This is a recurring question many people ask in any martial art they are taking or planning to take. The best answer to this question is, this question is irrelevant! The most important thing in taking any martial arts is the journey, not the destination, and even more so, the destination should not be a belt color. You should think about what you really want to gain from your training experience, but that’s a whole different subject.
It is a fair question though that even the most devout disciples of any style asked themselves. A black belt is a benchmark that symbolizes your initiation into the big boys league. You’re no longer a novice, and though far from being an expert, a black belt should know all the basics of the language to start and explore some more complex ideas within his martial art.
That being said, it’s very important to say that not all black belts were made equal. In some arts, the black belt means that you are now capable of performing all of the basic techniques, and therefore ready to dive deeper into the more complicated aspects of the style, and some consider a black belt as a master of sort, who might have a lifetime of learning ahead of him, yet he’s proven himself to be among the best. His black belt therefore is harder to earn, and it takes much more time to earn it.
It’s a good time to note that it’s actually “easier” to get a black belt in Judo in Japan (and that goes to most Japanese martial arts), because the schools outside of it are stricter for two reasons. The first is that they don’t have as many highly ranked members in other countries, and therefore delay promotions to keep the balance of the current hierarchy. Second, is that foreign schools rely on Japanese approval of higher rank promotions, and it is done less regularly than in Japan. Teachers make sure that the students reach their tests over qualified.
So let’s review how long it takes to get a black belt in most popular martial arts, and then in some more esoteric ones. Lastly, we’ll talk about a few martial arts that are highly effective and popular, yet don’t even have a belt ranking system.
How long does it take to become a Judo black belt?
Judo, for your information, was the first martial art to adopt the belt system. Until then traditional martial artists got only a certificate for their level, mainly certifying their capability and authority to teach the art taught to them by their master. Jigoro Kano actually borrowed this system from swimming – and the way it was taught in school.
The average time to get a black belt in Judo is about 5 years. It can be as fast as 4 years, and sometimes quicker for phenomenal athletes, but it can take up to 10 years for some. A Shodan in Judo is translated to “the first dan” – hence the first step. Competing, showing to class regularly, and watching technique and competition videos might make you improve faster. It’s good to note that competition isn’t a must, but will expose the holes in your game which will make it clear for you what you need to work on. Also, if you prove yourself capable, your sensei will be inclined to promote you faster.
But what does it mean to be a Judo Black Belt? In some countries, a practitioner needs to win points in competition against other brown belts before getting promoted, but in others it’s not a requirement. However, a black belt is expected to be able to perform the basic techniques for demonstration level, and have about three “tokui waza” techniques, meaning techniques that the practitioner reached a certain level of mastery in, and can perform in sparring and competition.
An Aikido Black Belt takes around 3-5 years to get
Training biweekly will usually speed up the process to 3 years, but even if you train twice a week you should get there in 5 years, in most styles of Aikido. Most styles don’t have any sparring or competitions. So getting an actual feel of a practitioner’s level is hard. A belt system is a ranking system after all, and if a blue belt submits black belts on a regular basis (though it can happen), kind of beats the purpose of a belt system altogether. However, if your martial art is devoid of sparring, the ranking will be based more on attendance than anything else.
There are a few exceptions, Shodokan Aikido is a style that incorporates competitions, and progress there is dependent on competing, at least in a gym or local level. Also, Yoshinkan Aikido offers a special apprenticeship program which is very gruesome and tough. However, joining and completing it will grant you a black belt in 11 months.
How long do you need to practice to get a Karate Black Belt?
Karate became an umbrella name for many styles, and therefore we need to differentiate between Japanese Karate styles, like Shotokan, Goju Ryu, etc. and American Karate. Let’s start with the second – American Karate.
We’re not traditionalists per se, but American Karate isn’t actually Karate. When you break the Japanese characters, Karate means “empty hands”, so any empty handed technique is Karate right? In our opinion – WRONG – Karate is a brand, or a few styles that originated in the islands of Okinawa and then spread to mainland Japan. The most famous one is perhaps Shotokan, which was founded by Gichin Funakoshi, but there are many others in Okinawa that later adopted the name Karate to their name. These are all legit styles.
Anything other than these might be a very effective martial art that utilizes the use of empty hands (there is a lot of weapon use in Karate btw). American Karate came to be as a result of the immense popularity of Karate in the 80’s and 90’s. A lot of the Karate schools in the States are actually teaching Korean martial arts, but changed their name to Karate just for enjoying the brand name. They don’t really follow a centralized standard, and in many you can get a black belt in 1 year, as a lot of these schools are business oriented, and charge for every belt promotion and test. Whether you should join such a school is really up to you.
Japanese Karate on the other hand is regulated by head organizations in Japan. It’s pretty common to see students get promoted to black belts after 3-4 years in most styles, and about 5-6 in more traditional Okinawan styles. In all styles of Karate there’s a black belt test, that requires the performance of Kata, techniques, and sparring with other club members. In Okinawan Karate the tests can also include gruesome conditioning and multiple opponent fights, as well as more esoteric tests.Okinawan Karate in Okinawa is considered as a way of life, and therefore they don’t rush to give you a black belt, as it’s not as important as the way.
How long does it take to get a black belt in Taekwondo?
Most Taekwondo schools aren’t very strict and don’t employ a time frame necessary in order to receive your black belt. Compared to its Japanese counterparts, the process is rather faster. The average to achieve this feat is about 3 years on average, with some schools granting it after 1.5-2 years, for dedicated practitioners. However, most schools who focus on competition, especially in the higher levels, won’t give you a black belt in Taekwondo in less than 4 years.
