The guy got his yellow belt at judo today. While he doesn’t yet have a tournament win, he is “in the game” so to speak and does not get smoked. He has a fairly broad technique repertoire in addition to now being able to read opponents to a degree. (Most of his successful throws are counters. I’m not sure I’ve seen him just get a grip, set something up, then throw at a tournament.)
This is just way way more than I expected in nine months. Probably because he’s related to us, he doesn’t find any other physical activity compelling so far. I thought, well, maybe he’ll tolerate it like he did with swimming for a while.
The belt will have to last him for a while. I think the green belts are all at least 14, and the orange belts look like they’re 12 or so. (And they are about as skilled as adult brown belts, which makes sense because many of them have been practicing for six years.) If you’re under nine, though, you can get a new white belt with a different color of stripe every few months!
I’m ambivalent about belts for motivation. On one hand, why not? It does get kids — and many adults — to keep doing difficult workouts.
On the other, does everything really have to be ranked?In Japan, Korea, and probably a lot of other countries, there are no colored belts. There’s just black belts and white belts. So, judo is just a thing you do, like playing piano. But there’s motivation compensation in the form of it being a known regular thing in those cultures, like piano or football, with famous champions and all of that stuff. And, like, judo college where you spar three hours a day.