The Black Belt, an Adult-Only Rank
In order to distinguish student from instructor, the great Jigoro Kano, founder of Judo, instituted the belt system in his school.
That was it. A student motioning into an eventual pattern or drill was the wearer of a white obi, and the dark-belted karate-ka were the proven, serious students who had gone through the rudiments of the school curriculum to the point where they could competently instruct.
What is taken out of the martial arts is what’s put in. It is available for everybody, regardless of age and gender; as long as the effort is applied and its core philosophies abided by. To use an example, Kanryo Higashionna trained under the tutelage of Xie Zhongxiang for fourteen long years, some of which were spent simply performing domestic tasks. Higashionna Sensei then went on to become the father of Goju karate as we know it. It was his life (and the life of those like him) of effort, commitment, and training towards mastery that has served as influential for many an aspiring student of the martial arts.
However, generations after Kano Sensei’s introduction of belts, the martial arts have taken a turn in identity. Fast-forward to the past couple of decades, and the title of “black belt” is a weakened currency. The title and rank accomplished through years of consistent training, paid dues, and sweat equity for a middle-aged adult who has a grasp on the challenges of life, can be earned all the same by a pre-teen who has put in a couple of years of recreational practice. The same dark shade of cloth is worn around the waist.
That is the state of recognizing status in the martial arts; that the black belt is the ultimate goal, the key to understanding the mysteries of practice, and that such a feat is easily achievable within a measurable time window, or worse, through a paid fee. The reward of a black belt to a prematurely-developed adherent to the arts- children, in this case- is especially dangerous. Even the most mature, hard-training, and intellectual of children are still restricted by their age and inexperience (ex. a 12 year old is still a 12 year old no matter how many kata they do). As such, they cannot be expected to embrace the utmost sincerity and gravity of the responsibilities of martial practice in the same way an adult can.
The most obvious and superficial reason why a child cannot hold a –dan rank (or black belt), is physiological. A seriously-training child is perfectly capable of avoiding a potentially dangerous situation and making the right decision in an effort to keep themselves or others safe. However, it is expected that a student of the black belt rank should be able to maintain control over a potentially violent, out-of-dojo street situation, something that is not entirely possible for a child or preteen. To reward a child, who does not yet have the same mental fortitude or physical maturity as their adult counterparts, and to have them of equal authority, is improper.
It is quite evident why such a cheapened culture of accelerated gratification exist in the martial arts; we live in a consumer culture that gave birth to it! The black belt has become something that is easily attainable and available, and even for sale. A proper education, much like Higashionna Sensei was given, is about delayed gratification, of slow and deep maturation. Sensei Peter Urban stated, “Nothing is free, everyone starts at the bottom”, but our commercial culture would have us believe we are rock stars waiting to be discovered, that society owes us, that all the answers are just a click away, and that nobody should wait more than 30 seconds for a gourmet meal.
It takes approximately four years of intentional, committed study to achieve competency in the basics of a classical karate program before a student is considered a candidate for the black belt level. It takes approximately two years of intentional, committed study to achieve competency in the whole curriculum of a college program. So why entrust the graduated rank of the former to someone who hasn’t even entered high school? Or middle school? Who is the better educated candidate for black belt, the just-turned eighteen year old who has trained since senior kindergarten, or a twelve-year old with half as much time?
Most importantly, it is the approach to practice that we should examine. Karate-do is a way of life, and its lessons and rewards are a lifetime’s effort. “Clothes cannot make the skill”, as Miyamoto Musashi put it. To students serious about their education, physical fortitude, spiritual enrichment, and overall self-development leading to self-mastery, belts, ranks, and time taken to reach the next level are of no consequence.
Karate-do is also a path. Mountaineers do not simply take a helicopter to the top of a mountain to claim that they reached the summit; the goal they set would be to reach it after the toil of climbing. The black belt rank, though not the ultimate goal, is an enormous milestone. Our own Sensei needed to wait until eighteen before earning it. That is why your instruction on delayed gratification is legitimate, and your education so mature.
In closing, in light of my recent professional experience as an instructor and in review of my personal character as a youth, I can say with certainty that I would not have done justice to the rank of shodan were I to receive it any earlier than adulthood.
Mr. Kenney McCoy, Shodan