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The Pred
Green Belt
Green Belt

Joined: 26 Jun 2003
Posts: 385

Styles: Goju Ryu

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 7:22 pm    Post subject: Junior Ranks Reply with quote

Now I know some schools do junior black belts, and also some schools do special belts for 4-5 year olds. However, my question is, does any school do say junior yellow, junior blue etc? I mean obviously a full blown shodan is higher than a junior black belt. But lining up in rank order seems odd that a kid blue belt would stand in line with adult blue belts. I mean, I'm not here to argue what is right or wrong.

But is a junior black belt the only rank that essentially gets a junior rank?
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aurik
KF Sempai
KF Sempai

Joined: 08 Nov 2016
Posts: 505
Location: Denver, CO
Styles: Shuri-Ryu, Uechi-Ryu

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 9:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Or school does junior belts, which are denoted by a white stripe through the center of the belt. Kids from 4-6 year olds do the "junior" curriculum working from white belt through junior 3rd kyu (brown belt). When a kid ages out from the junior program, they tend to work their way through the adult curriculum faster. The junior curriculum teaches the requirements for (adult) 9th kyu in a much more easy-to-digest format. By the time a student has earned their junior brown belt, they've learned all of the requirements for (adult) 9th kyu, along with bits of the requirements for (adult) 6th kyu.

We do also have junior black belts - they have the same time-in-rank and technical requirements, but a student can test for shodan-sho (junior black belt) at 11 or so. It's also not uncommon for a student to test for nidan-sho and (adult) shodan at the same time.

It has been our CI's experience that most of the students who earn their junior brown belt continue on to earn their black belts.
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sensei8
KF Sensei
KF Sensei

Joined: 23 Feb 2008
Posts: 16430
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Styles: Shindokan Saitou-ryu [Shuri-te/Okinawa-te based]

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 9:55 pm    Post subject: Re: Junior Ranks Reply with quote

The Pred wrote:
Now I know some schools do junior black belts, and also some schools do special belts for 4-5 year olds. However, my question is, does any school do say junior yellow, junior blue etc? I mean obviously a full blown shodan is higher than a junior black belt. But lining up in rank order seems odd that a kid blue belt would stand in line with adult blue belts. I mean, I'm not here to argue what is right or wrong.

But is a junior black belt the only rank that essentially gets a junior rank?

We've only one junior rank, and that is JBB.



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The Pred
Green Belt
Green Belt

Joined: 26 Jun 2003
Posts: 385

Styles: Goju Ryu

PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 10:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks !
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Wastelander
KF Sensei
KF Sensei

Joined: 18 Oct 2010
Posts: 2734
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Styles: Shorin-Ryu, Shuri-Ryu, Judo, KishimotoDi

PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2020 7:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, before some personal setbacks and COVID, while I was prepping to open my own dojo, I had set up a structure where my childrens' ranks were completely separate from the adult ones. This is an idea that I shamelessly stole from BJJ, lol. I figured there was no sense in trying to have kids and adults learn the exact same curriculum in the exact same way/order and just breaking the belts into pieces, although that is what my previous instructors did. I liked the idea of setting up a youth program that had its own curriculum, which would build up to where they could join the adult program sometime in their teens and be well prepared to do so.
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Kishimoto-Di | 2014-Present | Sensei: Ulf Karlsson
Shorin-Ryu/Shinkoten Karate | 2010-Present: Yondan, Renshi | Sensei: Richard Poage (RIP), Jeff Allred (RIP)
Shuri-Ryu | 2006-2010: Sankyu | Sensei: Joey Johnston, Joe Walker (RIP)
Judo | 2007-2010: Gokyu | Sensei: Joe Walker (RIP), Ramon Rivera (RIP), Adrian Rivera
Illinois Practical Karate | International Neoclassical Karate Kobudo Society
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DWx
Black Belt
Black Belt

Joined: 17 Jan 2007
Posts: 6455
Location: UK
Styles: Tae Kwon Do & Yang family Tai Chi

PostPosted: Thu Oct 15, 2020 1:28 pm    Post subject: Re: Junior Ranks Reply with quote

The Pred wrote:
Now I know some schools do junior black belts, and also some schools do special belts for 4-5 year olds. However, my question is, does any school do say junior yellow, junior blue etc? I mean obviously a full blown shodan is higher than a junior black belt. But lining up in rank order seems odd that a kid blue belt would stand in line with adult blue belts. I mean, I'm not here to argue what is right or wrong.

But is a junior black belt the only rank that essentially gets a junior rank?

So for us its always time in grade which is important, not age. So a 16 year old blue belt who's had the grade for 6 months may be more senior than a 50 year old blue belt who only just got the grade.

We have junior blackbelts, they have a white stripe through the centre of their belts. They are always junior to a full/adult blackbelt.
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