blackbelt amount of time

[arnisador]

Good luck with the BJJ! It's a great add-on to just about anything.

 

[Antonioncsu02]

The best thing to do whenever you step into a new style is to do so with humility. You are stepping into their classroom, learning a new subject. If the teacher deems it worthy to promote you quicker, the sensei will. Eventually your prior martial arts skill will come forth.

I've done this twice. Once I tried a kung fu after two years of karate. I did extremely well on testing, but was only promoted one rank at a time. The second time I easily slid in the style and the Grand Master gave me a San Kyu belt.

 

[tshadowchaser]

I must agree with Antonioncsu02 on his points. Your new instructor will be able to tell if your old experience is helping you learn or if it is holding you back.
You must realize that you are in a new area of study and be willing to start at the bottom with no recognition of prior training.
that prior teaining may help you advance faster but then again it may not if the two systems are very different

 

[jujutsu_indonesia]

I must agree with Antonioncsu02 on his points. Your new instructor will be able to tell if your old experience is helping you learn or if it is holding you back.
You must realize that you are in a new area of study and be willing to start at the bottom with no recognition of prior training.
that prior teaining may help you advance faster but then again it may not if the two systems are very different

Come to think about it.. I may have some difficulties in my new style because I must adapt my way of movement to the new style. The old Karate memory is blocking the new Karate memory

If I am training in something very different such as BJJ maybe the old karate memory will not block the new BJJ memory? Is this possible? Considering that Karate and BJJ are so very different?

Anybody who cross-trained in BJJ, please answer?

 

[arnisador]

I think so. Training in both Isshin-ryu and Shotokan would goof you up, most likely, but BJJ (or Judo) is just too different. I don't think it would hurt your otehr tarining--it certainly doesn't bother my arnis or JKD.

 

[Jonathan Randall]

If I ruled the world all black belts would take 4 years of study on average to achieve (the same as an undergraduate degree), 3 dan ranks for technical purposes and 2 for honourary awards and coaching certification standards entirely different from the belt structure. Furthermore, ever related school in an art would have a sense of what basics were common and provide separate certifications for them, so that once you had them, you didn't have to relearn them -- just keep them fresh. This would strip as much as two years off gaining rank in a related art, but no more. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's the false modesty about belts which has, if anything, made belt ranking simultaneously less valuable and more materialistic. A contemporary black belt could mean anything these days instead of just fundamental competency and bears little relationship with competition ability or coaching skills. I can go to a boxing gym and see that the coach has a record in X organization and has Y coaching certs from the government, but the black belt tells me nothing that's nearly as well-defined.

That would be great as the Western image of the black belt is that of a martial arts expert ready to take on all comers. However, dan ranks are frequently awarded in both Japan and Korea in a year or less. I think the greatest solution would be to educate the public on the fact that rank is relative from system to system and that a first degree black belt is considered an intermediate student - not an expert.

 

[jujutsu_indonesia]

I think so. Training in both Isshin-ryu and Shotokan would goof you up, most likely, but BJJ (or Judo) is just too different. I don't think it would hurt your otehr tarining--it certainly doesn't bother my arnis or JKD.

Thank you for the kind advice!

 

[Shogun]

As far as goals I shoot low and always hit, lol.

Haha. you'd be a good wrestler.

 

[takezo]

If I ruled the world all black belts would take 4 years of study on average to achieve (the same as an undergraduate degree), 3 dan ranks for technical purposes and 2 for honourary awards and coaching certification standards entirely different from the belt structure...

In principle I would agree with the requirements as outlined. In my opinion the pursuit of profit has ruined the martial arts in the United States.
When a martial art's goal becomes economic survival, combat survival becomes a secondary issue at best.

 

[arnisador]

In my opinion the pursuit of profit has ruined the martial arts in the United States.
When a martial art's goal becomes economic survival, combat survival becomes a secondary issue at best.

But on the other hand, the profit motive has spread the arts much further than they'd have spread otherwise. It's a mixed bag.

 

[brothershaw]

I am sure you always had people just teaching for money and pretty poor at it.
I have also oftem heard that many of the early m.a. instructors in this country and also other styles werent that good in the sense the returning american soldiers who helped get the ball rolling here didnt study long enough to bring the full essence. ALso in general you had people who never learned complete systems coming over and claiming much more than they knew.
I guess its really up to the individual to verify their own skills to their satisfaction and also verify thier instuctors skills. That means tournaments and also visiting other schools, talking to other martial artists , and reading books to see if what you are learning holds water, or if your teacher is full of it.

