How long does it take to earn a black belt?

One of the questions I'm frequently asked is, "How long will it take for my child to earn a black belt?"

My answer is always, "That depends." And then I talk about what it takes to earn a black belt at Shinjin Karate.

The truth is that belts do not come easy at our dojo. We make no secret of the fact. For students ages 8 through about 16, even a white belt has to be earned (via a fairly easy to do homework assignment, but still!) We don't hand out "attendance belts" every three months or so. Our belt tests are cumulative, and increase in length and difficulty. We expect effort and quality from ourselves as teachers, and we expect it, to a lesser extent of course, from our students.

One of the things that I tell parents, and students, is that they should not consider how many years it will take to earn the belt, but that they should consider how much effort and time they are willing to dedicate to their training. That will determine how long it will take.

Recently I read the following on another karate school's website, referring to children training in karate:

"In a quality martial arts school, a student should be able to reach Black Belt in 2 to 3 years training two days a week."

Obviously, this karate school owner and I differ on the definition of "quality martial arts school". I know a number of quality schools that I would highly recommend. No child could possibly earn a black belt in two years at any of them, especially if they were attending only two days per week --- and especially if those classes were only a half hour or forty-five minutes in length (another practice this particular karate teacher recommended). In some of the schools I consider quality schools, students below the age of 14, 16, or even 18 cannot even earn black belts.

We have a set curriculum. We do not water it down for any of our students in our Keichu Ryu program, no matter what the age of the student. Those students who train harder and more often, who attend extra core classes and bonus classes, and who practice diligently at home on a consistent basis, will naturally take less time to earn a black belt. Students who only want to attend two classes per week will, naturally, take longer. I'm not saying that it will be impossible to earn their black belts; I'm only saying that their road will be considerably longer.

Some of our students, or their parents, see themselves as customers. It is understandable, especially at first. They view themselves as a customer buying a product --- martial arts classes. And that's fine. They also view me as a business owner, selling my product. That is certainly true...but only up to a point. It's really not the whole picture.

Along the way, those that are more serious cease to be customers. They become students. There is a huge difference. They no longer think that "the customer is always right". They appreciate the benefits of effort and hard training. They see themselves as karateka. They are serious about what we teach, and about our core values of dedication, discipline, respect, honor, humility and the "Keichu attitude".

I recall a friend of mine, someone who had never trained in the martial arts, who could not figure out why I would spend Saturdays organizing and painting my instructor's dojo, or why I would give him things that I knew he needed or would appreciate. "You're already paying for lessons, aren't you?"

The martial arts are more than a business. At least, they should be. My instructor was, to be frank, not a businessman. Not by any stretch. After all, he was my instructor. More than that, he was the founder of our system. What he gave me and taught me was priceless. I was only behaving as I thought his student should. After all, how many students have the privilege of training directly under the founder of their system?

That's an old-fashioned way of looking at things, to be sure. And it doesn't make sense to those who think of themselves only as customers, rather than as students and as karateka.

Well, yes...we do sell karate lessons. But rank? Never for sale. That has to be earned.

And the rank of black belt? Yes, I suppose a customer could earn one. But it will be much easier, and far more rewarding, for a karateka to earn one. But, if you are a customer, don't worry. The good news is that, somewhere along the way, if they train hard enough and long enough, most customers will be transformed into karateka --- true students of karate --- and they will become real members of the Keichu family.

Edited to add the following:

I discovered an interesting blog which featured an article titled "Why Your Child is Not a Black Belt", written by Ann-Marie K. Heilman, Kyoshi. That name was familiar to me. Kyoshi Heilman has been on my judging panel at a number of tournaments. I've also had the privilege of participating in several of her and her husband's weapons seminars. I have a great deal of respect for the both of them. This article lends a needed perspective to the topic of earning one's black belt. It's not just for children; adults interested in earning their black belts would gain from it as well.

Then there is this, from 24FightingChickens:

In most Shotokan circles, a black belt is considered an advanced beginner rather than an expert. One is not truly considered an expert by his peers until he has a third or fourth dan rank. In such schools, the time to get a black belt usually averages around 4 to 7 years tops. In a Japanese University setting where students train every weekday for around two or three hours each time, the hours of training pile up much faster and people receive black belt rank usually in no more than two or three years.

So, yes, there are quality dojos that will have you earning your black belt in 2-3 years --- but that's assuming you train in the dojo about 10-20 hours per week, not one to one and a half hours!