subject: Get A Taekwondo Black Belt in Less than Two Years [print this page] Chuck Norris got his Taekwondo Black Belt in less than two years. It was known as Tang Soo Do back then, and he wasn't touted as an unusual talent, at least not until he became famous, that was just the length of time it took to get a black belt in those days in that country.
Now, to be sure, lessons were two hours a night six days a week, and there were no drugs or internet to distract, but the real reason it took so little time is because students didn't know about other systems, so they stayed true to their own system, and that's the way it was.
No, they didn't learn gung fu while they were learning krav maga, and that means they didn't get confused by data that sometimes contradicted. We had what I called Closed Combat Systems. Simply, you stayed true to your art, and got everything you could out of your art--the full benefits--before moving on.
There is good and bad to this process. It is good to stay focused and intent upon your direction and purpose, and this will give you abilities that, sadly, are not passed on by today's martial arts teachers. It is bad not to know everything you can. It is good to be sure of the knowledge that you have earned. It is bad because it builds a my art is the only art' attitude. And so on.
That all said, if you want the benefits of the old martial arts masters, and this is an intuitiveness that is not present in todays studies, then the new system needs to be rebuilt.
Instead of fourteen rankings including juniors and assistant instructors to the Nth, only four belts. The four belts would be:
white beginner Kebon forms
green intermediate Pinan 1-5 (Heian 1-5)
brown advanced Sanchin, seisan, sanseirui
or. um be, bot sai, horse form
black expert internal energy forms
The kebon forms are a no brainer. Drill the basics until they are seeping out of you.
The pinans are examples of a well balanced system, one must research this for the taekwondo they are practicing. as the forms have changed a couple of times.
The alternative choices for the brown belt kata depend on size of the student, and other factors.
Black belt...unfortunately, most systems do not have internal energy forms, or the forms they do have are sadly lacking. I'll write something on this at some other time.
Anyway, the point here is that you can toss away all the repeat techniques and forms, all those poser moves, and consolidate your teachings according to hard core principles that make sense.
The best process for doing something like this would be to learn and apply matrixing to your art. With matrixing I can actually reduce learn time down to less than a year, though it is difficult and depends upon the student.
Still, whether you matrix or not, the data I've given you here should go a long way.
Whether you are a student or instructor, no matter what your style is, the concept of being efficient and turning out a taekwondo black belt within a year or two is something to be admired and sought.
