If i started karate lessons now, how long would it take me to become a black belt?

Answer 1

Belts are earned through grading/testing. You will be required to show that you have learned the specified techniques or Katas required for each rank. To say you can acheive a black belt in a year or even 3 years is pretty unrealistic. A well trained artist can do it in 5 years but there are many requirments to obtaining a black belt. although I really do not like what ninedemon says in most of his answers he is at least right on one thing here. Do you want the belt to show off or to actually learn and acheive the knowlage and skills that go with it. Because I can gaurentee you any black belt will never go around talking about how they are a black belt and can kick anyones ***. If they do they probably bought it meaning they went to a dojo that says you train fo a month pay $50 and you'll get you next belt.Or they are lying.
Bet on the fact that they are full of it. But also be aware that there are alot of people opening bogus dojos claiming to teach styles that they have no knowlage of and end up teaching very poor technique or they're just in it for the money. And what keeps the money coming in. Happy students, which are made by handing out belts and giving them 6 foot tall trophies for breaking wooden blocks.
Also Age has alot to do with it. A child who starts training at 6 should not be a black belt at 12. They be be well skilled but the responsability that goes with it is not there yet.

Answer 2

It really depends on the child as there are some dynamics that can really impact this. I have seen some five/six year olds take to martial arts like a duck to water. Others try it, and it soon gets replaced with something else that catches their attention and interest. Also they have so many preconceived ideas from cartoons, movies, and television that when they find out it is not like that they also lose interest. Sometimes they can be influenced or motivated to try martial arts or stay with it if an older sibling or parent is doing it also. Most children are not ready to start until six or seven years old. For a dedicated child that trains 4-5 times per week it should take about four years for them to achieve black belt. Some schools and systems promote much faster than that but a few years is not really much time for anyone to learn, practice, and develop their skill to a level that is associated with the rank of black belt.

Answer 3

At a quality school, not a black belt factory, it should take you at least 3 years, I am more comfortable at 5 years. A belt achieved in a short amount of time is nothing but a belt. Taking 1on1 lessons, training everyday I could see how someone might be able to achieve Black Belt level is 2. To me a black belt symbolizes dedication and commitment. I do not see how schools teach all the responsibilities and PROPER techniques, sets ,forms, fitness, stretching, concepts of movements, etc...... in a year, without cheating their students. Even the live in training in Korea, China and Japan is minimum of 3 years. Imagine the dedication and hard work involved there for 3 years before advancing and compare it to a black belt factory of 1 year, pretty ridiculous.

Answer 4

Im not in Karate but I believe it would depend on your dedication, how quickly you learn and the policy of the school you're learning at. I believe some schools have mandatory study time before you're allowed to test for a higher belt level.

Truly though Martial Art is about the process and the discipline not how fast you can get to the top. You don't take an Art class and ask how long it takes to be as good as picsso, or take a foreign language to become fluent as quickly as possible. A black belt is simply a piece of fabric if you don't respect the art and discipline that lies behind it.

Answer 5

Basically, karate is considerate one of the most hard working martial arts that takes quite a while to advance in rank. I'm personally doing Wado Ryu karate holding a 1st degree black belt and also a black belt in tae kwon do. It took me around two and a half to year to receive the karate black belt while having tae kwon do experience and 3 hours of practice everyday. Although this is a long period of time, karate is considered a life time commitment where there is no ending to it.

On the contrary, tae kwon do did not take me that long to receive the black belt. It took me around a year and a half to earn it, but of course, I practice every day. But I'm not too sure since I learned tae kwon do in Taiwan.

My suggestion is that to start out in tae kwon do to build up your stamina and rhythm in the kicks, then go to karate and enhance the power and techniques.

Finally, choosing the right dojo is very important, it took me a while to find a good one. Many dojos are only in for the money. Thus, try to get around different classes and find the one you feel most comfortable and suitable. Just a tip though, haha, find a teacher that is very asian or somewhat fobbish, from my experience, they're usually very good, haha.

BUT! KEEP THIS IN MIND, NEVER RUSH TO GET A BLACK BELT, IT IS NOT WORTH IT! After long years of traininig, your results will show, the belt means nothing, you can get one any where for 5 bucks....

I hope I answered all your questions.

Answer 6

Depends on the discipline and the instructor's teaching "style", but on average for Most Martial Arts disciplines is usually about 4 to 5 years, any sooner than that and you're not really learning all that much because they're basically "giving" you a belt rank for showing up.

just be cautious about school's that're a "McDojo's" type of school.

these kinda schools usually do a lot of boasting about their accolades (like having several "young black belts" that're usually 9 or 10 yrs old), and often boast about students making their black belts in about a year’s time (which it should be up to 5 years or better) which often means that they have a high student turnout rate.

They'll also often try to get you to commit to a contract, usually one that's 6 months long or more. which is a BIG red flag

These schools will also brag about how many tournaments their students have entered in and placed or won a trophy or awards.

While Tournaments are good to go to, but they are the LEAST necessary aspect to concern yourself with.

In short a McDojo's type of school will basically "give" you your belt ranks as long as you are paying the outrageous fees per month, and you won't really learn self defense.

Answer 7

There are a lot of variables. First, how often / hard / long are you going to train? If you train five days a week, four hours a day, in two one hour sessions and one two hour session, it will take less time than if you practice three days a week for an hour a day.

Also, which school are you joining? Black Belt means different things in different schools. In my school, it will typically take a minimum five years to get to your Black Belt. At the school my brother takes, it will typically take a minimum of three years. BUT, in my school, if you achieve your Black Belt, you know enough that you could start teaching. At my brother's school, you would need to get to a 5th degree, which usually takes another two years, before you could start teaching.

Then there's politics. In some schools, a teacher will promote people he likes and not promote people he doesn't. We have practices in place at my school to avoid this, but not all schools do.

This all ignores things like natural talent, memorizaition skills, physical ability, and dedication, which are all going to have equally large impacts on how long it will take to reach any level.

If all you want is a black collored belt, they sell them at Wal Mart pretty cheap. If you're looking for the skills that go with it, then I'd ignore the belt completely and focus on who is going to teach you those skills. If I had my way, I would be able to stop offering collored belts at my school and track progress another way.

Answer 8

If its a really good school and not just a black belt factory about 4 to 8 years depending on how fast you catch on .

Answer 9

The real question should be; do you want to be a real black belt who actually can put their karate skill to use or do you want to simply grab it and run around telling the whole world you're black belt but deep inside you know you can't even fight your way out of wet paperbag?

Answer 10

you are obviously asking this because you want to start some form of MA and dont have a clue?simply put,dont worry about the black belt worry about getting started first and then concentrate on being a good white belt.