BlackBelt of the Week & the Promise Badge

The Promise badge

The Promise badge is awarded to a student when they have learned and recited their Promise to Sensei Mike and their classmates. It should be sewn on under the child’s name, on the front of the suit.

Click here to download the Little Dragons Promise

Click here to download the Karate Kids Promise

Black Belt of the Week
Black Belt of the Week is awarded to a child for soing something commendable – be that a technical skill or a kindness shown to another student.

My child is due to be Black Belt of the week. What do they have to do?
As soon as he or she steps on to the mats at the beginning of the lesson, they need to let one of the Leadership Team or helpers know that they are Black Belt of the week for that lesson. Your child will then be given the Black Belt to wear (they will need to wear their usual belt as well).At the end of the lesson, he or she gives the Black Belt back, and receive their Black Star badge to go on to their suit.

My child was supposed to be Black Belt of the Week, but couldn’t attend that week. What happens now?
Not to worry – this does happen from time to time, and they’ll still get their go! Just explain to one of the leaders at the next lesson you come to that your child was supposed to be Black Belt of the Week, but missed their class that week, and we’ll arrange to have two Black Belts of the Week for that lesson.

What do I do with the Black Star badge?
The Black stars are ‘iron-on’, and should go on to the white panel on the right hand sleeve of their top.
It’s worth noting that they have been known to fall off after several washes, so we do recommend that once they have softened up a little – after one or two washes maybe – that you put a stitch through the middle of it.

My child has moved up from Little Dragons to Karate Kids, and hardly ever seems to be Black Belt of the Week now. Why is that?
Although ‘Black Belt of the Week’ is awarded for a reason each time, Sensei does try to make sure that no-one gets left out. This means that in Karate Kids, which has around 20 students per class, a child may not be chosen as frequently as they were in Little Dragons.

Now that my child has moved up from Little Dragons to Karate Kids and I’m going to buy them a new suit. Should I transfer all their stars?
With an eye on the answer above, our suggestion would be to transfer around half of their star badges across, so that they proportionally have the right amount compared to their new classmates. (Sensei keeps an eye on how many stars each child has when making sure no-one gets left out, so it’s best that they don’t look like they’ve relatively got too many stars to be due another one soon!)