Worth Another Look

[dancingalone]

in light of the 'Karate Kid' movie being released.

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[J Ellis]

Wow! Very impressive. That just went on my Facebook page.

 

[Andrew Green]

Just a Japanese plot to mess with westerners.

Put up a video of a 6 and a 7 year old being graded for 1st Dan, In Tokyo. Make all the "traditionalists" heads explode as they try to combine the idea of a legitimate 1st dan, received from a legitimate, traditional dojo in Japan with the idea that no 6-year old could ever "earn" the rank

 

[dancingalone]

I'd like to see the entire test, particularly their kata if they learned any. I have a hard time thinking anyone that young could learn all of the requirements I have (bunkai, self-defense, kobudo) for awarding a first dan, but I'd be pleased to be shown otherwise.

These kids are sharp on their basics. I've never seen any kids here in the US who are that good at that age.

 

[Grenadier]

If their fundamentals are that sharp, and if I were a betting man, I would certainly wager that their kata, kumite, etc., are all going to be quite good as well.

Someone who has a good set of basics should be able build on top of that good foundation. Otherwise, there's no sense in teaching someone kata or kumite, if they can't perform the fundamentas with the required level of proficiency.

 

[Omar B]

I gotta say, my eyes welled up a little bit watching that. That was beautiful, reminds me of my days as a kid spending every moment on karate. These kids seem better though, in all honesty I don't think I was that sharp till around 11 or 12.

Thanks for posting that man. It's a great thing to see while I'm sitting here pissed off with a cold.

 

[Makalakumu]

Their teacher and parents drilled the hell out of those kids. That is certainly fine, but I just want to point out that karate is probably all those kids do in their spare time. That level of performance, for kids that young, would take several hours of practice a day.

 

[Victor Smith]

Of course the purpose of karate training was originally to spend all your time training.

As for 6 and 7 year old black belts the traditionalists on Okinawa today have 75% of all Okinawan students being kids, and they're doing the same there.

Frankly there is no classical black belt, and while the karate in Japan in the traditional period adopted black belts, they weren't made of unobatainium. Funakoshi originally awarded them for one years training. So perhaps later when it took longer he was a lesser instructor? Or just adopted different standards. Of course that's the case.

Today there are many times many different standards. Age is irrelevant, just whatever standards you need for your program.

In the end it's the fist meeting the jaw, not the belt.

 

[Maiden_Ante]

In the end it's the fist meeting the jaw, not the belt.

Thank you for that statement.

 

[Manny]

Those kids are awesome, I haven't see any kid with this talent in my country yet, and yes they must be in karate since dipers, I eman since very very early time.

Manny

 

[Tez3]

In the end it's the fist meeting the jaw, not the belt.

I like that! I said something similiar on another thread and was told that people do martial arts for lots of different reasons none of which included being able to fight, that being able to defend your was a side effect of learning martial arts not the reason to train it.

 

[Maiden_Ante]

I like that! I said something similiar on another thread and was told that people do martial arts for lots of different reasons none of which included being able to fight, that being able to defend your was a side effect of learning martial arts not the reason to train it.

"We're learning self-defense so that we can do party tricks." Yikes.

About the kids: I'm not sure it's a good idea to give that sort of status to children, no matter their ability. It's the kind of thing that can easily turn someone into a bully. Just because it's Japanese doesn't mean it's "better" than something I could find here in Sweden.