Why do teachers skip belts?

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

I currently work (part-time) as an instructor with a karate dojo. I have been with them in one way or another for over five years (including taking classes).

Recently, a highly decorated instructor has started teaching with us and I have noticed that he seems to skip belts with some students. I was always told that students should have a waiting period between each belt.

Is this something to be concerned about or is this a normal practice? Should I bring the concern to the owner or my bosses?

Update for future reader's: After considering the marked correct answer I spoke to owner- The response was mostly positive & is planning to have me assist him and learn how to grade students from other schools or previous experience as well as what would qualify a student to "skip" a level. He also said that students should not be charged to "skip" and he will look into it immediately and make sure all students are given the fee if they were charged. :)

manpreet 2 years ago

Yes, this is normal although not common.

Grading are set to determine if the examinee has a certain skill set appropriate for said grade. If they have, they should pass. If not, they should fail¹.

Most, if not all, syllabus have a recommended time between gradings. That time is a general on average most students will be able to learn the skills for the next grade within said time. The reason is simple: everyone is different and grows at different rates.

Consider the following: Alice is a 5th dan Aikikai Aikido. She starts Iwama Ryu Aikido as a kyu-less grade. Making Alice wait six months between gradings is pointless, you might as well grade her to 2nd kyu (say) as the skills from Aikikai and Iwama are transferable.

Consider the following: Bob is a 2nd kyu but is lazy and does not train hard yet demands to be graded to 1st kyu after his allocated time. He does not have the skills, he should not grade.

Note that the same reasoning applies to dan grades as well although I have rarely seen someone jump dan grades. The only times I have seen it was with "auto-promotions" within an organisation for "service rendered".

On a side note: I would be very uneasy about any instructor charging for each grade and not only for the final one². This would smell like a make-money-fast scam: promote students fast so you get as much money from them in as quick a time. This would be even more worrying if the instructor got a cut of the fees...