 

[JPH]

In the final analysis it is up to the instructor to provide a fair balance between finance and the quality of instruction that is provided, and to continue to keep it interesting. We all know that operating a dojo, or other martial arts facility is not free of expenses. If the student feels that he or she is receiving valuable instruction for the price being paid, the student will continue to be a member of the school. If not, the students leave and the school will close.

I have visited martial arts schools in Japan in the past and they all, too, charged fees for their instruction. The disparity in quality of schools is not unique to our country alone. Friends of mine who came here from Japan and Okinawa cited similar problems with dojos in their countries.

The best thing for a student to do is to attend a school where he is comfortable with what is being taught, and to stay as long as the quality of instruction continues. Different schools have different requirements, and each individual is different in their ability to learn. With practice comes proficiency, and with proficiency comes advancement.

 

[jujutsu_indonesia]

In the final analysis it is up to the instructor to provide a fair balance between finance and the quality of instruction that is provided, and to continue to keep it interesting. We all know that operating a dojo, or other martial arts facility is not free of expenses. If the student feels that he or she is receiving valuable instruction for the price being paid, the student will continue to be a member of the school. If not, the students leave and the school will close.

I have visited martial arts schools in Japan in the past and they all, too, charged fees for their instruction. The disparity in quality of schools is not unique to our country alone. Friends of mine who came here from Japan and Okinawa cited similar problems with dojos in their countries.

The best thing for a student to do is to attend a school where he is comfortable with what is being taught, and to stay as long as the quality of instruction continues. Different schools have different requirements, and each individual is different in their ability to learn. With practice comes proficiency, and with proficiency comes advancement.

Yes you are very right! Charging fees makes sense if the dojo is on a rented building with good equipments. However some dojo, including mine, is in a university, so we dont pay rent and in some cases the university gave us the tatami. So there are no operating costs at all, thus negating the needs for high monthly fees.

My sensei teach for free in the universities, he just collect money from the students (less than $7!) after each lessons so that he could have dinner & pay cab fare to go home. Come to think about it, he teach about 15 students, plus and minus, per sessions, so the actual money donated by each student is a trifling amount!

However when he gave private lessons on at his home to rich foreigners he got paid like $10 per person per sessions.

And sensei sometimes get paid as high as $200 per sessions when he does a 2-days seminar in another city (that money includes tickets and accomodations). Off course this is very rare, maybe once every 3 years or so.

 

[bobster_ice]

I started karate when i was four, im fourteen now, it has taken me ten years to get to black belt. (1st dan)

How long have you been doing karate for?

 

[BlueDragon1981]

It used to be in my dojo that about 1% of the people enrolled recieved their black belt...it has ranged from 5 years to 25 years for people to get their black belt. This is not the case now but it is still a very low percentage.

However I tend to find if you have a black belt in one style you tend to pick up the other styles with more ease. This is from talking to others with multiple black belts.

My personal opinion is that we have an over abundance of people with black belts...it should represent more than just technique but moral character too. I've seen a good number of Jr Black belts that should in no way have a black belt. (actually i don't think their should be a blackbelt under the age of 15, nothing against you bobster_ice)

 

[Grenadier]

It used to be in my dojo that about 1% of the people enrolled recieved their black belt

That's actually not unusual at all. Most schools have a statistic, that one only one out of every 50-150 students (depending on the school) will get his shodan rank. The rest will eventually leave before getting it for one reason or another.

Out of the ones that do make it to shodan, though, it's also a varied response, as to who can make it from shodan to nidan. In some systems, it's closer to one out of 20, others closer to one out of 50.

 

[jujutsu_indonesia]

Sensei has been teaching since 1996 and not one of his students, not even myself, has become a blackbelt.

When we get into the higher Kyu levels, we become lazy

 

[terryl965]

I started karate when i was four, im fourteen now, it has taken me ten years to get to black belt. (1st dan)

How long have you been doing karate for?

Bobster are youa BB in karate or TKD? because if your TKD WTF you are a Poom until the age of 15 and then you have to submit paperwork to transfer to Dan status.
Terry

 

[bobster_ice]

Karate

 

[Danjo]

Karate

What style? What organization? Some organizations say no 1st dan till 16 and some till 18. Though some give out Jr. BB rankings.