How long should it take to get a black belt in Taekwondo

[Ken Hewson]

I'm very interested to know what other clubs do in terms of time scales. I 've heard about these McDojos and how they are ever increasing which quite annoys me.

But generally at our club the quickest someone will get a black belt is 4 years, and thats for top students who train consistantly 3 times a week and obviously train in their own time too. The average is around 5 and a half years.

How about at other Taekwondo clubs?

[RobT]

Anything less than 4 years in too quick. Everyone is different and people train a lot harder than others, some are just naturally talented. I'd say thats the reason why is can be pushed to as quick as 4 years from white to black belt in Taekwondo.

You know what, the people that I meet who tell me they got a black belt in less then 4 years are a whole lot worse than those who did it in 4 or 5 or more. Personally I got mine in 5 years and I trained damn hard.

[Amy]

Thats a long time, I want it in 3 years because my good friend did that.

I know it can be done in 3 years, so I dont see the point in dragging it out. Then it's on to 2nd Dan 1 year after that.

[Havoc]

This is why I've become increasingly frustrated with the caliber of tae kwon do black belts. Too often practitioners are focused on rushing to black belt and afterwards feel as though they've arrived and can't be taught anything. I've seen too many folks from various schools pushed through the system only to embarrass the master(s) and the art. Forget about the belt and focus on technique, strength & conditioning, flexibility and all of the other things that you've been told are important. If you receive a black belt in less than four years...you didn't "earn" it....you "received" it! The point with dragging it out is that in order to truly understand and perfect the rudimentary techniques of tae kwon do you must not be promoted through the ranks simply based on time! The average Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt spends about eight years "earning" their black belt. Despite being a 1st Dan Shotokan black belt, certified self defense instructor, and two years of BJJ under my belt, it took me four years to earn my tae kwon do
black belt. Why? Because my master was and is the real deal. 2nd degree testing was even more brutal AND it's not automatic testing for any degree beyond 1st. You must be recommended, teach classes, perform community service & regularly compete. More importantly the under ranking belts must respect and trust you! This is why 2 - 3 year black belts are rarely up to par!

[ashley]

Exactly right and well said.

It is becoming increasingly difficult though to find an instructor who is 'the real deal'. A lot of clubs are commercially driven these days rather than being in it for the true spirit of proper teaching. The fact that students can get black belts quickly is an incentive for beginners to train in that particular club.

I think any beginner in martial arts should forget about the belting system and concentrate on the quality of teaching.

When I was a yellow belt in Taekwondo, a class mate said he was not going in for the next grading because he felt he was not ready for that belt (despite him training 3 times a week in class as well as at home). At the time, I did not understand it and thought he was crazy missing out on the opportunity to get a 'better' belt. It wasn't long before it was clear to me that what he said made complete sense.

[kickass]

i believe there are 3 kinds of black belt people:

1. those who only kick dollyo chagi almost every day and improve their techinque at their best to try to go to the olympic games one day, want career in SPORTS

2. fake black belts

3. masters who are able to respect, learn everything about this martial art, respect korean culture, respect other belts, meditate for spirit and give the most beautiful performance, or at the competition or in the nature

[MN Wanderer]

I'm brand new to the forums, but this is a subject that I've always been a bit concerned with, so I think I'll just right in.

First, I should say that I do agree with everything that has been said so far, especially that there is a difference between rank that is earned and rank that is given.

The short answer I would give is that black belt in any art should take at least 4-5 years. Most of the highly skilled/highly motivated people I've known have been able to do it in about this time with regular training. For those of use who have difficulty fitting the training into our schedule, or who simply aren't as athletically gifted at the outset of training, it will certainly take longer.

The long answer.....maybe it shouldn't matter. Maybe we should be looking at something other than the "black belt" title. By that I mean, I realize that there are a lot of schools out there where people do get their black belts in less than 4 years. While a person might have a preference for the process taking over 4 years, for whatever reason they may have (level of skill, maturity, etc.), I think it's pretty realistic to say that you will be limiting yourself on where you can train if you rule out every school where people earn black belts quickly. So long as the training the school offers is solid, and so long as a practitioner keeps the proper perspective that they train to acquire a skill rather than a rank, I feel that how the school's definition of "black belt" compares with another school's definition really isn't that important.

But that's the real trick, isn't it? Keeping that perspective in an environment where you can easily lose yourself in "how much more until the next rank?" is certainly difficult. That's why I feel it's important to maintain a sincere approach to training, that we train to acquire skill, not rank.

So if you are one who trains under an instructor who is the "real deal" and truly makes you earn your rank.....awesome! I think the process of earning rank in such an organization tends to facilitate a sincere approach to training, just by going through the long, grueling process.

If you do train in a school where rank comes faster, arguably "too fast"....and that maybe the school's black belts aren't up to par with another school's black belts who train longer and harder for their belt....does that mean you should find a new school? Not necessarily. I think that so long as the school's instruction is solid, and you sincerely train for the acquisition of a skill, it really doesn't need to be that big of an issue. Perhaps the rank is "given" rather than "earned", but the skill itself is always earned. There are no shortcuts to earning it, and once you have earned it, it cannot be taken away. And the skill is what we really train for, right?

If it were up to me, I'd do away with the ranking system altogether. Maybe I should take taichi, or something else without colored/graded belts ; p

[Seiken]

Me personally, I think 4-5 years is still very quick for a black belt. I have trained for almost seven years in my art and am taking the brown belt test here in a few months. I did miss two belt promotions so I would be brown now if it wasn't for that, but there is still three degrees of brown before black. It often takes ten years which I think is a good time.

[Ogriv83]

I have to say this is one factor that pushes me towards traditional Chinese martial arts over others. Theres no grading system however many schools seem to be creating a system simply for the black belt in 3 years sales pitch.

[MNJones]

I do not, nor have ever trained in Taekwondo. However, I think the same problem applies to all martial arts (or those with grading systems, at least!).

All below is most certainly "imho" ("In My Humble(!?) Opinion")

Belts should certainly be earned. They should reflect not just an amount of time in the system, but a level of mastery.

However, I don't see a problem with grading people quickly *if* they have a given level of mastery. The question is - how to ensure they have that mastery without observing them for an amount of time?

If your instructor - in whom you have placed your confidence that they know what they are doing to teach you your chosen art - suggests you go for a grading, should that not be seen as a compliment, and you do your best to achieve that grading? If the student does not feel they are ready, that is often a good sign. It's the student who is pestering the instructor to find out when they can next be graded who should be held back. If you are convinced that your instructor is wrong to put you forward for a grading, then is it not time to find an instructor whose judgement you can respect?

A friend of mine once wrote an article entitled "dirty white belt" that describes perfectly how I feel about grading - especially grading to black. A lot is said by that title. Perhaps they'll post it here...