I heard that a Shito Ryu school in my area gives promotions of a multiple belt level at a time. And they also say that it would take 3 to 3.5 years to earn a black belt.

Is this normal, or are these guys 'watering down' the art to compete with other Martial arts schools? How long did you guys take to earn a black belt?

It took me about five years to get my black belt in Moo Duk KWan, but that was back in the late 80s-early 90s. I took six years to earn my black belt in karate (due to interuptions), but only three years to earn my second degree. I would say that 3-4 years is average in a karate style like Shito-ryu.

If you think of a black belt as like a high school diploma then four years or so is about right.

It should depend on the individual. In judo it took me two years, in Karate it took a bit longer. I avoided testing like crazy and by the time I was Shodan I knew as much about advanced Karate as some Sandans did.

the Black belt is only a goal as far as "i now know my basics" i know of a few brown belts I would hand a Shodan to in a heart beat because they know the stuff....but miss alot of classes.

it means different things to different people.

On average 3-5 years is normal with dedicated training....but longer is fine as well...it aint a race after all.

3-4 years is a pretty average amount of time to earn a black belt in Japan, as far as I am aware, and you can do it in less than that if you compete (and win) a lot. Outside of Japan it seems to be fairly uncommon, outside of McDojos, to earn your black belt in less than 6 years, but it isn't unheard of and doesn't immediately set off warning bells in my head. I would have to see their karate to know if they were watering it down.

Going back to my Karate days - it took 2 - 3 years to get to Black Belt - but then the training was 5 days per week over 2 hour(s) per class.

In Shotokan, the "average" person reached black belt in 3 years. It took me 1. But I also had alot of other experience.

Took 3.5 years in Kung Fu

Took 3 years in Aiki Jujitsu

Took 9 years in BJJ

3 years should be an absolute minimum for the most dedicated student, I did some Wado Ryo first but then only 3 years in Shotokan, in fact i had to hold back from grading to meet our governing body minimum time period.

But you don't really earn it or get given it, you become it.... if you are not ready then it will (should) take longer.

It took me 8 years to get my first black belt. I was a 4th kyu for 3 years, and then a year for each kyu grade before my Shodan grading. 8 years including my first belts. I think you can do the maths to see that grading to black belt in 3 years is very fast.

Imagine if Kyu's had a tenure as the Dan's do?

WOW!?!

Joe Lewis, World Heavyweight Karate Champion, for example, earned his Shodan in less than 1 year. Does that make his Shodan, or him as a karateka, less than those who take 5-6 years?