10 or 12 year old opens school

[tshadowchaser]

We have discussed the idea of JR. black belts before so lets try this scenario:

A 10 or 12 year old black belt moves into your community and decides to start teaching, and opens his own school or club. OR If your instructor left the area and this young person wanted to continue the school would you still attend?

Would you join his classes? If you had never studied before would you join his school?

Why or Why NOT



Let say for arguments case there are no other schools in your area.

 

[terryl965]

Sheldon in the first place a 10-12 year old could never get the permits to open a school so the question has no merit, now if tey where 16-17 I would have to see what they could offer me in the way of a class. Lets say they have work in the MA place since 4 nthey would have 12 years experience and I might could pick something up in the way of them, doubtful but I could. But know way a 10-12 year old lets get some type of reality.

 

[tshadowchaser]

He could open a club at his school or at his house lets consider that also

 

[Laurentkd]

I agree with Terry, a 10 or 12 year old could not run a business legally.

But, I guess it would depend on the kid. For when my first instructor disappeared some senior black belts tried to keep the school going (there were probably 3 3rd dans, and then I was 15 and a 2nd dan). I spent most of my time at the dojang helping them recall old forms. I guess they didn't mind learning from me, but I got tired of doing all the teaching real quick.

 

[terryl965]

Ok Sheldon lets play with this a 10- 12 year old running his own club what can he have to offer the masses, the same as a Mc dojo not much. I would never in all my years give way to a 10-12 year old just call me the skeptic.

 

[Mike Hamer]

No way would I let a kid teach me. I would much rather gain knowledge from someone who's been around for awhile.

Why? Well that should be obvious.

 

[YoungMan]

I don't think it would be legal from ANY standpoint, be it teaching, business, or insurance, for a 10-12 year old to teach Taekwondo. Invariably, a contract would have to be signed, be it business, liability waiver, insurance etc., and a child has no legal ability to do that. So it's kind of a moot point.

 

[IcemanSK]

Let's say he or she is a "tv phenom" & wants to open a school. (An Ernie Reyes jr.-type, if you will). He's got $$ from his tv shows & bankrolls a school in your town. Permits, insurance, etc are obtained thru his own "Jimmy Smith, INC" company. He's the main teacher, but has others as well. All the kids in town want to study under him.

Would you?

 

[terryl965]

Let's say he or she is a "tv phenom" & wants to open a school. (An Ernie Reyes jr.-type, if you will). He's got $$ from his tv shows & bankrolls a school in your town. Permits, insurance, etc are obtained thru his own "Jimmy Smith, INC" company. He's the main teacher, but has others as well. All the kids in town want to study under him.

Would you?

Still no way he is way to young.

 

[newy085]

Yeah no way would a 10-12 year old have the maturity or ability to teach. They might be decent enough to make what they do look feasable, but there is no way that a person that young would be able to help you improve. At their age they are still figuring out what their body is capable of, let alone someone elses.

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

Nope to 10-12 unless he could fly and shoot lazers out of his eyes then maybe....

I would want to train with someone who has been in the art long enough to have earned the right to teach and I don't find that in someone that young.

 

[ArmorOfGod]

Willie "The Bam" Johnson wrote a book several years back (that was mostly unreadable). In the book he tells of when he was around 10 years old, he went to his local community center and tried to start a class and they wouldn't let him. At this point, he said he had never studied any martial art and had only taught himself some stunt kicks on an old mattress in his backyard.
The odd part of the story is that he is still mad and can't understand (even now) why they didn't let him.
Does anyone have that book and can retell the story better?
Here is the book: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Martial-Artist-Willie-Johnson/dp/0736031073
There is a reason you can buy copies for seventy three cents.

AoG

 

[Brian S]

Never. So, what would be the minimum age you would be a student under?

 

[shesulsa]

No. I might meet with him for some straight material if I had to have it, but I'd rather not. I'm not one to say that there is absolutely no one on the face of the planet I can't learn something from ... but I don't think a child that age should be teaching anything, really. *Showing* the basics to younger children and children his age, perhaps. Other than that? No.

 

[grydth]

He could open a club at his school or at his house lets consider that also

Others have accurately pointed out the fact that state authorities would never let this wunderkind open his own school.

However, your scenario is still a good one to debate because parents could own and operate the school but showcase him as a draw for other kids. He would just give demos and share his tips on winning tournaments.

It might just happen if a kid celeb from the Dizzy Channel hooked up with a McDojo.... imagine all the tweens wanting to do katas with the Leopard Girls or a Jonah Brother.

<Shades of Webster: I bet he'd, in the end turn, out to be a 32 year old dwarf>

 

[tko4u]

Probably not, besides the obvious point that he couldnt do it legally, I probably couldnt learn from a child unless he had a instructor over him and we got to learn from him regularly.

 

[Kacey]

Would I learn from a child? I do so all the time - both from my TKD students and from my middle school students. Would I want a child as my primary instructor? No... not because of age, per se, so much as because I don't believe that any child that age - no matter how physically skilled - could have put in sufficient training time to truly understand what s/he is teaching, nor are they developmentally ready to understand abstractions and IMHO, cannot, therefore, teach from the depth of understanding that an older, more experienced person would have.

 

[Kosho Gakkusei]

This thread is based entirely on a false premise - a legitimate 10-12 year old black belt.

 

[diamondbar1971]

shouldn't this thread be under the comedy store....get real

 

[Grenadier]

Not everyone can be taught in the same way that the would-be child instructor was.

To be able to adapt the program to a wide variety of students takes real life experience, something that no 12 year old will possess to a sufficient degree.

I must agree with the others, that if someone were to use such a kid as a *helper* in class, to show others how to perform the techniques correctly, then I would have no problems with that. However, a 12 year old child teaching a class isn't a good idea.