My intructor's son is 9 years old. He recently became a black belt. His black belt exam was on December of last year. The thing is that he teaches class. Everytime our instructor has to leave to do something he is the one that is appointed to give class. Even though there are some other black belts or red belts, he still gives class. I don't think that this is good for my instructor's son. A kid of that age doesn't know a lot about life or even about tkd training. No matter if he is a black belt or not he is still a kid.
Simply ridiculous. Having a child lead classes is not only irresponsible for the students but for the kid too. There is no way his grasp of the material is more advanced than an adult, no matter what. And even if it is, for just morale sake, it would be more prudent to have an adult lead the class. Please talk to your instructor. Talk to the other adult black belts first and see if they agree with you too.
That does sound ridiculous. What does the kid actually do when he's put in charge of these classes? Do the older students and black belts carry out whatever this nine year old is telling them to do? As has already been mentioned I'd talk to your instructor, as this seems very unfair to the class
"He got a boo-boo on his knee!" "We should call an ambulance!" "No. His mummy can kiss it better!" "No, it's broken. We should..." "On with the class!"
Would your class' insurance still be valid if the class is being taken by a 9 year old? What if someone needs medical treatment and has to tell the insurance company "well, our 9-year-old instructor said we should do the exercise like that!"
That is ridiculous. If my instructor had left a kid in charge of class, I would quit and tell everybody I met to stay away, period.
I think its a good idea for the young ones to get experience however there is a thin line between insane and crazy thats insane, if your instructor feels his son is ready go for it it should be a learning venture but the second he performs something incorrect aid to assist and try to prevent injury. We have assistant instructors at age 9 but their assisting not leading the class. It goes along the lines of your instructor like mentioned earlyer just talk with your instructor in a humble manner. Lifes an journey maybe your instructor is testing you guys to see if your able to cope with the likings of a 9 year old teaching sometimes your tested by masters in the strangest fashion you know?
When you say your instructor has to leave to do something what does he do? Thats stupid and a fast way to loose students especially new one's!!
i'm trying to be as open-minded as possible, but i truly honestly cannot imagine a 9 year old teach a class and explain applications of techniques, correct others when they do something wrong... do i need to go on with the list?
This situation sounds insane. If a 9 year old BB who has just passed is being favoured over other black belts (who are presumeably older) then I doubt that the class is being taught very well or any of the students are reaching their full potential. However any black belt however old can help in a class. If an older member is teaching then the blackbelt could at very least demonstrate the required technique if needed. Also I will assume that the school Pulp fiction attends is not a McDojo and you have to work for your black belt and so this nine year old will have a high skill level defineately higher than lower belts and so they could offer some advice If they wanted to whilst in a slightly more informal training situation such as bag work. IMHO someone that young will be unlikely to command the respect of adults in the class let alone children his own age and so should not be left with the responsibility of teaching an entire class on his/her own.
Myself, I certainly would not pay to train at a school where the instruction is given by someone of such a young age. If they did indeed earn their belt then I will of course respect the skill, but there's just no way anyone so few in years can muster the proper teaching ability.
My son is 8.5 and I consider him mature for his age yet I cannot fathom him actually teaching/leading a class (he's currently a 3rd gup)!! If I need help with my poomse I'll ask him but as a parent I could never allow him to take on the huge responsibility of leading a class (even if he were up to the task in ability); not even for a moment. We have had the junior assistant BBs "take over" class momentarily if our instructor is needed elsewhere (this has only happened very rarely) and usually we just go through poomse (never drills). They also help the lower ranks and children on forms when the instructor is helping the higher ranks. The situation is unjust to the child and the students; it also lessens the school's credibility. I agree with the others; this needs to be dealt with. Kelly
I ve talked to other black belts at my club and some agree, but the weirdest answer was from a friend who is 2nd dan by the way. She told me that it is ok to let a 9 year old boy teach. I think that's insane. My club is not a Mcdojo, but I really don't know why my instructor is allowing this. I agree with all of you. This kid wouldn't know what to do if someone is knocked out or if someone breaks their foot. I will talk to my instructor. I will say that my instructor is not the brightest bulb on the planet, but he is a good martial artist, so I hope that he stops doing that. The thing is that I probably won't be going to train for the rest of the week because I smashed my right toe. A shelf landed on my foot. It was really painful. Maybe I'll go just to talk to my instructor about it. It is very important that this 9 year old boy stops giving class.
definately go talk to him... i mean like everyone else has said, a 9-year old teaching class is just....freaking insane. I'm curious to know... how are the classes? Like, when this little one teaches, are they as fulfilling (for sake of a better word... hopefully you all know what i'm talking about) as a class lead by your head instructor? Or do they just suck? Please give us(or me, at least) an example of one class taught by the 9-year old blackbelt... -Kat
It really sucks. I don't pay any attention to him and start working on my own. The little kids don't pay attention to him either.
Hmm... Words that come to mind in these situations: Stupid Irresponsible Negligent Disrespectful Ignorant Under very few circumstances would a 9 year old be in a position to teach. The one that I can think of might be tutoring a young student in form, because there is little chance of an accident. Any situation where there might be the possibility of injury (one step, self defense, sparring, breaking practice etc.), a 9 year old not in a position to teach or lead. He simply is not mature enough to handle that kind of responsibility. I think the Instructor's line of reasoning is "Well, he's my son so he must be qualified to teach." Just because you're the Instructor's son doesn't mean you are in a position to teach. Use common sense people.
Your instructor does not really seem to have any professionalism/ethics if he is doing that. You should speak to him. We don't mix kids classes with adult classes but I can't imagine a class being led by a child no matter what colour the belt tying their gi is. Their understanding of safety, body mechanics, communication skills etc. are not even fully developed at that age! Aren't there any adult black belts/seniors in the class who could assist in running the class if your instructor is not there?