10 or 12 year old opens school

[MarkBarlow]

A local community center had a 14 yr old running a TKD class for short time. He inherited the class from his teacher who was in his early 20s. I've been told by more than one person that the little darlin' insisted on the students calling him Master whether in class or out. Since there were a couple of kids in the class who he went to school with, this didn't sit well with the students and the class imploded in a month or so after he took over.

 

[hogstooth]

Here is the problem with your question. Number one a 10 or 12 year old would not have the knowledge or maturity to teach anyone. I know that some Mcdojo's promote kids to BB very young but in my art they aren't promoted to BB until the age of 16. Until then they are considered provisional BB or Shodanho. But lets assume they are a BB at 12 and they are very knowledgeable. How is a 12 year old going to gain your confidence in the first meeting in order to convince you to join his/ her school?
Most people would have a problem with learning from someone that they could pounce into the ground just based on size and strength differences. Another problem is the stigma of learning from a kid. Wether we want to admit it or not there are a whole lot of people that do not want to learn from one individual or another based on color, race and gender much less from a kid.
Lets face it there would not be to many people signing up to learn from a 12 year old.
I will not go into the problems of a 12 year old opening a buisness but it's pretty clear to most that this would not happen. They could teach out of their back yard but not own a dojo. And what about insurance? Too many problems with it and doomed to fail.

 

[AMP-RYU]

Well it really just depends. My mother took over our instructors school when I was 11 and I recieved my Instructor Certification that same year. I successfully taught that school until I was 18 and went to college. It probably helped that I was 5'11" and 175 at the age of 12 but other than that, I was still 12 years old. In fact when I was 13 I recieved 3rd place in the Missouri State Black Belt and above heavy weight division in sparring out of 18 men. The reason being I was over weight in my division so they gave me a choice move up or don't compete. So my mother signed a waiver and I fought. So you can't really count out someone because of their age. I bet I could have out taught any of those men in that division!

 

[myusername]

A 10-12 year old? I'm sure this little fictional fella has more skill and tecniques than me and would probably be able to teach me something but it would just feel too weird to join his imaginary school! Especially if it was at his house! Can you imagine trying to explain to your partner, your work colleagues and the community at large why you are choosing to spend your free time at 10-12 year olds house, getting sweaty and wearing white pajamas! It would take a lot of explaining!

I get enough grief from my work colleagues as it is after I foolishly refered to "The Mount Position" one lunch time!

 

[seasoned]

When I first took Karate it was for the fighting aspect. On sparring night the Sensei would line everyone up and work the line, appropriately handling each match according to their rank. Sense at that time I know nothing about Karate, kata, or anything, that 12 yr old would have to be able to fight. If the 12 yr old could run the line and kick everyone’s a _ _ then I would have definitely consider him as my Sensei. Of course once I joined the DoJo the kids class never trained with adults on sparring night, way to dangerous. J

 

[Lynne]

If the boy were the only game in town, I probably would train with him for awhile.

As Kacey and others have said, a child that age cannot think abstractly and wouldn't have the indepth knowledge pertaining to application (that's not exactly what you all have said but the gist of it I think).

If I were new to MA, I would gradually realize indepth knowledge was missing and become frustrated. I'm one of those people who internalizes and asks lots of questions (well, not at school as there is hardly ever a chance - usually, I ask here).

I'd be buying DVD's and books to supplement my training.

 

[Gordon Nore]

As goofy as the premise seems, I recall a thread on another board years back where this actually took place. The teacher left the school, it was taken over by the parents of a very young dan who did all the teaching. Parents themselves were non-MAists who claimed they were always present when the youngster was teaching. Can't remember the name of the school. I do recall and adult student at the school chiming in on the thread and talking about how great it was and how mean the posters in the thread were for commenting on it.

 

[MA-Caver]

The kid's parent could open the school and the kid be the chief instructor... but another alternative is continuing education classes which to my understanding have no age limit.

