PWR

Seems to me a guy that claimes they had "almost perfect" technique at 8 years of age could do better than a couple of State Championships and a National Championship---hey check your local phonebook--my bet is that its FULL of "National Champions."

(heck if you wish to get really nit-picky--I have number of State and Regional wins AND a "Natl Championship" win myself---so I know full well how meaningless such bragging really is)

What I am saying is that 8-10 year children have no business teaching anyone anything--an 8 year old is doing what in school?
Can an 8 year old teach a college or high school person about history? Or math? Or biology?
My guess would be no---so why would anyone think that an 8-10 year old can teach adults anything?

Maybe, MAYBE they can teach kids ALSO 8-10, but as a paying customer, I would be pretty hacked if I was shelling out big bucks to the head teacher to TEACH my kid, then see a ANOTHER little kid teaching--thta not what I paid my hard earned money for.

So you are telling me that child that is 8-10 years old who shows perfect technique is not able to teach adults because the whitebelt abult already has perfect technique?

OBVIOULSY the 8-10 year can not teach an adult anything leaned in school or college unless that adult never went. HOWEVER, A blackbelt who is 10 can teach a whitebelt or ANY belt a thing or 2 on technique.

It is sad to see that an adult is so prideful that he would think someone cant teach them something because of age. As for my exp in comp, i was not boasting, I was explaining.

This goes to all the folks who are against learning something from a child, you should act as an adult and realize "If his technique is good, he is worthy of teaching it." It seems obvious that either the kids in your dojangs are not up to par with those from korean ones.

PWR

No, I am saying that an 8 year old may have "perfect technique" FOR AN YEAR OLD.
Not "perfect technique"in the litteral sense.

Not sure that I would be slinging the word "prideful" around if I were you--after all you ARE the person that first claimed you had "perfect technique" then posted your "wins."

If anything it just proves JohnL and others point--you give a kid rank then they start copping an attitude about their skills.

Don't buy your reasoning, a 10 year old simply is not capable of the depth and understanding a 22 year old is. Subject matter is not the point--a child that young simply is NOT on the same level as an adult.

And as I mentioned earlier--did you at age 8 take the same black belt test as did fully grown adults?
If so then that calls in serious question the validity of the test itself.
If you did not--then your not "really" the same rank.

Like I also said, if I am paying my hard earned money to a master for teaching my child--I better be seeing THEM teach my child. I an NOT shelling out big bucks to a guy that has ANOTHER kid teaching MY kid.

Kids are simply NOT "on par" with adults.
They are not in any walk of life--why should the dojang be the ONLY place in the world where the reverse it true--that makes NO sense.

Someone of 10 years old won't be able to teach because they don't have the same amount of respect. If you'd put a 10 year old teach other 10 year olds, it'll be a very funny class, but not a lot of MA. Even if the 10 years old is mature enough to teach, they don't look serious enough. At my secondary school you can see that the younger the teachers are, the less they're in control of the class. I once knew a teacher that looked like she was 16 and she just couldn't teach, so she resorted on writing huge amounts of text on the blackboard and let us study all that.
(and in case you wonder I'm going to a private school, not to some ghetto school where we can fight at school (we'd be expelled) they just can't punish you for not paying attention if you don't bother the class)
I believe it'd be the same in MA, the 10 year old black belt would be teaching, while the others won't really paying attention (with a few exeptions).

Also must adult wouldn't want their children to follow classes with the 10 year old.

Maturity alone isn't enough, you need to look mature. If you're 6 and you look 22 (there's some disease that makes you look older) and you're mentally mature, nobody will care.

Also I don't think the 10 year old should get a black belt. Maybe something like a junior black belt, and at 16 you take the black belt exam and see if you pass.
Or you just don't allow them to take the tests if they're physically unable to do it, if they have to break 2 boards and they can't do it physically, then put an age restriction on the exam.
I heard from my former judo trainer that they put the age restriction because they had someone of like 8 or so got to the brown belt. He was very mature in the club and all, so they gave him the belts. But as the club learned afterwards he'd been bragging on his skills at school against some of the higher grades and insisted on some sort of duel. When he tried some kind of armbar on the higher grade, that higher grade resisted and broke the brown belt's arm.
He stopped judo after that because he scolded at the teacher about teaching him badly, while he just lacked power.
To me that clearly shows the self defense skills of a young child. He just fought another child (altough older) If he'd have fought an adult in a real self defense situation, he'd have been in troubles.
If he would have sticked to the basics he'd never broke his arm. He used perfectly valid techniques at a totally wrong time, it's not smart to try that with someone with twice your strength.
From then on the club didn't allow the children to advance beyond the point that they can applicate the techniques.

Of course the children that waited for their black belt and therefore trained for like 10 years instead of the adults that studied for about 4 years perfected their techniques more than the adults and won once their power came.

Conclusion, better get your basics right and train untill you'r e strong enough to take the real test, than to take weaker tests and have a false sense of security.

IPCS

And it "seems to me"--to use your words, like your another person that is trying to justify their training at the hands of kid.

A 13 year can't legally drive and you think they have the maturity and skills to pass along a fighting art?

As I mentioned above--MORE THAN ONCE, you folks better start checking those "prideful" comments vs YOUR OWN POSTS.

Nothing more "prideful" than a kid whom considers himself the equal of an adult because of a length of colored cloth wrapped his/her waist.

Plus as a consumer I seriously question the merits of paying a master to teach me then be handed off to a kid.
Would you trust your expensive car to a 13 year old auto repir guy?
Would you hire a 13 year kid to work as a peer in your office?
Would you allow your OWN kids to take college level classes taught by a 13 year old?
Would you allow a 13 year to be your bodyguard?

(Heck what would you think if the LEO's in your town took there training from a 13 year old?)

Course not.
Nowhere else in life (except for video games) would an adult even consider a 8-13 kid as a peer--EXCEPT when it comes to potentially deadly fighting arts--and this makes sense to you?

Does the US Army allow 13 year olds to teach their fighters?

Is the USA TKD team coached by 13 year olds---is anyones?

(that would be a "no")

How do you explain that?

I agree, Kids should be taught by adults. I have yet to meet a young black belt who was ready to teach. (I have been in MA's for over 28 years)

I have seen many good young kids and I agree there is nothing wrong with starting a child in MA's when they are young (if they are ready for it and can focus). But no matter how good a 10 year old is they are not mature enough to teach, do not have the experiances needed to teach, and do not understand how to teach.

Also, as CXT has said, When I hand my money over I am not paying to have a child teach my child. I am paying for the head instructor. The 10 year old may be ready to help out in class but, in my years I have seen very, very few children who have been ready.

Just my two cents, and remember I expect my $ to not go to the child...

In my country it isn't legal to earn money below 16 years (using some holes in the law you can start at 15.) Except when you ask the king for permission to start at 14 (Yeah, right. Like that will ever happen But that's the law)
So all the money will go to the head instructor. If he's caught on employing an underage, he'll sure be bankrupt due to the fines and close the school.

Its not really about the money. Although that would cheese me off...

It is about the fact that a child is not ready to teach.

I try and stay away from any and all personal attacks but PWR I seriously doubt if you were perfect when you were that young. As I said "I" doubt it, but I do have 28 years of experiance and in that time I have never seen anyone, other than a few real masters doing things perfectly.