How long does it take to earn a Black Belt?

[mal103]

Remember that it's YOU that BECOMES a Black Belt, I hate it when I hear of people being given a Shodan to fill a competition or an instructors position.

I also hate it when people have the attitude of having been training for nearly 4 years and still haven't been GIVEN a Black Belt!

The journey time is up to you, how well you can train, how hard you train and what you put into your training. If you are with the right Club/school/org then you will pass Shodan when ready.

Remember also that it is a master of the basics! You don't have to know everything about Karate to get it, there will be a syllabus including several Kata, Kumite etc.

I'm Shodan plus 18 months and still don't think I am up to certain standards, having looked about I can see some are better and some not as good but it's not all about technique, speed etc. There is a lot more internally, maybe you have mastered the basics, maybe you have just begun to master yourself?

[xo-karate]

In our morning sessions I train with a Shodan and a Nidan, both have had their current grade more than 8 years. (My former students.)

I also has a discussion with a friend of mine who does judo. She has been a nidan for 20 years and teaching all the time. Now she is preparing her katas for 3. dan:-)

mal103, it does not matter if other get their Shodan in 1 year. We just need to hope that they will grow in to their ranks and continue to practice and develop their skills and the art.

An indy like my - I just have to ... practice and make up my own belts:-)

[Nabil Kazama]

To me a black belt means nothing. What I value most in my training is the proper techniques, hip rotation, knowledge on how and why you perform a certain move. most importantly a better understanding of the style I learn.

Not trying to be funny, but a black belt is just a part of clothing, it can't protect you if you're confronted by an opponent in the outside world. If your technique is not perfected then what's the point?

[Himokiri Karate]

Boxing,Kungfu,Muay thai and various wrestling styles dont use a belt system and the practioners dont concern themselves with the ranks but only skills and fighting ability.

I dont see why its such a big deal with be a black belt?

[SingaporeSling]

I dont see why its such a big deal with be a black belt?

That is a great point.

[kensei]

Boxing,Kungfu,Muay thai and various wrestling styles dont use a belt system and the practioners dont concern themselves with the ranks but only skills and fighting ability.

I dont see why its such a big deal with be a black belt?

For me, boxing, Thai boxing and wrestlings are sports, they have goals like trophies, money and ranking. So, dont fool yourself into thinking that a "Black Belt" is not something that they look for...its just in the form of a strop made of Tin and leather that says "Champ".

As for Kung fu...dude...they have rankings. Ever hear of a white and gold sash or a black and red sash. They have ranks as well.

No physical endevour that I know of that man has created is with out a "goal" such as a Dan ranking or a title of some sort. sorry to me its all the same!

[xo-karate]

No physical endevour that I know of that man has created is with out a "goal" such as a Dan ranking or a title of some sort. sorry to me its all the same!

True.

But you can also practice every event with your inner goals. Rank like a belt is a status or something that is awarded by your peers - your social group or martial arts family. It's a nice thing, but it's a poor goal. If we aim for belts, we don't concentrate on right issues.

Right issue is what you've made your goal. (OK - you can have gradings as a goal, but that is not martial arts - it's kind of collecting stamps of achievement.)

[kensei]

True.

But you can also practice every event with your inner goals. Rank like a belt is a status or something that is awarded by your peers - your social group or martial arts family. It's a nice thing, but it's a poor goal. If we aim for belts, we don't concentrate on right issues.

Right issue is what you've made your goal. (OK - you can have gradings as a goal, but that is not martial arts - it's kind of collecting stamps of achievement.)

Very true, but that was not my point. Someone stated that Boxing has no "belt system" and I stated that was not really true, they have a "Different" kind of "belt" system...its called rankings.

You can take up ANY endevour and NOT partake in the ranking system. I know of a few people that run for themselves and dont enter foot races, I know of a lot of body buiders that do it just to keep "big" and not compete and I know of a few people that do boxing and Muay thai and never compete.

Personally I dont really put much weight in ranking anymore. I have met 8th dans in TKD who were horrible and I have seen Shodans in Karate that were amazing, I have met Rokudans in Karate who were morons and had horrible form and could not teach their way out of a wet sack...and Judo brown belts that were "master teachers" in my mind. Ranking has become rather relevent to the individual and organization.

I have kept plugging away at Karate for darn near 40+ years and really dont care what the paper on my wall says I am...if you come to one of my classes you get a mental and physical work out, you have fun and at the end of the day I love training for trainings sake. The fact that I have a black peice of cloth holding my jacket shut...well that just keeps me from having to explain the tattoos!

[xo-karate]

Looks like we are very much on the same page - on opinion on ranking and personal experince.

[Himokiri Karate]

Boxing,Kungfu,Muay thai and various wrestling styles dont use a belt system and the practioners dont concern themselves with the ranks but only skills and fighting ability.

I dont see why its such a big deal with be a black belt?

For me, boxing, Thai boxing and wrestlings are sports, they have goals like trophies, money and ranking. So, dont fool yourself into thinking that a "Black Belt" is not something that they look for...its just in the form of a strop made of Tin and leather that says "Champ".

As for Kung fu...dude...they have rankings. Ever hear of a white and gold sash or a black and red sash. They have ranks as well.

No physical endevour that I know of that man has created is with out a "goal" such as a Dan ranking or a title of some sort. sorry to me its all the same!

Your comment on the bold is flawed.

As a guy who boxes, I can tell you that there are TONS and TONS of none-competive recreational boxers that have INSANE boxing skills that puts pro boxers in to shame.

You wanna know why?

Because there love for boxing is PURE and SINCERE, these guys train boxin for the LOVE of boxing. They are not concerned with ranking,reputation,money,traveling to fights,dealing with managers etc...

Overtime pro boxers might lose there passion and there style might suffer and they end up becoming point fighters to protect there boxing record and ego, thus quality goes down because they are afraid to fail because there self-worth is shifted from the quality of there art to there boxing record

These guys have one task to do, just train boxing and some of them make decent money being sparring partners for pros. But in the end they keep there art pure and they avoid politics of boxing that pro boxers have to deal with which lots of pros fall out of love with there boxing because there are so many greedy blood thristy managers in the "sport" of boxing.

In short, I can write a book on how there are AMAZING unknown boxers who are the backbone of training camps.

Can I assume that there are people in world of martial arts like that as well? People who dont concern themselves with ranks and only focus on performing 5000 repitions?