Black Belt achievements

[bushido_man96]

Frankly, a black belt isn't what it used to be anywhere, anymore. And it's comparing apples and oranges - no one style is better than any other, no matter how long it takes to get a black belt.

Thats very true. TKD just has gotten a shaky name becuase of shaky people using the name.

I can't understand this, either. Why they have gravitated to TKD, I don't know. I will admit, that in my original organization, I got my black belt in right around 2 years. However, I was never guaranteed that I would get it in that amount of time. I will also say that I have had very good instructors throughout my period with TKD, and in this I have been fortunate.

Two years or 4, I don't know which to argue. I think some of it would depend on the curriculum. None of my TKD schools did bunkai, and honestly, I had never heard of it until I came onto this site. If I started my own school, I have learned a lot of things that I would change in order to make my students better. Maybe someday I will get to put it into practice.

I have a thought. My dad was in TKD many years ago, but never quite made it to black belt. He was a good fighter, though, and I think I will ask him how many years he was doing it, so I can maybe find out what the time requirements were like then.

[Brandon Fisher]

I think maybe because the koreans did such a good job marketing the name.

[isshinryu5toforever]

Tae Kwon Do is possibly the most recognizable martial art in the world. ITF swept the world in the 80s, and then the WTF took it up in the 90s and present. The fact that it's an olympic sport helps too. Also, people that do Shotokan will sometimes market it as Chung Do Kwan (the Korean butchering of Shotokan) Tae Kwon Do. Which isn't completely a lie. So yes, many so-called TKD schools are belt factories. However, with hard training, in other words if it's all you do, I don't see why someone couldn't meet the physical requirements for their black belt in a couple of years. And if they have prior experience, they will probably be able to pick up bunkai and other knowledge fairly quickly. Remember becoming a black belt only means you have a good grasp of the basics. The real learning happens after.

[RichardHangHong]

I can only speak from a karate point of view. I don't think it's just Karate or TKD, but you'll find lots of martial arts schools out there which can take 4, 5, 6 years or more to get to black belt, whilst others you can get a black belt in a year. Look around and you'll see it happens everywhere.

Any less that 4 years (on average) and I'd be somewhat wary. If on the odd occassion an exceptional student grades to black belt in a shorter time then that's okay, provided it doesn't happen too regularly.

[Jiffy]

I must admit that I've raised concerns because I feel that some of our students are coming through the grades a little fast and looking to grade after about 4 years training.

[New Beginner]

Of course progress should not be too quick, but it's not just time taken that's important, it's what the student is actually doing in that time. For example, it didn't take long for the 'Mcdojos' in my area to cotton on to the fact that people often measure authenticity of the school or style by it taking a minimum of four years to achieve a black belt, and they turned this to their advantage because they simply started dragging out their inadequate processes, and claiming vast sums of money up front from their students that were on the 'black belt programme' and instead of teaching them crap for two years, taught it for four and doubled their money!

Alot of it depends on the student and the club or school. I know people that were very good and acheived shodan in five years straight, for me it was almost 17 years between my 10th kyu grading and shodan, although there were a few gaps in my training in the meantime.

[Jiffy]

I know how you feel. I had no gaps and it took me about 12.

[Brandon Fisher]

Took me 10 years.

[parkerlineage]

Took me 7 to get my junior, and 11 to get my full fledged.

[alsey]

i got my shotokan black belt after four years if i remember right, which was just going to the gradings at standard times and not failing any of them. in kendo i got it in less than three years, but the kendo kyu system is a bit random. the first grade i was ever given was ikkyu.