GrAdInGs.....black sash in two/three years????

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by Lowlynobody
How long would it take the average BJJ stylist to reach his/her black belt rank in your school?


Lowlynobody.

our purple belts have been at it for around 3.5 - 4 years - and that's training 4 days a week for 2.5 - 3 hours per session. The time will vary from person to person, however.

[OneStrike]

I reckon ten years is about average for a BJJ blackbelt. Some instructors are tougher, some are less tough, but ten years is a good rough estimate.

[David Jamieson]

10 years of diligent study and practice of anything will bring you on some level or degree of personal mastery in that subject.

doesn't mean you stop. as you continue forward with anything you will get better and better.

eventually, sash/belt, what have you will have no relevance at all.

so continue!

peace

[phoenix-eye]

Taoboy got it spot on. Shaolin monk Shi Yanzi made exactly that point when we had a seminar with him - he has trained 6-8 hours each day for 20 years. If I only train 2 hrs - 3 times a week then how can I suggest that I'll ever be anywhere near his level.

However, in my club we do wear sashes but it is just an internal ranking system and a goal setting mechanism. Sifu has always said that the black sash only indicates that your basics are at a sufficient level to begin the real training.

When we trained with Shi Yanzi - Sifu made everyone remove their sashes - including himself.

In other words - outside our club the sash is meaningless.

[OneStrike]

I don't agree that two equally gifted people will progress to the same level after putting in the same amount of "contact hours". I don't think it's that simple.

One of the most important things in acquiring a physical skill IMO is committing it to muscle memory, being able to do something without thinking about it. I think this happens gradually and you just have to wait for it to happen. If you train a technique and drill it enough to keep it fresh in your memory over a longer period of time, it'll be more thoroughly assimilated than someone who has just drilled the technique for the same amount of time but in the course of one day.

I'd be willing to bet that out of two people who've trained at the same intensity and in the same way for the same number of contact hours, the one who has done so over the longer period of time will be more comfortable with the techniques.

Of course, it's not that simple either: you have to train for a long enough period of time that you can effectively drill the technique in each session, you have to maintain the regularity of the training and you have to ensure that there's not enough time between sessions to get rusty. But take a guy who trains two hours over two days in a week and another guy who trains four hours over two days in a week and I guarantee you that they'll be pretty close to equal in skill, all else being the same. The guy who trains longer will have a slight edge, but not by as much as some of you seem to think.