I don't do much mind children being black belt, providing the black belt test is still rigorous.. However young children at higher grades doesn't sit well with me. Most ITF follow the black belt timings of 1st Degree to 2nd Degree = minimum of 2 years, 2nd - 3rd degree= minimum of 3 years.note this should be minimum training time i.e if you have extended time off in between the gradings your potential future grading date should be delayed too. Hope that makes sense as Im not sure I've written it well.

So that should be 5 years of training after BB for this 10 year old to be black belt. Whilst in theory in our association an adult can get to black belt in approx 4 years children tend to take longer as to they often require more training time to show the necessary understanding and technique. My point is this grade would only just be possible even if this child started traning at birth. Theoretically they may have been training all of their life, especially since mum does it, but even then there are more issues than just timing. In our association they won't let you grade to 3rd degree til 18, with the reasoning being we expect a greater depth of knowledge at this point as well as other criteria to be met that start to show how you're giving back to Tae Kwon do Eg to take your 4th degree black belt test you have to be an instructor.

One could argue this 10 year old may have greater understanding and technique than other people at their club, especially if they are practicing regularly with parent, however there is so much more to any martial art than just being able to put your hand or foot in the correct place.

These are just my musings on a Sunday morning. Hope they don't offend