When someone says they started training as a child (say at age 5, 6 or 7) should those years be counted as experience?
I see this is inflated resumes all the time, some 33 year old will claim to have 25 years experience in the martial arts. Such claims are not indicative of mastery, authority, or legitimacy in the art. While children can excel in coordination and performance, true martial proficiency requires adult years of training, maturity, and life experience.
Mastery and teaching authority are not achieved through adolescent accomplishments but through sustained adult practice, responsibility, and deeper understanding of application.
As someone in my sixties, I don't count my training which started at 13 as part of my years of experience. That time begins at adulthood.
In martial arts, a distinction is made between adolescent training and adult training. While the years spent in adolescence are respected as foundational and valuable for developing skill, discipline, and familiarity with the art, they are not considered the standard measure for advancement into higher ranks, instructor credentials, or mastery.
Adoloscent Years Equals Foundation, It is NOT a benchmark
Childhood and adolescent training does count in terms of when they first stepped onto the mat. However, those years don’t carry the same weight as adult years, because they often lack the maturity, retention, and depth expected at higher levels.
Example: A child with 5 years of karate at age 10 does not have the same depth of experience as an adult who trained 5 consistent years from 20 to 25.
The recognized benchmark for such advancement begins with adult years of training. This is because adult training reflects maturity, responsibility, deeper understanding of application, and the ability to teach and lead others. For this reason, only years of training as an adult are formally counted toward time-in-grade requirements and qualifications for higher levels of rank and authority.
If the 27-year-old presents “20+ years training as if all of it were equal, that is resume padding. It suggests mastery or authority that hasn’t truly had time to develop. Most legitimate organizations consider adult years the standard for rank, teaching authority, and mastery. Not what someone accomplished as a child.