But no, I wouldn't go because his curriculum would be limited to only that of a Jr. Black Belt level and couldn't go any higher... Jr. BB do not have the same level in many arts as the adult level BB's. So there would be only so much that he could teach... now if he wanted to teach other kids his age then he could... but problem for this kid is not having the experience to be a good teacher, there's more to it than just knowledge.
If I ever accomplish getting a BB in my life time, even to just 1st Dan I would still not be so presumptuous as to think I can start teaching... tutoring, assisting teaching and all that but to be chief instructor... no. I simply would not have the experience that a 2nd or 3rd degree BB would have.
I do know of several 1st degrees that do teach and run their own schools... good for them... but not good for me.
Perhaps I would be of a different mind whenever I do achieve that milestone.

 

[Traditionalist]

Absolutely not. And if my instructor left and some kid was left in charge then my martial arts career would just have to stay were it was and I could work on the things I would already know. I would never take on a child as an instructor.

 

[tshadowchaser]

Traditionalist may I inquire as to why you have answered this way.

 

[Gordon Nore]

I would say that classes with adults are rougher than kids' classes. My instructor once got his nose broken by a brown belt in the adult class. No biggie. Imagine how devastating it would be for all concerned if the twelve-year-old Sensei got hurt. Legalities aside, that would end some martial arts careers leave a lot of folks with a really bad taste in their mouths.

 

[tshadowchaser]

that is a good thought on the subject, thanks

 

[SA_BJJ]

One of our instructors in 20 and I think he is way too young sometimes. Good thing I am tight with our GM or else classes would not be very beneficial at times.

 

[Ninebird8]

I am against the whole premise of giving a child under 18 a black belt. If you give him a junior black belt, that is fine, but at 18 he should retest. Not to test his or her physical skills, but to see if his mental understanding and emotional bearing have equaled his physical skills. When I got my Master's rank in two of my styles, it had taken me over 25 years of hard, consistent training to get there. Now, to those who say look at Jet Li at age 11 winning a national championship or traveling to the White House. True, but remember that was 8-10 hours a day for years and except for school on the side, all he did without distraction. Even then, I am sure Wu Bin did not have him leading classes.

Especially these days, most kids do not have the patience or inclination to put in the time. I see my own kids, especially my 12 year old, and at that point in life their minds and bodies are beginning to change and truly evolve into what they will become. As a result, there is no way I would learn or allow to teach a kid this age, unless he/she is teaching other kids under supervision ages 5-10. But that is all.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

To me there is another level at work in this question that has not been addressed. Just because someone has earned a blackbelt rank does not automatically make them capable of teaching. There is another whole skill set that is involved with teaching others how to do the things that you know that has nothing to do with your ability to do them. These skills must also be learned one way or another before anyone can be an effective instructor.

Having a young blackbelt teaching as the sole instructor of a school does not hold the same feelings of trust or authority that an adult would have. Does that mean they could never teach a class? No, but they would need the backing of an adult to enable them to have that authority.

My sentiments exactly. A black belt means that you've learned the basics, not that you're ready to teach. And a kid with a junior black belt isn't even a real black belt, so why on earth would anyone feel that his promotion to a junior bb somehow makes him a qualified teacher?

Also, there is a reason that kids aren't placed into full contact competition with adults: adults can hurt them much more easily. So what happens when a twenty year old 230 pound white belt spars with little Johnny the teacher and, being a white belt, can't control his kick and knocks out little Johnny? Or breaks his knee? Or gets out of hand in class and little Johnny can't control him?

To answer the OP, no I wouldn't. If it were the only school in a 100 mile radius, I'd buy a good DVD and a good training manual, then network with other practitioners in the area to be able to informally train.

Daniel

 

[Gordon Nore]

I think also a part of life is waiting for things. It's great that a twelve-year-old is adept and highly-skilled; however, twelve-year-olds should be doing twelve-year-old stuff. They should not be in charge of adults and making adult decisions.

Once in a while, you hear about a twelve-year-old taking classes at Harvard. That's different from having the kid teach classes at Harvard.

 

[Guardian]

For a post that supposedly had no basic ground support to it, this one has taken off LOL. I like that.

Personally, I don't see it happening, but if it did, I wouldn't personally take instructions from that young of an individual, life experiences play a part in my view into any teaching/instructing in the Martial Arts in my view. That young of age just doesn't have it.

 

[SA_BJJ]

I cant believe this conversation is still being entertained...lol