There have been a few questions regarding minimum ages for belt
ranks, weapons training, and such.
I don't like to impose set in stone minimum ages for anything but
here are the follwoing:
must be 7 years of age or older to train in kenpo karate.
must be either a brown belt or 16 years of age to train with sharp
weapons (swords, sharp kamas, and shuriken).
must be a yellow belt to train with kobudo weapons (sai, cane,
tonfa, bo staff, escrima, kama, and nunchaku).
must be 16 years old to be a black belt.

Now again the above terms are not set in stone. As far as minimum
age to train it varies depending on the child. If a child has the
ability to follow along in class and understand simple instructions
I will train them. We currently have a 5 year old white belt as
proof of this. I feel the great benefit of martial arts training
should be available at any age if the student wants to train. This
is done on a case by case basis.

Because of liability issues you must be a brown belt to train with
live blades. Again this can be waived by the head instructor(s)
under certain circumstances. This will depend on maturity level and
ability level. There are some adults that I would not train with
live blades because they are not mature enough. This is why I have
put the brown belt level in there. If you start young enough you
may obtain your brown belt prior to being 16 years old. Also if a
student shows great ability and sincere devotion to the art and the
truely want to train in swordsmanship I will train them.

To train with the kobudo weapons you need to know the basic empty
hand movements and stances. A weapon is simply an extention of your
body or more specifically your hand. If you do not know the basic
stances and movements and have trouble with simple things how do you
expect to use a dangerous weapon? Yes these weapons are dangerous
that is the very nature of weapons. These were designed not as wall
hangings but as weapons to kill with. They are just as effective
today as they were 500 years ago. With proper supervision kobudo
can be learned in a safe environment with very little risk to the
user. Because kobudo is taught the same way as kenpo the advanced
techniques come only after you have learned the basic ones. Just
because there are now age limits does not mean that anyone at any
age can train in kobudo. Instructors reserve the right to refuse
training to any student(s) for safety reasons due to a lack of
maturity or ability.

The minimum age of black belt (shodan) is again not set in stone.
I'm just trying to avoid 9 year old black belts from running
around. The reason behind this is that 9 year olds lack the
maturity level and understanding to be considered black belts. It
wasn't until I was a black belt for several years did I truely
understand what being a black belt was all about. At that level
students need to take their training to a higher level. Young
karateka lack the ability to train at that level. again this is not
set in stone. If someone shoes real ability and maturity I will
promote them to black belt prior to age 16. I remember seeing an
article in a martial arts magazine about a 10 year old 2nd degree
black belt that was the Arkansas state Taekwondo champion four years
in a row. Now is that child really that good or have the levels by
which black belts are judged fallen to a lower level? As I have
mentioned before someone can be a great martial artist and be good
at self defense without ever becoming a black belt.

As far as minimum go that's just life. Minimum driving age in SD is
14 and even then there are more restrictions that a regular licensed
driver. Minimum drinking age is 21. Minimum voting age is 18. As
far as the minimum ages for higher ranks that will take care of
itself. There are minimum time periods between the Dan ranks. As
mention on a previous post, you need to be a black belt for a
minimum of 31 years before you can become an 8th Dan and that is if
you test and pass every time at every minimum time period.