Belt Testing Times & Pactice?

[ldgman1970]

Hi all,

I posted this under my old post under beginner's corner and haven't received a response so I thought I would repost here...

I signed up for an intoductory program at Larry Tatum's and so far I have had two private lessons. I am very impressed with the quality of the studio and I will probably become a regular student there when I am done with my intro lessons. It's so great to be at a place where everyone seems so committed to and excited by what they are doing.

I did have a couple of questions for some of you Kenpo practioners. First, how much practice do you do outside of class? I have been starting to practice the techniques a couple of times a day. And second, and I am sure there is a thread on this but I can't find it, generally how much time is there between testing for the each belt level? I am specifically curious about the first few levels, i.e. white through blue. My understanding is that once you get to blue things can start to slow down quite a bit. And although I know this is highly individual I am curious about average times.

Thanks!!

 

[parkerkarate]

Hi,

First of all let me tell you how glad I am that you decided to take Kenpo. I am a college student so Ido not have the time that I want to practice. I am a second degree black belt, so it is important to practice. If you want to go threw the first few ranks quickly you should practice because it is just like you are in grade school. If you do not study and test your mind on the knowledge you will forget it. It is trew that things start to slow down after blue belt, this is only because things start to become tricky. But at the same time they are still fun.

Good luck with your training.

 

[bzarnett]

How much you practice depends on where you want to go with it, and to a certain extent, your current level.


If you can do 10 or 15 minutes every day you will get a lot done. I suggest my new students to work on their material (forms, sets, techniques, freestyle) in a slow manner working on form, principles of motion (exhale, anchor your elbows, etc.) It does wonders.

As you progress through the ranks it depends on what level you want to maintain. In the morning before I go to work I practice my sets - all the #1 and alternate between the #2s - takes about 15 minutes. In the evening I go through all my forms and pick a rank of techniques to work on. I pick some principles I want to work on, a nature of attack, something - and away I go.

The amount of time is directly related to your passion in the art. Start off slow and don't burn yourself out.

I like the Monday to Thursday 15 minute rule and 15 minutes on Sunday for new students.

Don't worry if you can't follow all the terms, you will get them all shortly. Make notes after (or if possible during) your lessons and work on it in the morning or evening for fifteen minutes.

Good luck artyon:

 

[Michael Billings]

I think the speed you progress is directly proportional to the amount of time you get to practice. Note: you can practice the wrong thing until it also becomes a habit, so make sure and review what you are practicing with your instructor then have at it.

The 15' rule sounds nice, but as the amount of material you have increases, as bzarnett posted, so too does the time required to get through it all. He is cycling material, an excellent way to keep it from getting stale ... not a problem at your level.

Good luck and good training. Welcome to the ranks, you picked a fine school.

-Michael

 

[ldgman1970]

Thanks for the replies. I have been practicing about 15 minutes or so every day and I am trying to increase that in small increments. But I do agree that I need to check in with my instructor to make sure I am doing the techniques correctly. And I must say doing a martial art at 34 is way different than doing it at 18. I really need to work on my stretching and flexibility. At any rate I am going to join this studio as soon as my introductory period is up.

 

[ldgman1970]

I wanted to give a bump to this post since I am now well into a month and a half of training. Not that I am belt hungry or and I am not looking to jump ranks before I am ready but I am curious as to how far I can expect to progress belt wise in a year of training? I am training at a fairly traditional EPAK school and I train about three days per week. Is orange or even purple achievable? I saw one old post where someone said at their school people were white for a whole year and that seems a little long. I know this is very individual but lets assume we are talking about someone that is physically fit and has at least average physical coordination.

Thanks

 

[parkerkarate]

After a year I was either purple or blue I can nopt totally remember. But yes you sould expect to gain a purple belt or orange at the least.

 

[Gentle Fist]

Going twice a week and practicing at home 15-20 minutes at home should get you to purple belt during your first year.

Blue belt is like 5th grade I guess. You should have about 25-35% of your material needed for black belt at this point. This varies with each school.

