About certain karate school ?

Question

I'm 19 and I've decided to take into kyokushin karate classes , or
one of full contact karate schools. I'd like to dedicate myself into
that sport very much , training every day. I'm not impatient , but
how much is the average time till I'd get some tangible results.
Is 25 realistic age for myself to achive black belt. I know , the
more you put yourself into sometin the sooner or better results
will be , but just give me realistic assesment.

Answer 1

If you want a Black Belt (and certificate) I'll sell you one. That's just I mean, look at it his way, you walk into a Karate school and they offer you a Black belt program that you can test for it in 1 year for lets say $2800.00. Now you walk into another school that don't offer those types of programs but, claims on the average is 30 months for a Black Belt test and cost about $3500.00.

Now ask yourself this BIG question, on the streets (were there are no rules) if you needed to defend yourself. Would you have what it takes after 1 year or 2 1/2 years?, do you really feel confident in your techniques?

I just hope you understand my point here because taking short cuts in life don't get you know were.

Good luck and what ever you do don't give up.

Answer 2

There are so many factors involved that it is nearly impossible to answer this question with a Yes or No. Some of the factors that need to be considered are:

1. What type of physical condition are you in? Are you an athlete already? Do you play a sport or lift weights? Some people are slim, but have never or rarely exercised. Do you have the cardiovascular conditioning to support training every day?

2. What's the quality of the instructor? You can answer the first question, but this one you won't know until you have started training. Can you handle being in a class where you are expected to pick things up on your own or do you need one-on-one training?

3. How does the school handle ranking? Some 'McDojo's' have a preset rank structure where students test for belts every two or three months and depending on the number of colors in their belt system you can pretty much map out your black belt test to the exact day. Other schools require students to inform the instructor when they believe they are ready to test.

4. What is your learning curve? Do you pick things up quickly or do you need to practice over and over again. Certain things may come easier than others. I myself enjoy grappling and I seem to pick up the various techniques very quickly. However, I seem to have a hard time with take-downs. That is my weakness and it has impacted my training.

5. Why do you need to know when you will be a black belt? Being a black belt doesn't make you a master. It doesn't mean anything to anyone outside your dojo unless you enter a tournament for black belts only. I have known many black belts who couldn't fight their way out of a paper sack. I have also known students of much lower ranks that could hold their own against any black belt.

Setting a goal is a good thing. Setting a goal of achieving a black belt in six years is not unrealistic. But you asked a couple of questions, and they aren't necessarily related. I could recommend a dojo that will pretty much guarantee you a black belt in about 3 years if you show up to class twice a week and pay your monthly dues. I could also send you to a school that you could train for 3 years and not get past yellow belt. You would probably see better results from that school even though you would still be considered a beginner.

Good luck to you, whatever you choose.

Answer 3

If you want to dedicate yourself to something you think is cool, calligraphy, guitar, horseback riding, stunt driving, weight lifting, martial arts, whatever.... Then dedicate yourself to it - to the path, not the destination. To the art itself rather than the achievement of a nebulous and arguable goal.

When it comes to tangible results, if you are looking for them, then you are not dedicating yourself to the thing you are doing, but rather to the results. When it comes to these things, no matter how fast you progress, it will never be fast enough - your eye is on the prize, not the work needed to get there.

On achieving black belt. A belt is something that holds your gi closed - that's it. It has some kind of mythical symbolism but there are so many variables involved (type of school, type of art, your learning style vs. teaching style of the school, etc.,...) there is no concrete answer. The whole point of a DO (ie way) IS the path itself. You in a sense are already a master the day you start. Master being another subjective term of course.

In the end, you have to just do it because you enjoy it. If you really enjoy it, rank won't really matter so much and it will just happen of its own accord. Its not about comparing yourself to others, its about comparing yourself today to yourself from yesterday. If you've learned something and came back for more, you are making progress.

Most of the people I respect in the martial arts I've studied are the ones that struggle the most for every improvement they get. When its really easy at first, people tend to quit or are just looking for the prize and leave when they think they got it wondering at or joking about these crazy martial artists - they are stupendously impractical in their thinking. Well, if you walk into an English literature class and expect to learn chemistry, of course you are going to think reading Shakespeare is pointless.

It is a martial ART - turning fighting into an art form. Yes, its practical if taught in a martial way, but its still an art form. I think it looses most of its value when you remove the art from it as the art part is the more challenging aspect. Anyone can learn to fight. Not everyone is willing to apply lessons from the dojo to their everyday lives. Nothing wrong with either, but a master, in my mind is the later rather than the former. They realize that learning how to fight is just the method to learning how to be a better person - the training is just to present a challenge to be overcome.

Answer 4

I'm with the spidertiger on this... worry about your skills 1st, rank last. Concentrate on using what you learn. The basics usually are your keys in most confrontations. Different schools have different expectations or won't let a person rise to fast or... maybe will allow it (especially in the US).
I've seen a white belt take out a black belt in a tournament or a lower belt defeat a higher belt in sparring and tournaments. The skill is the thing.

Answer 5

who cares what color belt you are.

The point is "are you learning to fight"?

Most people concerned with belts are not interested in learning to fight they just want to show off or brag about thier rank.

If you are looking into a school that does full contact sparring then it would seem you would be more interested in learning to fight and the question you should be asking is:
Approximately how long before I will become a confident and competant fighter in my chosen style?

Answer 6

yeah, I would definately say that 6 years is realistic to achieve a black belt. Just make sure that you pay attention to the lessons you receive from your instructors and senior students. And, alway learn from your mistakes.

Answer 7

Do not put emphasis on rank. Is that why you are training?
Work on improving yourself. Do not set rank/time goals, it is kind of futile. Instead set goals like "I am going to learn that kata by next week." or " I am going to figure that block out this week."

Rank has no meaning, it is simply used to organize students within an organization.

Answer 8

Maybe because, I started Chun Kuk Do when I was early 12, now I'm 13 and I'm only the fourth rank (orange).