TKD Black Belts

[PopItandLockIt]

The grading system in TKD is so rediculous its way 2 easy 2 get your black belt which is why 2 many 10 year olds are running around with TKD Black Belts, what is the point of such a useless grading system. Now i do realise that there are levels of BB but you cant tell me a 10year old black belt is going to stand a chance against an adult of any level.
Walking around most TKD skools is like being caught in tha movie the 3 ninjas kick back. I think TKD should take a leaf out of the BJJ grading book.

[Ryo]

Well, it's obvious that a ten year old with a black belt won't stand a chance against an adult. A ten year old without a black belt wouldn't stand a chance, either. For kids that size, TKD is usually more about memorization, discipline, and technique rather than building up combative skills.

[Hardball]

Is this what ya'll call MCDOJANG? lmao!!!

[ipscshooter]

Now i do realise that there are levels of BB but you cant tell me a 10year old black belt is going to stand a chance against an adult of any level.

How could you possibly expect a kid who weighs 60 pounds, regardless of rank, to "stand a chance against an adult" who likely weighs three to four times as much? It is unreasonable, even irrational, to expect a 10 year old to be able to hold his own against an adult. Let's see you get in the ring with Bob Sapp (a pitiful martial artist, but due to his size, he kicks butt even among your vaunted BJJ competitors). If you lose, then you are permanently barred from earning a black belt... Fair? There's a reason they have weight divisions in boxing matches and martial arts tournaments.

My son is an 11 year old TKD black belt (he earned it at 10 1/2, after 4 1/2 years of lessons). He currently weighs in at 72 lbs. I expect him to be able to hold his own against other kids, regardless of rank and within reasonably comparable size. That, he is quite capable of. He's competed quite well against kids that outweigh him by 50 lbs. He put in years of hard work and is able to perform the established curriculum with the requisite level of technical proficiency. That is all that should be expected to hold the rank. Note that our school is not known for churning out underage black belts. Our instructor has been teaching for 30 years, and my son is the first to have passed the test at the age of ten (he was first asked to test at the age of 9 years, 11 months, but failed on the breaking requirement). One other kid passed at the age of 11 (he's currently working toward 3rd dan at age 18). The typical age is in the 14 - 16 year old range, and typically the kids have been taking lessons for 5 - 7 years.