Do you think that styles give away belt ranks rather than letting their students earn them? -

Now, in my style I know that you have to earn your rank. Though the color belt you wear has nothing to do with how well you can defend yourself. You can take away a person s belt but you can never take away their knowledge of the art. Anyways, it seems that the more competitions that I go to, the more younger students have high ranking (black) belts at let s say the age of 7 I see! I m not bashing on Kung Fu or Taekwondo but those styles seem to be the ones that I see doing this the most. It might just be my area, and I m not saying that other styles similar to mine don t do that as well but I get angry at the fact that these schools are deceiving those individuals. Also that they are just trying to make their school look better and are trying to brag about the amount of quot;proficientquot; students they have. I was wondering if anyone else noticed this kind of thing or what their opinion was about this. It just seems like there are a lot of styles out there for the money and not the actual people. I think that it isn t right to do that, and it isnt the way it should be. I just think that they are handing out belts nowadays. Anyone agree? Disagree?|::::|I couldn t agree more. A black belt has lost a lot of its meaning these days. Like you said, many schools are handing them out carelessly. I myself had to work 7 years to get mine, and went through a vigorous training cycle. And then I see other people with black belts that have done little to no work for it, and it makes me a little angry. Some schools worry more about publicity and believe that showing young kids with high belts/ranks give people the idea that they are an amazing school. I get the idea that they are not good schools. So yes, styles are giving away belt ranks rather than letting their students earn them. You should make sure you go to a school that makes you earn your rank. In the end, the belt doesn t matter but the knowledge does.|::::|I could care less about my belt except for one thing. After I was given my black belt I have had opportunities for me to train with people and do things I could never do as a colored belt. Other than that, a belt just keeps the gi tight around the waist so I don t look too overweight|::::|Its never the quot;stylequot; of martial art that goes bad its the organization and /or trainers. if all were kept to traditional values TKD would have never lost face in the martial arts community. Instructors need to get back to the basics and teach TKD for what it is (self defense), and the schools that realize this are the ones that put out better competitors and dominate the sport.|::::|styles dont give away belts. teachers give away belts. the style have little to do with the grading. teacher make up there own grading system and give away belts for money, modern tkd is a sport and business, traditional tkd is different. some styles are more prone to being belt factories but there are schools and instructors in most styles that still make you earn your rank|::::|Some probably do basically give some students upgrades(next belt).It is sad,I agree students must earn the next rank.To get a black belt,the students must be over 21,if he/she is under 18 when they get to red(or brown,depending on which is before black),even if they know all the forms etc.,when they test for black and are between 18 amp; 21 will get a white stripe on their black belt to signify being a junior black belt holder,they keep the stripe until after they reach 21.