Karate belt advice/information

[Hecho]

Hi. My daughter was a member of a Karate club in Spain for a number of years. Just before we left she achieved her brown belt and was working towards her black belt. The club was a member of the regional and national federations and competed on both levels. The local club has told her she has to start from a white belt again, they do not recognise the level she has reached because she did so in a foreign school. If it's relevant, the style she was taught (Goshin) is recognised by the UK club. I'm no expert, but her skill and knowledge is genuinely at a high level, which the local club acknowledges.

My question is this the general/normal position to people joining from foreign clubs?

I realise that this is an old post so maybe you have found the answer already. You will find that instructors or associations generally make there own rules about people coming from other clubs. While many do insist on starting again at white belt, some do not. Hopefully you have found somewhere by now

Thanks JGRAN, really kind of you to comment. After a lot of digging around, that was the conclusion we finally reached. Unfortunately my daughter has decided to drop karate for a while, she's in her GCSE year and didn't feel like starting a new club in addition to all the pressures at the moment. There seem to be a few options in the area, so if she decides to start again I hope there are some choices.

I understand GSCE year, and it is important. If I knew someone in the Goshin style I would ask. 1st kyu is a high grade to achieve at her age, that's a lot of effort. I hope she carries on to first dan

Thanks, that's really kind. You're right, she did work very hard for it, three classes a week for around 6 years with a lovely teacher. I'm encouraging her to start again in the new academic year after exams and a lazy summer, fingers crossed!

Sorry, old post but I hope this is still useful. A lot of UK martial arts clubs are run by a single person, and you have you pay for each grading you do. Call me cynical, but they'd make far more money doing lots of kyu gradings, rather than 1 dan grading...
When she feels ready, try a different club - one that is supportive of teenage girls, plenty of them are not. Ideally run by several people rather than a one-man band. Hopefully they're willing to assess her and see where she fits in. Being bored is the quickest way to drop out!

Thanks for this. It's what we suspected, even though her old club is bigger than a one man band. Even some of the other trainers questioned her being in the beginner groups as she's clearly more skilled after so many years training. But rules is rules! She's just starting GCSEs then taking the summer off, but I'm encouraging her to try something in the Autumn. If she does find somewhere she's happy I'll update here.

Ah that's good that other trainers recognised her skill. May be worth contacing UK federations and asking. Even if you can't find a suitable club nearby right now, if she ends up going to university, there are usually karate student societies she could join. Fingers crossed - martial arts are such a good skill to have.