Duration of Training

[Johnlogic121]

In Japanese Karate styles, you can expert that earning the skills necessary to become a Black Belt in a style will take a number of years that can anywhere from five to ten years. In certain styles, under more intensive training regimens, or under more relaxed requirements, you can gain a Black Belt in one to three years. Magazines used to advertise courses where you would work out ten hours a day for two to three weeks and gain a Black Belt at the end of such an accelerated course under individual instruction. Considering that many Chinese styles are intended for lifetime participation, I wonder how long it takes to get "good" at Kung Fu. I don't know the equivalant term for "Black Belt" in various Chinese styles. But generally, I think people can understand my question: how long do you have to train in a Chinese martial art to get as good, comparatively, as someone who has been doing Karate for five years? I have heard the statistic which says that only 25% of Americans are ever involved in a violent encounter, and most of those encounters involve guns or knives (and compliance to those that wield them); so their might not be any real data to go on for answers to this question. How would you guess? Does Kung Fu compare favorably with Karate within the first three years, as well as after thirty years?

[yingampyang]

That is a good question. I have had this same convosation on black belt magazine many times. I think that to become a true martial artist you have to let the art become part of you. And to do this you need years of training. I think that no one should get a black belt untill they have done at least 8 years. I have done kung-fu for over 15 years and yes by now i do think im good. And very happy with my black belt.

[NightOwl]

Would you take tennis lessons from someone if you only got reasonable at tennis in 10 years? I think not. Likewise if you can't learn to use your techniques within a decade then why bother. Of course MASTERY is different however....

[yingampyang]

I dont agree with that statement, i think if you are not good at your tachniques then you should try different approaches or learn from different people untill you get it right. You are taking the easy way out.

[bushido_man96]

Each person is going to be different, and the type of training is going to have a lot to do with it. In the end, I don't think proficiency in Kung Fu would take much longer than any other style, regardless of how long it takes to get a black belt rank in such and such a style. The rank tends to be irrelevant; the time in training, and the training methods, are much more relevant.

[Jay]

This question like others of its ilk are a matter of pure opinion. People may have experience but this is only personal and may vary according to schools etc.

They are essentially different to each other karate and chinese martial arts. They teach in different ways have different methods. For example after 2 years a karate practitioner may have very good technique, where as the kung fu practitioner may be very well conditioned and have excellent fitness.

There is no definitive answer so dont expect to get one because unfortunatly unless we all agree which we will not there is not one.

I think with combat in general you can train most people an excellent standard with about 10hrs training a week for a year.