The question of how long it takes to earn a black belt in the martial arts is one of the more interesting questions. People have it lodged in their skulls when they first walk into a martial arts dojo. Doesn't matter if it is Krav Maga, or Wudan, or Judo, or whatever...that question is there.
Now, before I tell you something absolutely fascinating about the answer to this question, I have to establish my credibility. I don't do this to hold myself up, but rather to establish a solid footing for what I am about to tell you. You will find that it has much to do with the question we are asking here.
I studied traditional Karate some forty years ago, and have studied just about every art to come down the pike since then. And, as soon as I would learn a martial art, I would turn around and teach it to somebody else. That is the best way to understand something, you see: turn around and share it with somebody else, put yourself on the spot.
And, running out of systems, I began reconfiguring what I had learned. I created different methods, and inherent in these methods was a simple question. Can I make a black belt faster?
I condensed systems, realigned methods, compared and contrasted until I was cross-eyed and dazed. I set up different arrangements of basics, established different ways of doing training drills. And, of course, I did kumite until the cows came home and had breakfast.
Over time, I fair well established what, exactly, the knowledge was that made a black belt. This is a concrete body of knowledge, and I found something interesting occurring. I found that if you taught people the knowledge, they didn't need as much experience.
Yes, the fellow had to get down and dirty, he had to get a fair sampling of bruises and toss downs. But he didn't need as much of this 'experience' as one might think. In fact, he needed about one tenth of what people expected.
In fact, as one accumulated knowledge, the percentage of hard experience went down. Don't get me wrong, it takes sweat and diligent work, and, most important, it takes exactly the correct amount of exact information, which is something that, unfortunately, none of the martial arts systems have today. But, if you do get the right data the question of how long does it take to earn a black belt requires a much shorter answer.
Now, before I tell you something absolutely fascinating about the answer to this question, I have to establish my credibility. I don't do this to hold myself up, but rather to establish a solid footing for what I am about to tell you. You will find that it has much to do with the question we are asking here.
I studied traditional Karate some forty years ago, and have studied just about every art to come down the pike since then. And, as soon as I would learn a martial art, I would turn around and teach it to somebody else. That is the best way to understand something, you see: turn around and share it with somebody else, put yourself on the spot.
And, running out of systems, I began reconfiguring what I had learned. I created different methods, and inherent in these methods was a simple question. Can I make a black belt faster?
I condensed systems, realigned methods, compared and contrasted until I was cross-eyed and dazed. I set up different arrangements of basics, established different ways of doing training drills. And, of course, I did kumite until the cows came home and had breakfast.
Over time, I fair well established what, exactly, the knowledge was that made a black belt. This is a concrete body of knowledge, and I found something interesting occurring. I found that if you taught people the knowledge, they didn't need as much experience.
Yes, the fellow had to get down and dirty, he had to get a fair sampling of bruises and toss downs. But he didn't need as much of this 'experience' as one might think. In fact, he needed about one tenth of what people expected.
In fact, as one accumulated knowledge, the percentage of hard experience went down. Don't get me wrong, it takes sweat and diligent work, and, most important, it takes exactly the correct amount of exact information, which is something that, unfortunately, none of the martial arts systems have today. But, if you do get the right data the question of how long does it take to earn a black belt requires a much shorter answer.
About the Author:
If you're interested in Pick upting your black belt now, and not in three years, head to Monster Martial Arts. Pick up the free ebook while you're there.
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