How long does it take to get a black belt?

[KarateFemale]

I agree it takes 4 to 6 years to get a black belt. I have been training for over 5 years and have just been asked to test for a black belt.

[Holland]

At my school (both the one I own/operate and my instructor's) the most dedicated and serious students can get to sho-dan in a little over three years. I would say that the average student takes about 4 to 4 and a half though.

It ranges from school to school, student to student.

[bushido_man96]

This is one thing that is unique about a style that most of us may not think of when it comes to MA, but think about wrestling. No ranks, no belts. They learn what they can, then go out onto the mat, and try to apply it. They get a good sense of what they are capable of out there, and always learn something. I guess the same could be said of boxing and Muay Thai. They don't have to worry about training for the next rank, they just keep trying to improve themselves, and thus, their training improves.

[iolair]

It obviously depends heavily on the student and the style, but by my reckoning, it takes around 1200 to 1500 hours of training, with no major breaks, to get a shodan.

So, you could do it in a year ... but it would need 30 hours a week and good injury management. (Anyone read "Angry White Pyjamas"?) More realistic for most people would be 6 hours a week, 50 weeks a year - which would mean 4 to 5 years.

[quotSkeetquot]

At my school it usually takes about 3 to 4 years in tang soo do. My original style it took me about 7 years from my red. So I do agree that the student plays a big role in achieving blackbelt status and if the student isnt ready when the time comes I think that student should wait weather he has the money or not.

with most schools money plays a very big role in MA. Most dojos dont really care if you learn or not theyjust want your money. but I agree with some of you guys......

Tang soo!!!

[Holland]

It obviously depends heavily on the student and the style, but by my reckoning, it takes around 1200 to 1500 hours of training, with no major breaks, to get a shodan.

I really don't think this is feasible. While I agree that one could learn the physical moves, I think that it is impossible to get mentally and spiritually indoctrined into a style in a year.

[Rick_72]

I'm still of the mind that the real learning doesn't begin until Shodan. I've had the opportunity to watch the black belts at my school during "black belt only" training, and they really get the opportunity to get into the weeds on bunkai and individual technique, that just doesn't exsist due to time constraints for the beginner to intermediate class's. Sure we all learn kata's, technique's, and basic's throughout our Kyu grades, but we don't really start picking those things apart until we've learned how truely unimportant the belt color we're wearing is to the actual learning process.

Of course its nice to achieve new grades, it keeps us motivated to continue, but they really just mean your ready to handle learning more.

That being said, I'm scheduled for my Shodan test the middle of next month. I've been training for three and a half years. I normally would have been closer to four years, but I'm being transferred with the military, and my Sensei thinks I'm ready and doesn't want me to leave to go to another school (of the same style) without my Shodan.

[iolair]

It obviously depends heavily on the student and the style, but by my reckoning, it takes around 1200 to 1500 hours of training, with no major breaks, to get a shodan.

I really don't think this is feasible. While I agree that one could learn the physical moves, I think that it is impossible to get mentally and spiritually indoctrined into a style in a year.

I'm sure it is possible - if you trained that intensively, you would be pretty much eating, drinking and sleeping the martial art for the whole year - it would be your life - something us "part-timers" never experience. That would give perhaps a stronger mental and spiritual experience than doing it more gradually.

I think the majority of that time, though, does need to be under proper instruction - it would be much harder, and probably not possible at all, to train those 30 hours a week if only (say) two or four were under a Sensei.

(Go read "Angry White Pyjamas" - Aikido beginner to black belt in 10 months - and then dare to tell me they didn't become proper black belts...).

[mongo]

From Joe Lewis's web site

"Earned his black belt in a remarkable seven months as a Marine in Okinawa. The average time span is three to four years."

OF course he was gifted as well as eat, slept and pooped MA during his time.

[Syphax]

It obviously depends heavily on the student and the style, but by my reckoning, it takes around 1200 to 1500 hours of training, with no major breaks, to get a shodan.

I really don't think this is feasible. While I agree that one could learn the physical moves, I think that it is impossible to get mentally and spiritually indoctrined into a style in a year.

Feasible? Yes. Common? Certainly not. I myself know a handful of students who earned their Cho Dan (Shodan) in one year. They were the students who set goals with their Masters, who assisted in classes, who cleaned their Dojang, who read extra literature, who trained at home, who attended seminars, and who gave their all to their training and to the martial arts. These students were internally driven with a passion for the martial arts. They devoted themselves to understanding not only the physical aspects of the martial arts, but the philosophy, the history, and the culture as well.

Now, as I said before, these students are quite rare. Do not assume that every student who appears to be "fired up" will be at the level of a Cho Dan in one year. And some people simply choose to take longer. I spent over six years training until I got my Cho Dan because I personally wanted to and I needed more time to develop myself. There is nothing wrong with taking more or less time as long as the heart, mind, and body end up in the same place.

Despite what the belt to the left says (I still don't get that), I am a Sho-Dan in Shudokan Karate Do, and it took me six years to achieve. I think that four to six years is a great time frame to make a Dan. However, I know of other Dojo's in my city that give dans after two or three years. Why would anyone do that? Makes me want to cry...

Every one claims that reaching black belt is only the beginning, and that it means you have grasped the basics. If this is the case, then why should it take so long to become a beginner?

It is absolutely true when someone says, "Earning a Black Belt is just the beginning." However, this is meant to convey the attitude that a student should have about their martial arts progress, not to literally say that until you earn a Black Belt you are not even a beginner.

From the moment you start training, you are a beginner. You have begun your training in the martial arts and have started along the path. On this path, there are many milestones and stumbling blocks. Earning a Black Belt is just one of the first few milestones of a journey that can take your entire life. Far too many students facilitate the idea that once you have earned a Black Belt, your training is complete and that you have mastered the martial arts. This is false.* You can always advance farther in your training, whether it be mentally or within a hierarchy of ranks.

And to say a Black Belt has "just grasped the basics" does mean they are a complete novice regarding the physical and mental skills. It means they have come a long way, but they still have much to learn. It is like graduating from High School. Yes, you have accomplished something great and it took a long time. However, you can still progress to college, graduate school, and beyond.

*For these purposes, I am assuming we are discussing the traditional hierarchy of ranks, which includes multiple degrees of a Black Belt and some equivalent to a "Master" and "Grandmaster". There are several systems in which a Black Belt is as high as one can advance, but to earn a Black Belt takes forty plus years. Exclude them from my illustration.