In sports, though, children get them because they too compete relative to their competitor skills. There is no reason the belt couldn't be any other color, but, "black" is symbolic of the self-defense counterpart to martial arts, and there it has a connotation of being some sort of expert.
The concept of black belt is misused and abused - and has been for years. Black belt means nothing these days. For me, I'm more inclined to consider a person's years of continuous training with higher regard than the color of one's belt (or degrees of one's black).
I've seen sprightly young 50-something hand me a business card indicating he was some 12th degree in taekwondo. Yeah. But then, there was a time where getting 10th degree meant having to die first, and apparently a few folks aren't waiting to climb into the grave to get one.
So black belt awards are abused by both children and adults alike, although I will say that the children are oblivious to the abuse and they don't consciously do it. Nevertheless, black belt is a gimmick used to determine contract lengths, entice joining clubs, patches, and learning techniques. The guy with the business card was compensating for a shortcoming somewhere else.
It's common to have to wait a number of years to get the the next dan. The number of years is approximately equal to the dan/degree desired. So two years at 1st dan to get to 2nd dan; 3 years at 2nd dan to get to 3rd dan; and 4 years at 3rd dan to get to 4th dan, and so on.
Taekwondo also has age minimums to help prevent abuse: no one under 16 in WTF taekwondo is supposed to be a black belt, and herein lies another abuse: Officially, the wording is "only 16 and over can receive 1st dan", but they say nothing of the color belt. It is therefore extremely common to see kids running around with black belts, but on paper, they are NOT first dan! In WTF's case, they are "poom" level, a term which means "junior". In WTF you can be 1st poom, 2nd poom, 3rd poom, and 4th poom. When you get to 16 years old there is a process to generally convert them to "dans". There is no minumum age to be at any poom, except for 4th poom - you have to be 18.
EDIT: @Orlando - Children DO deserve to be recognized for their achievements. And there are appropriate ways to do that - even in martial arts. But giving them a black belt is not the way to do that. A black belt commonly represents skill and maturity, among other things. If you place a 7 year old child black belt next to a 30 year old adult black belt, that says either the child's abilities and maturity are as good as the adult's, or that the adult's is as good as the child's. Worse, that child will grow up, and - even without training for 20 years - will still have that belt and certificate. What does that say about quality? Of course, adults can do the same. But the bulk of quitters are kids who move on to sports, music, etc. In other words, martial arts was nothing but a sport or after-school activity to take up time - not a passion.
Martial arts is not a sport. It is about saving one's life. Achievement posters, tape on the belt, trophies, student-of-the-month plaques, etc are all fine for recognizing achievement. But once you give out that black belt, people change: some quit thinking they've reached the "end". Others don't train earnestly and slack off, thinking they're at the top of the totem pole. Others will not see any more incentive to keep training, because it's like what are they going to get for their next reward - another black belt?
And let's not forget the merchandising that goes with the black belt: specialty clubs just for black belts who want to learn weapons; extra patches to buy and wear; black belt training camps; leadership clubs; embroidered belts, uniforms, and equipment bags. And guess who they're catering to?
It depends on the style, the school and the teacher.
As others have said giving black belts to children is a marketing tool.
Respected arts like Uechi Ryu don't award black belts to kids less than 16 and usually 18. We do have a junior black belt that is awarded to students after years of training. This is done to keep teenagers motivated and also to show that they are proficent in what they've learned but still have work to do to be a "real" black belt.
As for time between rank promotions, that too varies. For beginners, it's not uncommon for the first test to be after three months. At that time a few basics are tested and the student is awarded their first color belt. A second test is often also about 3 months or so. After that in respected schools the time grows. So from three months, a student might then have to wait 9 months, and then a year or so between tests.
Of course, how often someone trains and how much they practice will influence how they test and if they skip any ranks.
In our style at the black belt ranks, there is a minimum time in rank requirement, and that's often the rank in years. So for instance from 1st Degree Black Belt to 2nd is a minimum of 1 year. From second to third is two years, then three years, then four, etc. Of course these are the minimum and it can take longer if someone isn't practicing and/or training.
