karatemom3
Yellow Belt
In the martial art I am training in now students can not get a black belt until they are 16 years old. In other martial art styles in the area you can become a black belt in 3-4 years. So in an open tournament you may have an "advanced colored belt" who has been training for 9 years competing against a student training 2 years or less. I have two questions. Would you encourage the student with more experience to compete in the black belt division if allowed? As a judge would you take in to consideration how long the student has been training?