"Martial Arts" An in-depth look at rank

[Kanku65]

I found this on reddit today, and I believe it holds some solid validity in this discussion.

I'll tell you a story I was told when I complained about not being able to test once:

A grand master was sitting on a bench when a young man approached. "Grand master, you are the wisest of us all. Will you teach me karate?

"Yes, but you must train very hard, do your best."

" thank you Grand master," says the young man, "how long does it take to get a black belt?" The grand master sat and thought for a moment. "About 5 years." He replied.

"And what if I train twice as hard?"

"Oh!" Exclaimed the grand master. "In that case, 10 years."

Although I believe hard work is necessary in the martial arts, there needs to be that uninterupted, unclouded balance which can in many cases be too overshadowed by the desire to reach goals and attain a particular rank.

Not that I look down in any way upon those who receive kuro obi after 5 years, but I do believe that 10 years is an appropriate time to reach shodan. There may be personal bias in that belief however.

[ShotokanMaster]

When the 1st time i entered karate my goal was to be a black belt and to be an instructor in 5 months i was recommend to be in a black belt club also i joined this program called SWAT it means Special Winning Attitude Team to be in the SWAT you have to be recommended or you can joined your self I joined Swat because i was eager to teach and i wanted to be an instructor so know i help teach kids tuesday thursday friday and ive been doing swat for 1 year 4 months and i love it next goal is to be a assistant instructor then instructor when i became Black belt