time question

[Semaj]

To black belts:

How long did it take you to become a black belt in (specify style please)?

Just wondering.

Thanks

[learning kempo-karate]

Hello, There is NO rules on time. I have seen school advertise (earn a black belt in one year).

One school we train in...took us two years to earn a black belt. In our Kempo system..it takes about 5-6 years before you can test for a black belt (student black belt-worn for a year or more)..than test again for 1st degree.

Most school can be from 3-5 years. Joe Lewis got his black belt in 7 months in Okinawa (he kept beating all the black belts in class).

Judo a fast learner can be 2 years or less. Masihiko Kimura started at age 14 in Judo..by the time he was 20 year old, he was a 5th Degree Black Belt. (before world war 2) He is known as the JUDO GOD. Consider unabeatable when he was alive. (train for 9 hours everyday, did 900 push-up everyday too).

Your school may have it's own requirements to achieve a Black belt. Today wearing a Black belt does not have the same meaning as it did in the Seventies and eighties.

On line you can buy a black belt for under 5 dollars....takes less than a week to get one( priorty mail).

It is not the color or title or rank....that is important....what is? IS what you know and can do with it.

Most people do not train in a adrenline stage or fear factor (real life attacks)....real fighting can be fast..furious..and anything goes..Aloha

[french fri25]

nicely put. it all depends on the person. i have not earned my black belt yet but i train 6 days a week and my school is new so classes are very small. each person gets a lot of attention. there are only about 6 people in each class. lol. i am the 4th highest rank in my school and i am only a 7th kup. so, it will probably not take me so long to earn my BB because of all the individual attention. im thinkin 2 1/2 years for me to get my black belt sounds about right.

[lordtariel]

Our school starts out at about 3 years to shodan. You can get your provisional within 2 years if you train hard, but it takes about a year from provisional to shodan. It really depends on how hard you train. Somebody who puts in a couple hours a day every day of the week is going to advance faster than someone who goes twice a week.

[bushido_man96]

All good points. It took me around 2 years to get my black belt in TKD.

[ramymensa]

In our Shotokan dojo it takes 6-10 years to get to BB.

[Rateh]

It took me 7 years, but I trained in various styles due to moving cities as a teenager.

[James Bullock]

It should depend on the individuals abilities, dedication, and of course attitude.

I started GoJu Ryu when I was 12 and had the honor of testing for my black belt at 17. I tested with three others and each of us where tested according to our abilities. I was the youngest and the most athletic yet I was pushed to the brink of exhaustion and back again. The others where mid to late forties and they where pushed to the maximum of their own capabilities. To me that was the greatness of my Sensei..he could do that to everyone. Regardless of age and physical ability he could push us to our very limit and past it. Being promoted to black belt by him was on of the highest honors ever. When I tested for my Sandan in 2002 it was by myself and it took 4 hours. After I had gone through everything in the GoJu system (which only took 2 and a half hours) he seen that I wasn't pushed to my limit. He then extended the test to four hours so that I really earned my 3rd dan. Needless to say I thought I was going to die after it was over. I loved every second of it, I feel like I truly earned my rank.

So I guess my point is that earning a black belt should push you to your OWN PERSONAL limit. So that you truly feel like you worked your hardest for it in every way. So once you tie it around your waist...you feel like that is where you belong...in the black belt.

Just my opinion..

[bushido_man96]

So I guess my point is that earning a black belt should push you to your OWN PERSONAL limit. So that you truly feel like you worked your hardest for it in every way. So once you tie it around your waist...you feel like that is where you belong...in the black belt.

Very well put. This how I feel about people in the martial arts as well. Not everyone has the same level of abilities, and it should not be expected that everyone can do the same things. However, by pushing them to the edge of what they can do, and then going over, everyone wins in the deal.

[learning kempo-karate]

Hello, The ultimate goal should NOT be a Black Belt, But to achieve the level where your response is AUTOMATIC!

For many of us? ...this is a life time of training to learn to be automatic. Unless you train for hours everyday, than sooner you learn this.

Lets say someone throws a basket ball to you, and you just turn around? ...most times your hands will go up to catch the ball. How long did that take you? (learn fast because the body.face will get hurt). Most of us learn to catch from when we were babies old enought to play ball,RIGHT!.

Black Belt only means (today) you met the minumum requirements of your school. (nothing to do with real fighting).

There are many street fighters with NO martial art training that can beat up many black belts today. Real fighting teaches what really works, and one learns faster here too. (playing catch).

Mind set (killer instincts) .....Research and study this....most of us have never been in a heart pounding...facing a huge guy/guys ready to pound you, (yourself alone too) in a dark parking lot/someplace.

How will a Black Belt help you here? .....train for this? Will you be able to block and counter there every strike? Can your body go the distance without tiring? Can you take the punishment of the punches and kicks to you and your body. (adrenline/fear factor)....changes your thinking

How long to achieve a Black Belt....most of us quickly....How long will it take for AUTOMATIC reflexes...a life time.................Aloha

PS: Change your goals...than the belt will fit.