How fast should my child go through the Judo Belts?

Posted on by

A really common question parents ask is how fast their child should progress through the Judo belts. It is a difficult subject to cover, as the answer varies person to person, club to club and belt to belt.

In Judo, we have a number of coloured belts which indicate grade. Each club/nation/organisation has a slightly different system, but on the whole the all follow a rough progression like follows (novice to experienced):

  • White Belt
  • Yellow Belt
  • Orange Belt
  • Green belt
  • Blue Belt
  • Brown belt
  • Black Belt

Typically each grade takes a longer period of time than the previous one. Your Yellow belt may take only a few months, whilst Orange should take longer. A Brown Belt in Judo might take as long as several years before earning your Judo Black Belt.

In the UK (Extracted from the British Judo Association Junior Grading syllabus 2009), the restriction for grading in children is:

Novice up to and including 6th Mon ages 5-7

Candidates may be promoted one Mon every 3 calendar months.

Novice up to and including 6th Mon — ages 8-17

Candidates may be promoted one Mon every calendar month.

This allowance for ages 8-17 is because it is known and accepted that at this age range young people have a greater capacity for learning and therefore more able to undertake examination at shorter interval.

From 7th Mon and above — all ages

Candidates are limited to one promotion every two calendar months.

The recommended minimum time period between attempts at any promotion for 7th Mon and above is four weeks, however, there is no limit to the number of attempts to gain promotion. A month is a calendar month e.g. a candidate can be examined any date in January and then any date in March. This means a candidate can enter a maximum of six gradings per year, following a learning pathway of continuous progress however it is anticipated they would go up 1 belt colour per year

These are of course guidance numbers of course, each club will carefully watch the students in the classes and try and progress them steadily through the grades. Each grade is awarded based on the ability and attitude of the child. Sometimes a child though technical not as good as others in a class might receive their next Judo belt as quickly (or faster) as a more technically skilled child, who works less hard.

As a parent, you should try and communicate with your club coach about how your child is progressing and help your child work towards their Judo Belts. Remember, the idea is to give your child targets to work towards along with rewards for their effort.