Green belt can take a year or more to cut through and Brown belt has three sub-ranks each spanning 9 months or more. These ranks build on your basics and open up new varations for everything you already have been shown.

A black belt in Kenpo realistically should take 6-8 years for a total martial arts newbie.

Remember Black belt means your serious now, but still know very little...

This is what my school roughly uses, remember that all schools are different.

 

[shane23ss]

fistlaw's response is about right. You should be able to achieve purple within the first year. Just remember that as you progress, it does slow down. Don't get discouraged or frustrated. It's not that you are not as good, or are less physically capable, it's that the art gets more technical and more in depth. Stick with it and you'll do fine.

 

[still learning]

Hello, When I first start in Karate , my old Sensi use to say ,one hour in class and five hours at home. No hard rules, but like any activity the more you can practice the more you will benfit. The best always practice harder and more often. Even while watching TV you can be doing some excerise of some kind during commercials.

Your school should have some kind of folder or material for requirements for your next testing, and each rank. No hard rules, usually 6 months to a year in lot of styles for testing to the next rank. ....Aloha

 

[ldgman1970]

Thanks for all of the replies. I kind of thought getting to purple within a year was possible but I wasn't sure. I was told that I should probably expect to test for yellow within about three months give or take. My school isn't super formal as far as documenting exactly how many times a week I attend class but since almost every student, including myself, has one private lesson per week I think they leave it to your private instructor to decide when you are ready to test.

 

[tmonis]

Going twice a week and practicing at home 15-20 minutes at home should get you to purple belt during your first year.

Blue belt is like 5th grade I guess. You should have about 25-35% of your material needed for black belt at this point. This varies with each school.

Green belt can take a year or more to cut through and Brown belt has three sub-ranks each spanning 9 months or more. These ranks build on your basics and open up new varations for everything you already have been shown.

A black belt in Kenpo realistically should take 6-8 years for a total martial arts newbie.

Remember Black belt means your serious now, but still know very little...

This is what my school roughly uses, remember that all schools are different.

Great Post. Time is your best tool in the arts. To many people sell out their art by ranking students to fast. And you are right, Black Belt means your training is just beginning.

 

[ldgman1970]

That's definitely a neat way of looking at a black belt. But I guess that makes sense. Even my current private lesson instructor, who is testing for his second black in about two weeks, said that only now certain techniques that he learned a long time ago are starting to make sense and really gel for him.

 

[vantelimus]

Going twice a week and practicing at home 15-20 minutes at home should get you to purple belt during your first year.

Blue belt is like 5th grade I guess. You should have about 25-35% of your material needed for black belt at this point. This varies with each school.

Green belt can take a year or more to cut through and Brown belt has three sub-ranks each spanning 9 months or more. These ranks build on your basics and open up new varations for everything you already have been shown.

A black belt in Kenpo realistically should take 6-8 years for a total martial arts newbie.

Remember Black belt means your serious now, but still know very little...

This is what my school roughly uses, remember that all schools are different.

To paraphrase a wise man: "It isn't time in the arts that counts, but time at the arts that counts".

15 minutes a day might get you a black belt in 6 years. Then again, it might not. It depends on how you spend the 15 minutes. If you spend an hour a day, you may shorten the time it takes. Again, it depends on how you spend the hour.

Rules of thumb, like 6 to 8 years to get a BB, should be taken as indirect measures of time AT the arts. Put in the time. If you have a good instructor he will keep you on track and promote you when you are ready.

peace,
V

 

[dianhsuhe]

IDGman1970: How is the training coming? Just ran across this old thread...

 

[KenpoVzla]

That's so great that you're training with Master Larry Tatum! You surely are getting the right things taught. Anyway practice times outside of class are always according to your own personal goals, depending on what level you want to take the art to. I think that you should be practicing 6 to 8 hours a day if you want to become a master and grand champion, and of course while that may seem like a lot of hours, it may actually be what it's needed for achieving a master level.

Then again, that's the highest goal you want to set, the 15 minute rule might be more suitable for more people. Try seeing if you're progressing at the level you want to with this time, if not, kick it up a notch to maybe 30minutes, and so on...