There are so many children black belts because there are so many crappy schools and mcdojos that do those things just to make money.
There should be no standard, but on average it should take about 6-8 years to receive a black belt, no less than five but can be more than 8. For second degree, 2 years is reasonable. As for color belts, it's usually a few months between for the lower ranks, but it should take longer a you move up the ranks. Again though, there should be no set time; it should take as long as it takes.
It really depends on the art and/or instructor. It took my son 6 months just to take his first grading in Kyokushin and will probably take him a good few years yet to earn a first degree black belt. I probably would not trust any Dojo/Gwoon that gives a black belt to anyone under the age of 12. Even if a child starts a martial art at 4 or 5 years of age and knows the techniques & the oath off by heart, he/she would not have the mental capabilities to understand what a black belt stands for.
Not in all places kids receive black belts. In some places a black belt needs to be at list 18, in many at list 16. 12 years old kids with black belts is not the norm....
That doesn't mean of course that teenagers can not have skills. 17-18 years old boys and girls, have won medals in international competitions, some of them even Olympic medals....18-20 years young adults, in many countries are doing their military service, some of them with the possibility of a war.
The important thing is to have something with out prejudice...That can be a test, or instructors that value things without prejudice. It depends...Normally 18 years of age is ok for the 1st dan. Testing or no testing, depends from the place, the organization that the place is, the isntructors e.t.c
Irresponsible adults who don't understand the true value of its representation.
In my first school, it took a minimum of 4 years to get a black belt, and that's assuming everything goes next to perfect.
The school I'm at now, my teachers says anyone can get one at any time, that there is no minimum time, but in order to display the knowledge and requirements necessary for a Shodan, he says it takes most people close to 8-10 years.
It is all about making money today. traditionally no one under 16 was considered for 1st degree black belt. In reality I never saw or heard of anyone reaching black belt under the age of 18 until the 1970's. Time between belts was only for guidelines, not for promotion. Promotions came slow or not all for some students.
Black Belt Magazine said many years ago that in the U.S.A less than 3% of all students ever got to black belt. and non of them were children because Children were not even allowed to train in most schools. Of the few adults that reached 1st degree black belt less than 50% of them ever reached 2nd degree black belt. It was common for students to spend 5-7 years or more before receiving their 1st degree black belt. It took me about 8 years. I know of many people that spent 10 or more years reaching black belt. Then traditionally the minimum time before being allowed to be tested for 2nd degree black belt was 2 years after reaching 1st degree. The total time a student had trained was not taken into account. so if a person spent 20 years before reaching their black belt, they would still not be allowed to test for 2nd degree for a minimum of 2 years. Third degree would then require at least 3 more years. Each rank after that took longer and longer time between belts.
NOTE: no one was ever considered for promotion because of how long they had trained. The time requirements were used only as minimums. It was the students knowledge, application, and technical level that was what decided who tested and when. Many martial arts schools testing students only when needed. some held testing only once a year.
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Children get black belts because someone is making a profit by doing this.
It should be a minimum of 2 years after getting a 1st Dan If I remember correctly.
Money.
Each belt costs money. So why not make a quick buck by giving kids the chance to go all the way to black belt.
Everything about this question is completely relative to who is the master. Outside of East Asia, there are VERY few legitimate black belts in any martial art. So a kid that went into a karate class at the rec center and got a black belt, is 100% guaranteed not a real black belt. Actual training takes years and years of dedication.
I'm not saying that others are illegitimate, but there not nearly to the caliber of a real master of his art.
Also how long does it typically take at the minimum for a person to test to:
Their next color belt
A second degree black belt
At my current school, you need a minimum of 3 months to test for your next color belt & a minimum of a year for a second degree.
Because of money.
It is a sad fact that many martial art schools that teaches children do so because they can make money off uninformed and unsuspecting parents. I use the term "school" loosely because they are frauds and basically scamming people out of their money.
Because they want money, not giving stupid children knowledge. Who would do that these days?
Because children earn it!
if you apply yourself as best as you can do you not think that even children deserver to be shown appreciation for their achievement's.
I could never understand.
SCAM......
