Sixteen year old third dans-right or wrong?.?

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

That would mean they would have had to start their art at age 1.

But...

I do know a young girl who is 20 and is a fourth dan. And she definitively earned it. Her father is a world renowned martial artist and trained her daily ever since she was 4.

That's the youngest person I know to have such a high "rank".

Well, it's common. But for many reasons, it's very wrong.emotionally, maturity, appropriateness of skills taught, ability to teach, and responsibility are just some of the things lacking in 16 years old at 3rd dan. Not only that, but at 3rd dan, one is approaching what many styles would consider "master" - that's a title given at around 4th dan in many styles. At 16, such a student would be 20 and be labelled "master" by common folks, and that is very much misleading. It wasn't long ago that 4th dan was the last rank handed out.

Nevertheless, it sets a bad precedent, misleads others who do not know better, cheapens the school, cheapens the style, and cheapens martial arts in general.

While I sit on the fence about giving out black belts to even younger kids, I personally draw the line at 2nd dan at any age except well into adulthood. First off, when a youngster gets 1st dan, what is the incentive to keep training? (Most quit when they get there).

There is no standard - even within organizations - and even within schools! - - about what means "black belt", there's even more inconsistency the higher the dan levels. So when YOU look at a 3rd dan, what expectation do you have of that person? What expectations do you think non-MA folks have of that person? Do you think that person deserves that rank? What kind of knowledge do you think that person possesses? Do you think that person possesses good skill? Extensive knowledge? Both skill and knowledge?

For me, it has gotten to the point where I no longer care about my own rank, let alone others' ranks. Really: if there's no standard, then why does the subject ever come up? What could possibly be so important as to bring up rank? Other than rank requirements in WTF Taekwondo, which are specific to referee, judge, and coaching, I see no reason in the world why anyone would need bring up the topic of one's own rank. It is irrelevant.

So I no longer give a hoot about anyone's rank: more often than not these days, it's meaningless. Even my own.

Wrong as wrong can be.

Just like you can get a license to drive a car before a certain age traditionally you can get a 1st Dab black belt until 16 at a minimum. That should be the exception, not the rule. Then there are required time at a rank before you can be considered for a promotion. Several more years would have had to pass before they were eligible for a 3rd Dan. At least another or 5 years.

In very rare cases (and I do mean rare) are ever promoted to 1st degree black belt (by any legitimate organization).

At 1st degree black belt a person should expect it to take a "minimum of 2 or more years to reach 1nd degree black belt". Once at 2nd degree black belt it should be no less than 3 years "minimum" to reach 3rd degree black belt. In a perfect world, that means that a 3rd dan would never be less than 21 years old.

Note: Black Belt Magazine said in the late 1960's or early 1970's that less than 3% of all martial arts students (any style) ever reached Black Belt. Of those few less than 1/2 of them (50%) ever achieved 2nd degree black belt. At the time the article was written there were no children training or allowed to train in most martial arts schools in the U.S.A. so there were no 16 year old black belts, much less any that were higher than that.

Is promoting children to black belt wrong......? In my opinion very wrong. I promoted on young student to 1st dan in the late 1980's. I have regretted it ever since.

...

Wrong, but a sign of the times, i suppose. I am just not sure how one can get a vast amount of martial arts knowledge at such a young age.

that is just so wrong.

there is more to rank then skill there is a mental maturity as well

but i do also agree with pugpaws as well

Wrong totally wrong.

wrong.