A number of months ago I sent out a survey asking several questions in regard to ranking in American Kenpo. About a hundred people responded to the survey and many included their comments on the topic.
Below I've shared the results of the survey. You may notice that the total numbers of answers don't add up evenly for all the questions asked. The reason for this is some people didn't answer certain questions or gave answers that weren't clear and direct.
The first Question was: What do you think the minimum age should be to receive a black belt?
Although some instructors felt it was okay to issue a separate black belt for children, many didn't say how they would distinguish it from an adult black belt. Those who did, generally said the certificates should clearly state that it was a “Junior” black belt certificate and that the belt itself should have a white stripe running through it lengthwise, or some other indication that it was not a full-fledged black belt.
Minimum Age to Black Belt?
Zero to 10th in How Many Years?
The next two questions were interdependent on one another. I asked how many years do you think there should be between each of the black belt ranks and how many years do you think there should be, overall, before someone could be considered for 10th degree black belt. That is if they thought anyone other than Mr. Parker should be awarded that rank.
What I found most interesting is how many people didn't do the math to crosscheck the interdependency of the numbers. In several cases someone would say something like it should take no less than 40 years to reach 10th degree black belt, but when you added up how long they said it should take to reach 1st degree black belt and each belt between 1st and 10th, it was as little as twenty four years. This in itself can account for a certain amount of runaway rank. If it should take no less than 40 years to reach 10th black, then the total time it takes to reach the individual ranks has to equal that number. Other than that I'll refrain from editorializing on the survey; as I didn't create the survey as a way of pushing my opinion on anyone else.
Always interested in additional feedback: RichHale @ Me.com 805-807-6500
OhanaKenpo.com OHANA KENPO KARATE ASSOCIATION November 22, 2011
White to Black?
1.5 Years
2 Years
3 Years
4 Years
5 Years
6 Years
7 Years
8 Years
9 Years
10 Years
1
2
3
25
21
11
3
2
0
1
1st to 2nd Black?
.5 Years
1 Year
2 Years
3 Years
4 Years
1
21
49
5
1
2nd to 3rd Black?
1 Year
2 Years
3 Years
4 Years
4
27
44
2
3rd to 4th Black?
1 Year
2 Years
3 Years
4 Years
5 Years
1
9
38
27
1
4th to 5th Black?
1 Year
2 Years
3 Years
4 Years
5 Years
6 Years
0
6
19
24
26
1
5th to 6th Black?
1 Year
2 Years
3 Years
4 Years
5 Years
6 Years
7 Years
8 Years
9 Years
10 Years
0
4
15
11
30
5
0
0
0
0
6th to 7th Black?
1 Year
2 Years
3 Years
4 Years
5 Years
6 Years
7 Years
8 Years
9 Years
10 Years
0
4
14
9
22
13
13
0
0
0
7th to 8th Black?
1 Year
2 Years
3 Years
4 Years
5 Years
6 Years
7 Years
8 Years
9 Years
10 Years
0
3
13
10
21
3
11
13
0
1
8th to 9th Black?
1 Year
2 Years
3 Years
4 Years
5 Years
6 Years
7 Years
8 Years
9 Years
10 Years
0
2
11
5
26
5
1
9
12
2
9th to 10th Black?
1 Year
2 Years
3 Years
4 Years
5 Years
6 Years
7 Years
8 Years
9 Years
10 Years
15 Years
6
2
8
3
21
6
1
0
6
12
1
Total Years to 10th?
24 Years
25 Years
26 Years
27 Years
28 Years
29 Years
30 Years
31 Years
32 Years
33 Years
34 Years
35 Years
36 Years
37 Years
38 Years
39 Years
40 Years
41 Years
42 Years
43 Years
44 Years
45 Years
46 Years
47 Years
48 Years
49 Years
50 Years
51 Years
52 Years
53 Years
54 Years
55 Years
56 Years
57 Years
58 Years
59 Years
60 Years
61 Years
1
1
0
2
2
1
1
3
2
3
0
4
2
2
2
0
5
1
0
3
2
0
0
2
3
2
3
1
0
1
0
2
1
0
3
2
1
1
The Clarification of Opinions
What impressed me the most was how many people took the time to include a note to help clarify their opinion, above and beyond what simple numbers said. I really appreciate the time it took to do this as I'm sure you will as well.
