Judoka were promoted to the rank of Kano1 through Kano8 ???

http://www.newsguardian.co.uk/sport/local/judo-members-earn-their-grades-1-6342698

What are the ranks of Kano1-Kano8 ?

I have never heard of this. Did I miss something, do I need to start over judo ?

It could , I don't know, that these grades are for tiny kids, sort of pre mon ranks? It again appears to be a BJA club? I would speculate its just an 'in dojo' way of giving the tiny ones some sort of gong for their work?

I guess unless you are prepared to regress many decades you cannot qualify for such a gong.  

Mike

The BJA had something called the Kano Club for 5-8 year olds, though what a 5 year old is doing on the tatami baffles me?

The BJA discontinued the Kano Club nationally in 2012 and the reasons they gave included:

- The techniques did not dovetail in with the mon syllabus;
- The mon syllabus which previously was for over 8s was restructured in 2008 accomodating under 8s;
- There was apparently only a small uptake in the Kano scheme and resoursces were running out and a reprint of supporting documents was required;
- The complete under 8s are supported in the BJA was to be reviewed including membership, competitions and gradings. A working party was to be formed to address the situation.

Some clubs have independently persisted with the scheme. Good for them.

That's the club that I train at and my son has just started the Kano club syllabus  The club takes kids from 6 years old and the Kano club is what they learn until they reach 8 and can go onto do the mon syllabus.

The syllabus can be found here for those interested:

http://www.bhjudo.webspace.virginmedia.com/Grading/Kano%20Awards.pdf

Thanks everyone for the explanations !

Just me personally, I don't understand why smart people, presumably with professional training in education, allow children to be treated as if they were nothing more than tiny adults. Why they spend so much effort on something that good science says should be avoided in the first place. Yes, some parents especially want to push their kids "ahead" of the "competition" in reading, math, music ... judo ... you name it.

I guess that is going to continue to happen as long as people do not understand ... or do not want to understand ... that children simply need to grow first ... in a real physical sense ... in brain and body ... before something like judo is physically possible much less advisable. Too-early pressure to read, too-early pressure to throw the perfect uchimata are either really, really bad for growing humans at worst, a total waste of time at best.

I guess also that it is going to continue to happen as long as there is a market to be milked and parents (or governments) with complex and warped motivations.

Promotion fees, anyone?

BillC wrote:Just me personally, I don't understand why smart people, presumably with professional training in education, allow children to be treated as if they were nothing more than tiny adults.  Why they spend so much effort on something that good science says should be avoided in the first place.  Yes, some parents especially want to push their kids "ahead" of the "competition" in reading, math, music ... judo ... you name it.

I guess that is going to continue to happen as long as people do not understand ... or do not want to understand ... that children simply need to grow first ... in a real physical sense ... in brain and body ... before something like judo is physically possible much less advisable.  Too-early pressure to read, too-early pressure to throw the perfect uchimata are either really, really bad for growing humans at worst, a total waste of time at best.

I guess also that it is going to continue to happen as long as there is a market to be milked and parents (or governments) with complex and warped motivations.

Promotion fees, anyone?

Why do I let my son go to judo at 6 years old? Because he enjoys it, if you look at the syllabus that he's learning its all basic stuff that will aid him in the future if he chooses to continue into the Mon grading syllabus. As for promotion fee's, there isn't any at my club for any of the gradings for the Kano award syllabus.

without kids classes most clubs in the UK would not survive.
Take our club for example. We have a strong membership.
Approx 30 seniors and approx. 80 juniors from 5 to 15.
The kids classes (especially the 5 -9 yr olds) bring in the most money.
Hire fees for our leisure centre are astronomical and every penny brought in goes to the running of the club. I do not charge for any grading fees. I have also put hundreds of pounds from my own pocket into training 5 extra coaches over the last few months.
Our club constitution states that as head coach I am allowed to take expenses. Ha, what a laugh.
I actually plowed some of my own money into the club when we have been quiet in the past.

I will say though that the 5 yr olds at our classes spend most of the time learning how to roll and other gymnastic games. Stuff that I was taught at school.
Learning a forward roll is not in any of the PE classes in the primary or secondary schools in our area.
I made a thread about the state of children not having any basic gymnastic ability on the other forum some years ago.

GB-UK wrote:
Why do I let my son go to judo at 6 years old?  Because he enjoys it, if you look at the syllabus that he's learning its all basic stuff that will aid him in the future if he chooses to continue into the Mon grading syllabus.  As for promotion fee's, there isn't any at my club for any of the gradings for the Kano award syllabus.

That's great. Enjoyment is a good reason, maybe the best one that I can think of. If he's sitting quietly for a few minutes, and generally learning to participate smoothly in a group activity that's good too. Could add learning a few Japanese words like "sensei" ... maybe even learn to write their name in katakana like our local kids did this weekend ... to learn that the world is bigger than their neighborhood; different than that warped view that beams in over the idiot box ... and they will be in the dojo instead of sitting in front of the boob tube ... that alone justifies the time spent.

As for physically doing judo ... sorry I have to say that age 6 there is nothing he is going to learn that he could not learn better at 10 or 11 or 12 in the body of a pre-teen. Little kids are proportioned like candy apples ... big head, weak body. Lots written about this, but "grab the head and fall down" judo is no accident. And even kids that can produce something that looks like uchimata will have to modify and re-learn over time as their body changes and the bodies of their opponents do as well.

Personally, my opinion is that a steady diet of competition at an early age is not good either. The champions at age 6 are rarely the champions at 16. Along the way emotional damage can be done which will last a lifetime. I do not know the emphasis of your club, but certainly this is a common phenomenon.

