How long to complete your style?

[DanT]

Basically I asked my Sifu (he teaches white crane, wing chun, and northern shaolin) how long it takes to complete (attain a high level of skill and be proficient in all aspects of the system) each style. His answer was that it depends on the student, but generally an average Joe who works his butt off (minimum 20 h of training a week) could do:

-wing chun in 8 years
-northern shaolin in 12 years
-white crane in 20 years

How about in your style?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Basically I asked my Sifu (he teaches white crane, wing chun, and northern shaolin) how long it takes to complete (attain a high level of skill and be proficient in all aspects of the system) each style. His answer was that it depends on the student, but generally an average Joe who works his butt off (minimum 20 h of training a week) could do:

-wing chun in 8 years
-northern shaolin in 12 years
-white crane in 20 years

How about in your style?

In Nihon Goshin Aikido, the 20h/wk is a stretch. Because of the nature of the art, the core of it isn't easily practiced solo until you get well into the art. Thus, 20h would probably translate to 10-15 classes per week, plus a bit of solo work on strikes and stances. That's way beyond anything I've seen anyone do consistently to be able to judge by, and 10 classes a week is a brutal number of falls until you get really good at falling, then it's only very rough (I did about that level for several-month stretches a few times).

So, I'll go with 4 classes per week, plus a bit of home study - about 8-10h. At that rate, a reasonably athletic person could probably become proficient in all aspects of the system in 10-15 years. Being proficient in the basics, allowing for leveraging the non-aiki portions of the art more, would shorten that a bit, so more like 7-12 years. Depending upon how the art is viewed, this latter measure is a reasonable place for someone to teach the art, though they'll be "harder" in it than they're likely to be a few years later.

 

[O'Malley]

There's an inside joke among aikidoka that says "ok you only need to practice 20 more years to figure out this technique".

It applies to all of our techniques, even the ones that you can kind of apply on your first try.

My teachers are 30+ years in and say that if after all this time you still feel like you have no idea of what you are doing it's perfectly normal. You learn to live with that feeling.

 

[drop bear]

It would be 10 plus years to compete at MMA at a top level.

Wait. 20 hrs a week? That is full time plus some.

 

[Kickboxer101]

Basically I asked my Sifu (he teaches white crane, wing chun, and northern shaolin) how long it takes to complete (attain a high level of skill and be proficient in all aspects of the system) each style. His answer was that it depends on the student, but generally an average Joe who works his butt off (minimum 20 h of training a week) could do:

-wing chun in 8 years
-northern shaolin in 12 years
-white crane in 20 years

How about in your style?

Yeah no one trains 20 hours a week

 

[Tames D]

If it takes 20 years to become proficient in a martial art, while training 20 hours a week, then you are a 'well below average Joe'.

 

[Tames D]

Double post.

 

[Touch Of Death]

You can't complete Kenpo, but I figure four, maybe five, lifetimes.

 

[Touch Of Death]

Double post.

If you train from, say, the age of seven, you are a badass, by the age of 27. That ain't bad.

 

[Buka]

I think it takes a good ten years to know what the hell is up concerning fighting. That's what Ali, Oyama, Lee and all the other greats always said. I happen to think they're right. They also said it takes about thirty years, give or take, to really understand your style. I agree with that as well.

As far as no one trains twenty hours a week - say what? Every professional I ever knew trained that much....on an off week. On a regular week, you do that much by Wednesday.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I don't think you can ever "complete" any art. There's always something new, if you're doing it right.
I think 10 years to get a good solid grounding is not unreasonable.

 

[Midnight-shadow]

In October 2016 one of our instructors recently passed his final grading, where he had to perform all 20 of our White Crane patterns one after the other (it took him an hour to do this during the grading). He has been training White Crane since 2002. He is only one of three people who have managed this, with the other 2 being the other 2 instructors.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

If it takes 20 years to become proficient in a martial art, while training 20 hours a week, then you are a 'well below average Joe'.

I don't know, Tames. If someone trained in NGA 20 hours a week, they'd be so beat up from the falls it might take them 20 years.

 

[DanT]

If it takes 20 years to become proficient in a martial art, while training 20 hours a week, then you are a 'well below average Joe'.

Yeah no one trains 20 hours a week

How can you be so sure? I train more than 20.

 

[DanT]

If it takes 20 years to become proficient in a martial art, while training 20 hours a week, then you are a 'well below average Joe'.

the thing specifically about white crane is that there are 18 weapons to learn, plus 90+ hand forms, and 20 set fighting routines, plus sparring and weapons sparring and ground work. I personally don't train it, but it's a very complicated system. I have a Kung fu brother at my school who has trained it for the last 15 years and still has another third of the system to learn, and he's excellent at Kung fu.

 

[DanT]

I don't know, Tames. If someone trained in NGA 20 hours a week, they'd be so beat up from the falls it might take them 20 years.

20 hours a week doesn't seem that much to me, I mean it's not all falling down right? There could be footwork and other things to practice? I have a question, how do you guys break down say an hour of training?

 

[DanT]

In October 2016 one of our instructors recently passed his final grading, where he had to perform all 20 of our White Crane patterns one after the other (it took him an hour to do this during the grading). He has been training White Crane since 2002. He is only one of three people who have managed this, with the other 2 being the other 2 instructors.

Our white crane style (flying crane) has over 90 patterns and 18 weapons so like only two people have "completed it" in 50 years lmao.

 

[DanT]

It would be 10 plus years to compete at MMA at a top level.

Wait. 20 hrs a week? That is full time plus some.

Top level mma fighters train 30+ h a week.

 

[DanT]

I don't think you can ever "complete" any art. There's always something new, if you're doing it right.
I think 10 years to get a good solid grounding is not unreasonable.

i agree

 

[marques]

For 20h/month, perhaps less than 5 years to attain a good level. But no beginner was training that much. So it was always 5+ years. No 2 people are the same, but it is a good indicative figure for most of the styles. Decades of great and regular training to attain high level.

Just indicative figures because the level is very relative. One black belt 1st Dan may be years-light from another. In some places I feel I could teach the instructor (and the instructor's instructor...) and in another places I am just the average Joe.