What is the average age for a 1st dan going to 2nd?

Question

I'm getting ready to test for my 2nd in April and have been training for 6/7 years in this style. I've been teaching and assisting for 3 years and was just curious to what age most 2nd dans are and to the average age of assistants?

Answer 1

i have heard of a lot of schools that will give you up to 2nd dan before your 18 but you cant go any higher then when you are 18 you can grade for 3rd dan but if they dont think that you are even good enough for 2nd dan they might drop your rank to what they think you really should be.

Answer 2

I would have to say there's no real accurate answer you're going to get unless you research every school in the world. I only say this because there are children, and I do mean children with 1-3 dan ranks out there, and there are adults in their 40's with that same rank.

Outside of a McDojo, I would think that the younger age only average would have to be around 18-24 somewhere in there.

It should be skill, and mental maturity that make one ready for advancement.

Answer 3

Hi there

Grades should be given for many different reasons such as ability, maturity, patience, determination, character and having a good heart. It really depends on how much importance you place around your waist? Remeber you could be the best martial artist in the land but if you suffer from ego then no grades shall there be. I personally think the only reason we really have grades in the west is to set personal goals. They give us something to aim for. Training without a grading structure is a hard concept to grasp for westerners but in reality its the only real way to train. If youve worked hard for it then you deserve it but surely the real payoffs are the fact that you understand more than you did when you first started training?

We are all students including sensai!

Best wishes

idai

Answer 4

In our karate school (traditional wado-ryu) a person has to be over the age of 16 years old.

The youngest ni-dan in our dojo (at present) is 30 years old.

Answer 5

Our school makes you re test for 1st Dan and or 2nd Dan at age 16 for your permanent adult ranking. Some of the requirements for the adult ranks are a bit more aggressive.

Answer 6

I'll keep it simple. If you work hard and youve got the skills to show your worthy of a title , then who cares how old you are. Your old enough to comprehend the style, so its ok. The youngest 2nd degree I ever saw was 16, and he had been martial arts for long while.