why do ppl just give out black belts....whats the point in getting one, if you don't know what it means.....stupid i think. i was watching this kid, about 10 or so, doing a nunchakus form....ya didn't quite look like a black belt doing it, his stances were messed up and kept asking if he looked alright, then a little girl was hitting a bully billy bag with all the non-sense padding on, and she could bearly move. people these days are just in it for the check. don't see many that actually want to teach for the sake of teaching and giving off knowledge to the next generation so it can be passed on.

Cary Girl, 6, Headed to Tae Kwon Do World Championship

Posted: Jun. 20, 2007

Apex — A Cary girl is headed to Arkansas to compete in the Tae Kwon Do World Championship.

At just 6-years-old, Marzia Josephson is already a second-degree black belt – the same level as her 32-year-old father, David Josephson.

“It is great, a lot of fun, especially to have something like that you can do with your kids anywhere,” Josephson said.

Marzia began taking Tae Kwon Do one week after her third birthday. Since then, she has been racking up belts and trophies. Black is the highest belt in tae kwon do, and there are several degrees of that rank.

She left Wednesday for Little Rock, Ark., and the Songahm World Championship, which features about 10,000 competitors. She will compete Thursday in the 7-and-under division.

“I’m a little nervous, and I’m looking forward to it,” Marzia said.

Instructor Alex Changho said Marzia is the youngest black belt he has at the Vision Martial Arts school where they train.

“She is so intense. But at the same time, you see her and she’s your regular little girl,” Changho said.

Once the world championship is over, Marzia can focus on her next dream: becoming a karate instructor when she grows up.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1518167/

Story reposted for posterity.

songham is ata... not surprised

i hear they will give black belts to fetuses

Actually, four of my sperm have blackbelts.

She started at 3 and is now 6 and has 2 black belts. WHATEVER!!!!!! I wish I had a news clip of Jermaine Taylor on the newscast in ARK. at the world tournament. I'll try my best to remember what he said. (his son is in ATA) He said he never knew that there were this many people in ATA and maybe he should put his son in boxing!!!!LOL !!! I bet it kills him the way it kills me, when you see someone about to really get after it and point is called right before it gets good. And I know tkd is all about self control but in sparring, c'mon! I'm sure by next year there will be yet another division called freestyle sparring and more fees and more equipment and special superhero uniforms. And this and that and this and that blah blah blah! All that being said, I love ATA ! And for all the B.S. that is very much a part of their business, that's what I focus on when I'm training and it makes me real uptight and mean and aggressive in class when I kick that f-ing bag for 15 minutes while the instructor gets his business together. Hey, hats off to them for cornering the MARKET in M.A. We're in America and that's business. No knocks on instructors though, one of them kicks my ass daily! And Whitematt, you're awesome, seriously, and I do have respect for you, so how do instructors speak up without being reprimanded?

Okay wait. It said she started when she was 3 years old. It takes about an average 3-5 years just to get to a black belt in TKD. Then my instructors said that if you have to get a 1st degree, you have to wait one year, for a 2nd degree, you have to wait to years and so on an so forth.

I wonder how much she paid to get the second degree black belt.

In my old TKD assoc fastest time to BB = WYOgGPBbBrR at 2 months per letter that's, 24 months to Black Belt Recommended, 6 month mandatory wait for your 1st dan test. so 30 months to first degree. Then 1 year mandatory wait for 2nd degree, 42 months absolute stone cold minimum, missing no testings, failing nothing. So sure, if she started at 3 years old and she's a little over 7 and a half now.... NO PROBLEM. Though seeing a 6 year old manage a RJSK over 2 obstacles break that was required for our 2nd degree tests would crack me up....

I have heard the term "poom" black belt for kids on several occasions. How is it that one kid gets a "poom" black belt and this one gets a non-poom one?

It's a difference in association. For instance, even with the super fast timeline I listed for my old Assoc no one under 16 could actually get a REAL Black Belt. You got a Provisional Black Belt if you were under 16 the you had to retest at 16 with a ton of sparring. The BB under 16 showed that you knew the material, but you weren't expected to be able to fight an adult and win. Once you get your real BB at 16 you are expected to be able to lay down some smack. And yeah, we had some 8-9 year olds with Black Belts, and they knew all of the material STONE COLD and could even teach it to the other kids with some success. But they knew, and everyone else knew that the stripe on their belt meant they had best not go lipping off to any adults or somebody gonna get hurt real bad...

This is just stupid...and also an insult to all the people who busted their asses to earn a bb the legitimate way.

I swear anyone who would give out a bb much less a 2nd dgre to a chid like that needs to be taken out and publicly flogged and then burned at the stake.

I was going to say that I reckon I could own her ass. But then I realised that it really didn't sound right.

Ahem.

Sorry.

Do away with belts.

Whatever crummy inspirational and organizational or even traditional value they have is far outweighed by the mountains of abuse and damage that people have done with them in the martial arts world.

I don't care if one dinky school trains with teh real beltz, I don't care that BJJ has more or less been responsible with a belt system. Belts have done their damage, get rid of them now now now!

Maybe it's because I started out in a belt system, but I find the lack of some kind of visible rank indicator to be a little bit annoying. When I see new people at class and roll with them I have no idea if they have been training for a month or 5 years. I don't have any idea whether I should be a little nice and let them work stuff or if I'm about to get rode like a dimestore pony. I like the advance warning I get when I see a guy with a black belt on the mats, if I get paired up with him I know I can go full out or close to it and he's still probably gonna tie me in knots. I like to know that if I see a guy with a white belt and I roll with him I shouldn't just be a dick and stuff every sub attempt and omoplata him 10 times in a row.
It's just nice to have some kind of visible skill indicator. Of course since belts and skill have **** all to do with each other in most arts I guess that's entirely beside the point.

Only half my friend, only half.

Maybe it's because I started out in a belt system, but I find the lack of some kind of visible rank indicator to be a little bit annoying. When I see new people at class and roll with them I have no idea if they have been training for a month or 5 years. I don't have any idea whether I should be a little nice and let them work stuff or if I'm about to get rode like a dimestore pony. I like the advance warning I get when I see a guy with a black belt on the mats, if I get paired up with him I know I can go full out or close to it and he's still probably gonna tie me in knots. I like to know that if I see a guy with a white belt and I roll with him I shouldn't just be a dick and stuff every sub attempt and omoplata him 10 times in a row.
It's just nice to have some kind of visible skill indicator. Of course since belts and skill have **** all to do with each other in most arts I guess that's entirely beside the point.

Dude, when I get back I'm going to omoplata you just so you can say you got omoplata'd by fat guy.

edit: and we were only allowed to open 1 gift on christmas eve

This is an excellent case-study example of exact the McDojoism TKD is so often, and so rightly, accused off. There really should be a topic-based investigation/article on kiddy blackbelts.

Why don't you start one then?