How young is too young for a black belt?

How young is too young for a black belt:

I look around and see martial arts schools from all over running their kids programs. It’s a good thing, trust me I know, but you have to remember they are just trying to sell you something. From growing up in one of these schools I can tell you not every black belt means the same thing. Sometimes the black belt does in fact mean the kid is just a warrior. They can do awesome aerial kicks, understand the tenants, are leaders in the classroom and can also make tactical since of the moves in the forms. But I would say 9 times out of 10 the black belt does not represent that. I know this to be true because I have seen it, and been on both sides.

When I write this blog I tend to imagine I am speaking to someone who is a black belt already, so with that audience in mind I have a question. When did you get your black belt? If you were to be honest with yourself then do you think you were really a black belt quality martial artist at that time? I assume most people are not going to be honest with themselves at this point to which I say oh well, that is the same mentality that is driving the schools to participate in this kind of hogwash martial arts.
I did not get my black belt until I was 21 but I was in TKD and other martial arts, since I was 8. I think of it like this; they have a business to run and they can’t keep the two separate. They need the money to keep the school open so they have a black belt program, which is a pricey road to travel. Now I am not ripping school owners here I am just saying you might not be awarding a TKD black belt.
My only goal is to bring to light the cracks in our martial art, not to create division amongst us, so please hear me out. All I am trying to say is that “we”, instructors and owners, are too quick to get the kids out that don’t want to be there, or whose parents want them to complete the program, that we think they did good enough. This is a destructive fabric in our martial art and we need to rethink it.

So what are the requirements? Well they are in every single pattern. The blocks, the kicks and the hand strikes. Can that child, accurately, preform those moves taught in the forms? If they know what move to use, when and where, and how, then one to the next element. If the child can break boards properly, being that they substitute board for bone. Boards are to simulate bone breaking scenarios, so if they are showing they can break bones with proper applications then let's move one.

Do they know what kicks are practice vs. what kick looks impressive? For instance, can they kick in a door with a front kick? Do they know the history, of their art and their school? Do they know the tenants of the school and do they follow them? Do can they strike with most of their blocks? Is their body conditioned for physical impacts? Ig, is their shin tough, or their forearms?

Or if they are a black belt at your school, and your not a tactical school, do they meet the competitive requirements?

My rule of thumb is, with it being your school, would you be proud to say they are your black belt? We all have to answer this truthfully and mostly privately. But it has to be answered one way or another.