How Long Does It Take To Get A Black Belt In Karate Is A Good Question!

By Al Case

The thing one should know, in this question of how long does it take to get a black belt in Karate (or in any martial art), is that the answer is coming from someone who wants to take your money. Thus, the dojo sensei, without pausing, says four or five years. This is not a good answer, it is an inflated answer, and the real answer is quite different.

There are two prime factors you should consider in this matter of black belt certification. First, the longer and more complex something is, the harder it is to learn. Second, the longer and more complex something is, the more difficult it is to apply.

Obviously, if you have to commit large numbers of techniques to memory, it will take time. But what do you use when jumped on the street? A well placed kick to the apples, or a punch in the throat, or something equally simple.

And, if you memorize hundreds of tricks, you have to select from hundreds of tricks, and who has the time for that? After all, most fights start out simple...a grab or a punch. And most defenses should be equally simple if they are going to have a chance of succeeding.

One should immerse themselves in basics, for basics are the key to everything. And one should have a good knowledge of the body, for it is the body you are using, and it a body that you are working your martial arts on. Thus, while I recommend reducing systems to a few core techniques, I don't recommend putting aside Karate (or Taekwondo or Aikido or whatever); I do recommend finding a system that is condensed and efficient and has simplicity as its catchword.

Really, to get the best out of karate training or Kenpo training, or any fighting discipline, one should look to the original moves of the system before it became commercial and was added to. Pan Gai Noon had three forms, and Tai Chi Chuan has one (yes, it is long) form. Thus, find the basic moves of self defense, find a few tricks to handle any 'what if' situations, and practice those until they work in freestyle.

The point is that if you wish to earn black belt certification, in Karate or any martial art, go back through the history of your style and find out what the basic kata were. Isolate the techniques that worked before anything else was added. See if there is a core concept from which the system is constructed, and work on that.

To reconsider the question of how long does it take to get a Black Belt in Karate? To be truthful, if you dedicate yourself to focusing on the basic concepts of a style, it should only take a few months. There may be a few who object to this, but they have usually bought into a large system, and don't understand the simple facts as I have presented here.

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