Sure, people disagree with my position profoundly ... and not just the extremes of the DPRK or China, etc. Some otherwise nice folks in my dojo just start their kids in competitive judo early for a variety of reasons ... but as mentioned I rarely, rarely see those same kids around now that they are 30 years old.

BillC wrote:

GB-UK wrote:
Why do I let my son go to judo at 6 years old?  Because he enjoys it, if you look at the syllabus that he's learning its all basic stuff that will aid him in the future if he chooses to continue into the Mon grading syllabus.  As for promotion fee's, there isn't any at my club for any of the gradings for the Kano award syllabus.

That's great.  Enjoyment is a good reason, maybe the best one that I can think of.  If he's sitting quietly for a few minutes, and generally learning to participate smoothly in a group activity that's good too.  Could add learning a few Japanese words like "sensei" ... maybe even learn to write their name in katakana like our local kids did this weekend ... to learn that the world is bigger than their neighborhood; different than that warped view that beams in over the idiot box ... and they will be in the dojo instead of sitting in front of the boob tube ... that alone justifies the time spent.

As for physically doing judo ... sorry I have to say that age 6 there is nothing he is going to learn that he could not learn better at 10 or 11 or 12 in the body of a pre-teen.  Little kids are proportioned like candy apples ... big head, weak body.  Lots written about this, but "grab the head and fall down" judo is no accident.  And even kids that can produce something that looks like uchimata will have to modify and re-learn over time as their body changes and the bodies of their opponents do as well.

Personally, my opinion is that a steady diet of competition at an early age is not good either.  The champions at age 6 are rarely the champions at 16.  Along the way emotional damage can be done which will last a lifetime.  I do not know the emphasis of your club, but certainly this is a common phenomenon.

Sure, people disagree with my position profoundly ... and not just the extremes of the DPRK or China, etc.  Some otherwise nice folks in my dojo just start their kids in competitive judo early for a variety of reasons ... but as mentioned I rarely, rarely see those same kids around now that they are 30 years old.

From what you have written in your reply I think you believe that the younger kids are doing full on judo similar to what teens and adults would be doing in a class which is not the case. In the case of my son he has been taught a few basic judo techniques (o-goshi and kesa-gatame so far) but for the most part has been learning to do forwards and backwards rolls, break falls, even how to tie his belt and bow correctly! Its mainly a fun activity that builds confidence, improves co-ordination and balance, instils discipline and fair play by teaching some basic judo. If you had looked through the Kano club syllabus there isn't an uchimata in sight!

GB-UK wrote:

From what you have written in your reply I think you believe that the younger kids are doing full on judo similar to what teens and adults would be doing in a class which is not the case. In the case of my son he has been taught a few basic judo techniques (o-goshi and kesa-gatame so far) but for the most part has been learning to do forwards and backwards rolls, break falls, even how to tie his belt and bow correctly! Its mainly a fun activity that builds confidence, improves co-ordination and balance, instils discipline and fair play by teaching some basic judo.  If you had looked through the Kano club syllabus there isn't an uchimata in sight!

No ... I did look at it but chose a bad example for throws ... I was more reflecting on what I have seen parents in my club insist that their kids learn too early ... because Dad saw it in the Olympics. OK from the syllabus, taiotoshi then. Or the even more horrible koshiguruma. Neither will be done correctly ... or safely ... by a six year old.

Don't get me wrong GB, I am not proposing to throw the little ones out of the dojo. To the contrary, I think it's a great place for them to be. Uniforms, adult supervision, activities appropriate to their age as have been described elsewhere in this thread.

What's a 'mon syllabus'?

"Mon" is the label attached to the junior equivalent of "kyu" grades by the BJA. There are an awful lot of them (18) and in general you can only advance up the junior grading system one mon at a time.

As the father of a 7 month old, I can't wait to take my son to his first Judo class. I'm still trying to figure out at what age I should take him though, but at least it is not something that has to be decided for quite some time.

I've seen a couple of the kiddies sessions at my club and it really looks like fun. They are always having a blast and you just see smiles everywhere.
Like someone said previously, they only learn a couple of basic techniques, which is practiced in the form of games. Most of the class is based around breakfalls, correct bowing procedures etc.

I think it is good for kids to get started with 'physical' sports early. Obviously not on the same level as teens or adults! My brother and I started wrestling when I was 7 and he was 4. Our coach at the time also started when he was 4 years old.

Jonesy, did you just say there were 18 "Mons" that must be attained 1 at a time...........??


When I was in the UK and doing Judo there were only 3 "Mon" grades, and any Junior who was fortunate enough to reach 3rd Mon was going to be stuck there until 16 years of age and could
then "colour swap" for a "Senior" Yellow Belt.

Having attained 3rd Mon at age 12, I didn't want to wait 4 years until my next grading (chasing rank at an early age) I deserted and moved to the "Dark Side", attaining Karate Shodan at 15 years of age, with lots of "Coloured" belts between 12 years and 15 years......( I eventually "saw the light again" and returned to the "good guys" after about 11 years)

I often wonder if the "long ladder" to the top is to encourage the juniors to strive for achievement, or just a "Milch cow" to extract money from Parents eager to keep their children happy.

Yup...

red belt = 1st mon to 3rd mon
yellow belt = 4th mon to 6th mon
orange belt = 7th mon to 9th mon
green belt = 10th mon to 12th mon
blue belt = 13th mon to 15th mon
brown belt = 1th mon to 18th mon

If you see any pics of BJA juniors they will generally be wearing a coloured belt with stripes on, to signify their mon grade, green belt with 2 stripes would be an 11th mon and so on

£10 per mon grade payable by the club to the BJA.....