Black Belt in 2-3 yrs?

[ninjanurse]

I have an interesting question. How would you guys feel if.....there was a new student at your dojo, he had never trained before, but he trained 8 hours a day everyday(at the dojo or at home). He had the skill, dicipline, mentality, and maturity that a BB should have and got a black belt in only 1 year.

How would you feel? What would you think?

If this new student has 8 hours of formal training under a qualified and certified karate instructor daily (not self-training at home) for 1 year which totals 2,920 formal training hours, and through sequentially progressive kyu grading tests (from white to brown belt rank) ending with the shodan (BB) test, he was observed to possess the skill, discipline, mentality and maturity that a candidate should have at each belt ladder level, why question his qualifications as a competent blackbelt? He deserves to be one, given those aforementioned conditions having been met. I would salute him and welcome him to our blackbelt ranks.

I agree. Time in grade means little compared to skill and those that excell should not be held back becasue of an arbitrary time frame.

[KarateKid6781]

its about skill, not the belt, i know many brown belts that can take black belts easily

[orion82698]

I have an interesting question. How would you guys feel if.....there was a new student at your dojo, he had never trained before, but he trained 8 hours a day everyday(at the dojo or at home). He had the skill, dicipline, mentality, and maturity that a BB should have and got a black belt in only 1 year.

How would you feel? What would you think?

If this new student has 8 hours of formal training under a qualified and certified karate instructor daily (not self-training at home) for 1 year which totals 2,920 formal training hours, and through sequentially progressive kyu grading tests (from white to brown belt rank) ending with the shodan (BB) test, he was observed to possess the skill, discipline, mentality and maturity that a candidate should have at each belt ladder level, why question his qualifications as a competent blackbelt? He deserves to be one, given those aforementioned conditions having been met. I would salute him and welcome him to our blackbelt ranks.

Training in karate are best measured in actual formal training hours under a competent and certified karate instructor and not how many years he has been training, if in those many years he trained for less total number of hours than he trained in just one year.

Realistically, however, it is extremely rare if not impossible to encounter one karate student on earth with such fantastic physical stamina to train straight for 8 hours everyday for a whole year with non-retrogressive but rather progressive and sustained learning efficiency/improvement curve. It is truly incredible or should I say, unbelievably incredible (for emphasis)

It's not possible. Atleast not for someone above the age of 16 and has real responsibilities. Now, if the person didn't have a car, didn't have a payment to pay, and was home schooled, I could see studying maybe 6 hours a day. I do not see an adult doing this. What about food, bathroom, showers, REST!!!!!?

NOT POSSIBLE!

[Du Hast]

I have an interesting question. How would you guys feel if.....there was a new student at your dojo, he had never trained before, but he trained 8 hours a day everyday(at the dojo or at home). He had the skill, dicipline, mentality, and maturity that a BB should have and got a black belt in only 1 year.

How would you feel? What would you think?

I'd be pretty impressed. If I remember correctly, this is exactly what Joe Lewis (Full contact Karate champ from the '70's) did to earn his, in Japan.

Lets face it, the rank is pretty arbitrary. There are lots of schools around where you can get a blackbelt in 3 years showing up 2 or 3 days a week for 60 - 90 minutes per day. Lots of schools say you must show up X number of classes to go to the next rank.

Non Karate observations that may relate:

It's interesting now that there are Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools now advertising that you can get your blackbelt with them in 3 1/2 years. Typically it's been 10 years or more for that, and there are very few people with that rank in the USA. Heck, some of the BJJ folks I know can tell you the names of all the Blackbelts in their state off the top of their heads. It's not uncommon for someone with a Purple belt in BJJ to open their own school, because there are so few people out there with even that rank (which probably takes 5 years to get typically).

[theadric]

Didn't Bruce Lee have a similar schedule for training not including the classes he tought aswell?

[gojupralgo]

2-3 years? What kind of quality are these Black Belts?

[Shadow90]

What do you people mean with McDojo?

[Shadow90]

Oh wait I googled a little... Nevermind

[Qso]

My master says that on averege it takes 4+ years to get a BB. If the student trains hard, even out of dojo, at home etc,

the progress will be faster thus dedicated karateka might get it in 3+ years. But if you miss classes and don't

push yourself enough, it might take even 10 years. In worst case cenario you'll simply quit.

The requirements in our dojo are pretty high, our teacher won't let the student take the exam if sensei thinks he/she isn't

ready yet. Sensei usually announces one month in advance that the belt exam is coming. Another thing IMHO that helps me

to develop faster is co-teachers. That means more students get personal attention/assistance at any given time.

What about those kids training in temples/MA schools. They take in students as young as 5 years old. They train MA all day long,

would you call those kids also BB Jr when they get their BB ?

[jaymac]

Black belt is really only the beginning of true learning. One is not mastered there style once they have reached shodan. I am a nidan and still cannot believe how much I have yet to learn. No I don't agree that a school should advertise that you can earn a black belt in 2 years, but that is there way of getting people in.