Getting a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black belt
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu holds the strictest standard for black belts as of today. Unless other martial arts will toughen their criteria for black belt requirements in their system, or new and stricter martial arts will evolve, this is going to be the hardest black belt to achieve in the foreseen future. Although there is some variation between schools, IBJJF set a time frame necessary for BJJ belt promotions. Until recently there wasn’t one, and standards were kept very high by the teachers themselves but with the exponential growth of BJJ, and seeing what happened to other martial arts in similar situations in the past, this standard was set, in order to prevent watering down the system and its ranking.
So by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, the minimum time required to get a BJJ Black Belt is 5.5 years – 1 as a white belt, 2 as a blue belt, 1.5 as a purple belt, and 1 as a brown belt. However, this is only the minimum requirement that is almost never met, and most people get their BJJ black belt after 10 years or more. Only a few very talented BJJ athletes get their BB so quickly. Until today, most schools don’t have a formal black belt test, and it is given when the professor feels you’re ready for it. So what is expected of a BJJ black belt? For some schools, competition is the most important aspect, and their black belts were strong competitors.
For others, competition isn’t the most important thing, so they need to hold a vast amount of knowledge, and perform well in rolling (sparring in BJJ is called rolling). So a black belt is supposed to dominate white belts, blue belts and purple belts, and to give a really hard time to brown belts. In general, a BJJ practitioner will spend much more time on the mat compared to any other similar belt of different arts. A BJJ black belt isn’t considered a first step in the way like in other martial arts, and is already an expert by the BJJ community.
Krav Maga black belt can be granted in 3 years
But it usually takes longer to get. 3 years are the minimum required, in which you’ll need to master each level. It starts from basic techniques, punches and kicks, to ground fighting, and mental exercise. The first levels’ primary focus is to defend against chokes, punches and kicks as well as applying damage on attackers with strikes. Later weapons defence (knives, sticks, guns), and ground fighting which are considered more difficult technically are practiced. A brown belt will already cover the whole curriculum.
As a black belt, you won’t need more techniques, you’ll just need to apply them in the right mindset. Krav Maga’s techniques are all borrowed from other styles, like Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling, boxing, Karatel, and later on from Filipino martial arts and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but the mindset of Krav has to be present in each move. That is survival, finishing as quickly and efficiently as possible, being minded to the situation, the type of violence being applied to you or your surrounding (criminal or social violence, terrorism, hostage situation, and so on), and reacting in the proper manner for each situation, in order to enhance your and your party’s chances of survival. Many schools will make sure you’ll get 5-7 years of training before you’ll get your black belt, and some up to 9 years, but if you have a strong background in Karate or Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, expect to progress much faster.
A Japanese Jiu-Jitsu black belt?
Japanese Jiu-Jitsu is the father of Judo, BJJ, and Aikido. Some will argue that it is also the origin of Krav Maga, Sambo, and more.. No matter how we look at it, it had a major impact on many modern martial arts (like the ones mentioned above). Japanese Jiu-Jitsu is a complete martial art, in which a black belt will learn how to kick and punch as well as throws and locks, chokes and submissions and weapon training.
Being a more traditional art, and not so much a way of life (hence the suffix of this art is Jutsu – which means skill, rather than Do – way), the art is meant to be applicable in real life situations in a relatively short period of time. A black belt is usually granted after 5 years, in which you’ll already learn a lot of useful fighting skills (and also several obsolete ones). Unlike other arts you might not be very specialized in any specific aspect of the art, but you’ll be a well rounded fighter for the time you’ve been training.
Not all martial arts have a belt system, therefore you’ll never get a black belt in them
Does this make other martial arts less efficient? Like Sambo, wrestling, Muay Thai, and Boxing? What about Escrima and Muay Boran? A black belt is only applicable to Japanese martial arts and those that were highly influenced by it. The relevance of a martial art to your lifestyle is more important than the belt. For instance, being a Krav Maga black belt might be more relevant to you than a BJJ black belt if you’re usually encountering life and death situations. A Japanese Jiu-Jitsu black might know how to use traditional weapons, but what’s the use of it in your life if not for cultivating your spirit and keeping samurai traditions alive.
Some systems like Sambo, Catch Wrestling, and even many No-Gi BJJ schools don’t have and don’t give black belts. But a long time practitioner of these styles won’t be less good of a grappler than a BJJ black belt. Perhaps the most famous MMA fighter and a grappler of his era is Kazushi Sakuraba, who got his nickname “The Gracie Hunter” for a reason, and when he received his honorary BJJ black belt at 2017, he joked around that he doesn’t even know how to tie it.
Moreover, the techniques and relevance of each art are more important than the cloth you tie your kimono with. Another factor is the time it takes to reach a certain level. If it takes the same time to become a BJJ blue belt as it does to become a Taekwondo black belt, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a BJJ blue belt wins over a Taekwondo black belt more often than not.
So our final conclusion is similar to the one we started with, and now that you know how much time and effort one needs to put in order to receive his black belt in several martial arts, choose the one which suits you best, and enjoy the way. Your path to the desired black belt is what matters, not the belt. Choose the art you’ll happily trust, and train as hard and diligently as you can. And one day, you’ll sport a black belt of your own. As the saying goes, a black belt is just a white belt who didn’t quit.