I also reminisced on the history of the belt and what it symbolizes.

Years ago, groups of young warrior men would gather together and train to fight.  More particularly, these men would train in empty handed combat, utilizing their whole bodies to subdue and conquer their opponent through training exercises that would emphasize quick reflexive blocking, powerful strikes, and single minded focus.

They would train for hours, honing their special secret techniques, and developing their physical fitness and prowess.

As these elite warriors trained together, it was common for their loose fitting clothes to fly around as they fought, so they would anchor down their tops with belts made of cloth. The more years they fought, the dirtier their belts would become. It then became apparent to all who attended the practise fights, that the ones who wore the dirtier (and sometimes bloodier) belts were the ones who had been training the hardest and the longest.

The 'blacker' belt indicated  the more experienced warrior, which became the basis for the tradition in the martial arts of awarding the formal black belt to the one who passed the school's exacting and qualifying criteria.

In our school of present day, the general guidelines for a student to obtain his black belt include a minimum of 3 and a half years of consistent training, hours upon hours obtaining the specific knowledge on how to perform the necessary self defense techniques, many bouts of sparring, hundreds of sessions of physical fitness routines all culminating in the students final testing event. At this event, the student must demonstrate all of his knowledge learned as well as run a 2 mile course, perform 300 sit-ups, 300 push-ups, 500 kicks and on and on.

Although we have promoted a nine year old (almost ten), to this coveted belt, he had to demonstrate all of the same criteria that we required from a 30 year old. In our Korean style of WTF Taekwondo, it is also affirmed that this black belt is considered a junior black belt. A junior black belt is awarded to those who test under 15 years of age, acknowledging that they have fulfilled all of the same requirements as those over 15 but realizing that their physical power and maturity is still limited by age.

The physical limitations are one thing, the mental aspect is another. As we promote our younger members through the ranks of a junior black belt, we analyze if they exhibit the proper mental focus, seriousness and confidence in their art that proves their actual knowledge and commitment to their art.

In fact, I would say that the younger ones are under more scrutiny than the older ones because of their age.

But back to the four year old and his black belt.

How can anyone take this designation seriously?

And does the presentation of such a high honor to a four year old taint the whole effort of those who worked years and put so much sweat, blood and tears to the acquisition of their belt?

Does awarding this belt bring down the level of what the black belt is supposed to symbolize?

What do you think?

A 4 Year Old Black Belt?

Barbara Bruno is currently a martial arts studio owner in Florida, http://superkicksma.com, and is an internationally certified 4th Dan Black Belt in WTF style Taekwondo. She is also an internationally certified instructor in the Korean sword art of Haedong Kumdo through the United World Haedong Kumdo Federation.
She received the award of Female Taekwondo Instructor of the Year from the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame and is also the co founder along with her husband Master Guy Bruno of the WMAWA World Martial Arts Weapons Alliance. http://wmawa.com
Please feel free to write her with any questions at info@wmawa.com