Degrees?

[47MartialMan]

I have seen many about 4-5 years.

 

Any other responses?

[foreveryoung001]

I took me 4 years. Three years of which I was also fanatical about training. I guess that was about the norm in my style, but even if I wanted to test earlier, I couldn't have. They don't allow you to test for 1st dan until you are at least 18. Before 18 you get a junior black belt, but then you have to re-test when you turn 18 or go back down to 1st gup. I didn't want to test twice (even though the junior black belt test is supposed to be quite a bit easier), so I knew all along hte soonest I would test, and that is how I trained. I have heard of some others in my style testing in as little as 2 and a half years, but they are very rare, and I know some have taken 10 years or more, but that may say more about their determination, or lack there of, than our testing procedures.

[47MartialMan]

Same, here. One school didn't allow black belters under 18, so it took me 7 years in that one particular.

[foreveryoung001]

Same, here. One school didn't allow black belters under 18, so it took me 7 years in that one particular.

 

This was back in '88 for me. At the time, I was pretty miffed about the rule. I knew there was nothing I could do about it, so I just trained for the day I turned 18 (it was actually about 6 months after, so I guess I didn't train correctly ), but I didn't like it. I went to tournaments and saw the 16 and 17 year old black belts... 10 year old black belts were a little more rare than they are today, and I didn't see any of them, if I did, I may have been even more upset.

 

Now, though, I can see the reasoning behind it. I look back at my attitude about it and how I felt, and there is no way I deserved my 1st Dan. Until I got it, and realized it didn't change a thing about me, I was only interested in reaching that rank. That may have been part of the reasoning behind my lack of training in the years immediately following that. Now a little older, and hopefully a little wiser, I look back on all of that as a learning experience.

[Vito]

you can always sleep with the boss....

[RaidenTB]

It takes minimum 6 years of training in our school. You can shorten this time by attending seminars tough. Then it would take you 4 - 5 years.

 

There are no black belts under 18 at our place either.

 

I'm testing in june 2006...

[foreveryoung001]

you can always sleep with the boss....

 

No, I want to take time off the length of my training, not add to it.......

[RavenX]

hmm...in my school there is a set time that it generally takes everyone to go through the ranks. For the first few ranks (white - yellow, etc.) it takes about 2 months per rank, then 3 months per rank...then once you hit black belt (after an estimated 3 - 4 years) then it takes anywhere between 1 and 5 years per rank.

[searcher]

As was already stated it varies from school to school. It took me 4 years to achieve shodan in the style I am currently praciticing, am currently a fifth dan in that style. In I-ryu it took me only 1 1/2 years, but I was already a black belt. I have been in schools that have tests only once every six months, some every year. It has a lot to do with the requirements of the instructor and how much blood, sweat, and tears you put in. I would like to add to this, "How brutal was everyone's shodan test?"

[foreveryoung001]

I didn't think I was going to live through it. It was two days. Day one was infront of the black belt review board and they drove us until a bunch of us (not me thank God) were actually getting sick Literally.

 

We ran, did our forms over and over again, ran some more, sparred, one on one, two on one, three on one, ran some more, advanced forms, ran some more, self defense sparring, ran some more (this is where they started getting sick). Then we ran through all of our techniques. If you made it through day one, day two was a snap.

 

That was family day, where friends, relatives, etc, could come and watch, take pictures... we did some breaking, did our advanced forms again, a little sparring. Day two was much more relaxed. Day one was everyone doing their forms together, no break, more running.... day two, we did them individually, so we could rest before we had to go up, there was no running, and by then you really felt like you had made it. I'd say 1/3 of the 35 people going for 1st Dan didn't make it all the way through day one. It may not have been that many, but I remember that a lot of them didn't come back for day two.

 

I honestly don't even consider the second day a part of the test. It was more for show.