Quote:
Originally Posted by Bytsi
One interesting debate I've seen is: can ANYONE earn a black belt, if they take enough time and put work into it, or is there a point when physical limitations (age, weight, fitness, flexibility, injury) make that achievement impossible?
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From what I understand about BJJ (the martial art I study) is that your belt level is determined by your ability to hang with others at that same level. All the tournaments I have attended seperated +30 from younger competitors. This is to compensate to a degree for the limitations you mention. The thing is, in BJJ, technique can overcome many of the limitations you mention, but I'm not sure about other styles that require more brute force actions. Still, if you can hang with other black belts of your same age in BJJ, I beleive that you would be issued a black belt and it would be legitimate. And as you mentioned later on in your post, the quality of that belt will be determined by your school. Many schools hand out belts as a way to keep membership. Mine does not and a year into training I'm still a white belt.
Oh, and for the poll, I got into Karate as a kid and we had a legitmate instructor, but I was there because Karate was cool. I ended up quitting because it demanded too much from me. I now study BJJ primarily because I have friends in the class and we have a great time, but also because it's great for fitness and allows me to challenge myself in a way that would normally end in jail time.