How long did it take you to get to the TKD belt rank you have now?
- Thread starter ukdal1
- Start date
I've been in WTF TKD for 3 1/2 years and will test for my second gup (red belt) June 20th and 21st. I usually attend three classes per week and help instruct another two classes per week.
When I started, all I wanted was to get the next belt so I was one belt closer to BB. Now I just enjoy the ride and test when I'm ready, not when I have met the minimum training requirements. I will get my BB one day but not any time soon. And I now understand that BB is a beginning, not an end. Kind of like graduation from High School. It's the beginning of your adulthood...
When I started, all I wanted was to get the next belt so I was one belt closer to BB. Now I just enjoy the ride and test when I'm ready, not when I have met the minimum training requirements. I will get my BB one day but not any time soon. And I now understand that BB is a beginning, not an end. Kind of like graduation from High School. It's the beginning of your adulthood...
Artemis_Neetcudt
White Belt
About one year to get to red stripe (i dont know how other peoples belt rankings go, if they're any different, but thats 3 belts away from 1st degree black belt)
Windsinger
Green Belt
It took me less than an hour...
As you can guess, I'm a white belt.
Sorry, guys. Couldn't resist.
As you can guess, I'm a white belt.
Sorry, guys. Couldn't resist.
chrispillertkd
Senior Master
I started in Taekwon-Do in 1986 (well, really in 1981 but then stopped after getting 9th gup) and tested to IV dan in 2000. I will be testing for V dan this Fall (probably in October, maybe November).
Pax,
Chris
Pax,
Chris
So how many belts are you from white and how long until you will become 1st degree black belt?
Well, I just passed my four year anniversary at my dojang. It took me about 3 years to get my 1st dan and am now half way throughthe 2nd dan curriculum. I figure I have about a year to go before I test for 2nd dan.
I suppose that makes me a bit of a rank chaser. However, I generally think it took me about 20 years to earn my black belt. I've been througha number of MA's and have always had to leave due to various life circumstances before acheiving black belt of instructor status. By the time I came to TKD, I had a pretty strong roundation that let me move through the ranks easily.
Now, I keep testing up so I can keep learning new stuff. While I love refining what I already know, I always need new challenges to keep my training fresh. So, as long as my body will let me, I'll keep testing up and training hard.
Peace,
Erik
I suppose that makes me a bit of a rank chaser. However, I generally think it took me about 20 years to earn my black belt. I've been througha number of MA's and have always had to leave due to various life circumstances before acheiving black belt of instructor status. By the time I came to TKD, I had a pretty strong roundation that let me move through the ranks easily.
Now, I keep testing up so I can keep learning new stuff. While I love refining what I already know, I always need new challenges to keep my training fresh. So, as long as my body will let me, I'll keep testing up and training hard.
Peace,
Erik
CrimsonPhoenix
Orange Belt
I've been training in the martial arts for a total of seven years and made it to blue belt (5th kyu) in my first system.
In my current TKD class I'm the highest rank as blue belt (4th kyu) and have trained for about five and a half years. I had quite a lull between high green and blue and hung out there for a number of years. Combination of lack of motivation and several other factors. Now I'm back on target and hope to test for my brown (3rd kyu) later this year.
In my current TKD class I'm the highest rank as blue belt (4th kyu) and have trained for about five and a half years. I had quite a lull between high green and blue and hung out there for a number of years. Combination of lack of motivation and several other factors. Now I'm back on target and hope to test for my brown (3rd kyu) later this year.
jim777
Master Black Belt
In our school it would be blue belt with a red tip on the end, or 3rd kup.
When I was actively training in TKD I made in to 2nd degree at just after 5yrs. Me and my buddies trained always 5, 6, & 7 days a week. We were all the same age. We all stayed at eachother's houses and trained. We trained inside, outside, in the dark, at the studio with a lot being out of the studio. Our instructor finally gave us a key to train a little more safely. At that time we really didn't care. Even after we finished up with classes we would go to someone's house to train, spar or do whatever. I miss my buddies now as we all have went our seperate ways. This would probably answer your question as to why I was promoted a little more quickly than others.
We had a great time together. You all made me miss my buddies & all the good times. Thanks though, think I'm gonna call one of them in a minute.
We had a great time together. You all made me miss my buddies & all the good times. Thanks though, think I'm gonna call one of them in a minute.
I first stepped into the world of taekwondo back in the seventies. I trained through the recreation department for a summer when I was about seven and then at Jhoon Rhee for about a year when I was nine: my first two green belts. I practiced what I knew and then picked it back up in my late teens with a non affiliated school, getting to 1st geup in my early twenties. Then I got married, had kids, and had no time or money for martial arts. I slowly creeped back into martial arts via sport fencing, then later kendo/kumdo, which I've done for several years now and hold the rank of second dan.
That brought me back to taekwondo, which is my first love. We have blackbelt gradings in August, and my master has said that I should be ready provided that I continue training hard and fine tune a few things.
So, to answer the question posed by the OP, about thirty four years.:jaw-dropping:
Daniel
That brought me back to taekwondo, which is my first love. We have blackbelt gradings in August, and my master has said that I should be ready provided that I continue training hard and fine tune a few things.
So, to answer the question posed by the OP, about thirty four years.:jaw-dropping:
Daniel
It took me about 24 years of specific TKD training to achieve 5th Dan... I trained an average of 20 hours per week through the years, and I was an instructor as well.
"Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect." - Vince Lombardi
"Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect." - Vince Lombardi
skribs
Grandmaster
Let me see, I started taking TKD classes in about '95 or '96, and I'm currently purple belt (10th gup). Okay, I quit in middle school with a green belt and 14 years later (5 months ago) I started back up. I've tested into two new colors and am almost ready for a third.
My previous experience and understanding of the theory is helping me advance at a brisk pace (and the fact I practice every day). The two biggest handicaps I have are my training space at home is 8 feet by 5 feet and my flexibilty.
My previous experience and understanding of the theory is helping me advance at a brisk pace (and the fact I practice every day). The two biggest handicaps I have are my training space at home is 8 feet by 5 feet and my flexibilty.
Balrog
Master of Arts
I am a 6th Degree in the ATA. I started training with them in 1987, so 26 years. 29 total, if I count the three years that I did back in the 60s with Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee's organization.
ralphmcpherson
Senior Master
Took about four years to get my first dan, after two years as a first dan I can go go for second dan. I have been a first dan now for nearly four years. I really should go for second dan one of these days 
