emzhengjiu Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 My 13 yo DD earned her green belt in karate last night. I'm so proud of her; she's worked very hard to get this far and is very excited to be working toward her brown belt. We're blessed to have a great and affordable (cheap) karate class through our local recreation center. The instructors are dedicated to teaching the kids. This school, also, does not "give" away belts. The kids are held to high standards. Kids have to be 16 to test for black belt, so she has a few years to go for that. The private schools in our area are prohibitive expensive and usually require contracts. Edited: Spell check where were you when I needed you??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berta Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 Congratulations!! My 8 yr old daughter is testing this week for her Orange belt. She absolutely loves karate! They teach Shotokan and her favorite thing is the weapons classes, specifically the bo staff and nunchucks. They have homeschool classes during the week and she takes three classes a week. She is in the Black Belt Club, which is an intense track towards earning Black belt. She also helps assist one class a month with White belts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 Good job daughter (and family who helped her get there)! Mine do Aikido through a similar arrangement. They work very, very hard with no black belts before age 16. The average teenage black belt studies for 6 or more years, and there is a week of skill tests and a written ten-page paper. And no contracts. Just a registration fee to start, and then monthly dues. Both of mine are teaching now, and I'm so pleased with how far they've come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted September 6, 2013 Author Share Posted September 6, 2013 Congratulations!! My 8 yr old daughter is testing this week for her Orange belt. She absolutely loves karate! They teach Shotokan and her favorite thing is the weapons classes, specifically the bo staff and nunchucks. They have homeschool classes during the week and she takes three classes a week. She is in the Black Belt Club, which is an intense track towards earning Black belt. She also helps assist one class a month with White belts. Thank you. Congratulations to your daughter! It's special to see this level of interest in children. I'm not familar with a black belt club. I'm curious as to how it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted September 6, 2013 Author Share Posted September 6, 2013 Good job daughter (and family who helped her get there)! Mine do Aikido through a similar arrangement. They work very, very hard with no black belts before age 16. The average teenage black belt studies for 6 or more years, and there is a week of skill tests and a written ten-page paper. And no contracts. Just a registration fee to start, and then monthly dues. Both of mine are teaching now, and I'm so pleased with how far they've come. Thank you! I know how very proud you are of your children as well. It's excited to see them grow and excel in a difficult program. You are so right about how hard studying any of the martial arts can be. My daughter's test was over a couple of days and included a written test, although much shorter than 10 pages. It normally takes a teen at least 3 to 4 years to reach the brown belt level. I'm not sure about how much longer it takes once they are 16 to qualify for a black belt. The teens are separated into an advanced class when they are brown belts. I was studying in the same class until I broke my wrist and had to drop out. But I was only at the yellow belt level. I'm thinking of going back later this year. Maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berta Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 Thank you. Congratulations to your daughter! It's special to see this level of interest in children. I'm not familar with a black belt club. I'm curious as to how it works. The Black Belt Club is for those yellow belt or higher that have made the commitment to follow through to black belt. My daughter had to write an essay on why she wanted to join, what her goals are ... etc. They cannot just join, they have to be "invited" to join by the Shihan and the board members from the school. From what I have been told (and what I see when I watch her), she is awesome. Her Shihan told me that she is a prodigy when it comes to karate. They had national sparring champ come and put on a seminar, he pulled me aside and told me that she definitely has a gift. The BBC includes three classes each week, one extra class per month where she "assists" the Sensei in teaching white belts, and once a month a BBC special class. This month it was a weapons class where she learned sword fighting. Last month was the Bo staff and the one before that was Kata. She also gets to wear a special BBC Gi. It costs me $65 a month and we get a discount off of other classes, camps and merchandise. Through the summer she went to camp twice which was 5 days of 9am-12pm, in addition to her three regular classes. She has learned so much from the camps. ETA: My daughter was born with a heart condition. She has never been isn't into sports. She has taken ballet and gymnastics before but she tired easily. She liked both of those, but she wasn't a "stand out" and wasn't any better then any of the other kids in her class. I think that had to do with health issues concerning her heart. She had heart surgery two years ago and karate is the first sport she has done since then. I had to talk her into taking the karate, but after one class she was hooked. Her Shihan said that he has had a few kids like her, but he has lost them other sports. I don't think he needs to worry about her, she isn't going anywhere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted September 8, 2013 Author Share Posted September 8, 2013 ETA: My daughter was born with a heart condition. She has never been isn't into sports. She has taken ballet and gymnastics before but she tired easily. She liked both of those, but she wasn't a "stand out" and wasn't any better then any of the other kids in her class. I think that had to do with health issues concerning her heart. She had heart surgery two years ago and karate is the first sport she has done since. I had to talk her into taking the karate, but after one class she was hooked. Her Shihan said that he has had a few kids like her, but he has lost them other sports. I don't think he needs to worry about her, she isn't going anywhere! This makes her accomplishments even more special! I can't imagine what you must have gone through facing your daughter's heart surgery. How wonderful she's doing so well physically, especially since karate is a demanding discipline. I know she will do very well in her orange belt test. The BBC sounds interesting. We don't have anything like that where my daughter studies. Some of the private schools may offer something similar, but in this area monthly tuition can be over $100 and higher as the student advances without adding a club fee. Belt tests are also very expensive (to me) in the private schools. I'm happy we have an affordable option for my daughter who loves karate and everything Japanese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berta Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 We don't have to pay for the belt tests, just the $7 for the actual belt. The Shihan homeschooled his kids so he understands how finances can be tight. My daughter is Chinese, and everyone tells me it's in her genes. I don't know about that, but she really does have a gift for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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