Thursday, January 11, 2007

Beware of Studios that Promote Young Kids to Black Belt

If someone wants to obtain a PhD or MD, it is going to take many years of hard work, sacrifice, and perseverance. Sure, someone can now get illegitimate degrees online by “life experience” if he/she is willing to fork out a large sum of money, but it won’t do them much good when applying for a higher-scale job position. With Internet accessibility, one can easily check the legitimacy of any so-called “university” or “college” that are handing out degrees like candy.

So, if something as prestigious as a PhD or MD is so difficult to obtain, why should achieving a black belt be any different? Short answer – it shouldn’t!! Unfortunately, there are so many McDojos out there today that are giving the martial arts a bad name. So I caution you to beware of any martial arts school that awards black belts to little kids!! Please take the time to go in and observe a few classes. If you find a class full of black belts, say, under the age of 12, RUN FOR THE DOOR! The schools will promote your kids through the colored belt ranks so fast, and gladly take your money while doing it!! The ironic part about all of this is that I hear parents all of the time bragging about how their child is a black belt!! I even had one man tell me how proud he was of his son who obtained a black belt at the ripe old age of 7!!!! Can a 7-year old really defend oneself against any adult? Of course not. Does a 7-year old have the maturity and experience to wear such an honored rank? Of course not.

Look – trust me. Find a school with high standards, and that take many years to obtain a black belt and that refuse to hand them out to kids. They are out there, but you have to search.