time for wing chun black belt

Discussion in 'Kung Fu' started by gornex, Mar 31, 2006.

  1. gornex

    gornex Valued Member

    i know this has been asked a million billion times, but i couldn't find answers from some wing chun people. I was wondering how long it takes the average wing chun guy to reach black sash. I asked my sifu and he said 6 years. This seems like a really really long time, so that means that i won't get my black sash till i am 23. It just seems so far away, and i will be brown for like 2 years. Just wondering how long it takes at your school.
     
  2. Lord Varatrix

    Lord Varatrix New Member

    Well it took me 4 years to get my black belt in japanese jiu jitsu, not like that helps, lol sorry, im no help :cry:
     
  3. gornex

    gornex Valued Member

    lol thanks anyway, i have been really surprised about some of the comparing times for black belts. I have heard some schools take around 1-2 years, this really surprises me. I am not sure if this good, like i would rather take a long time to get a black belt and be super bad ass then get a black belt and suck at fighting.
     
  4. Lord Varatrix

    Lord Varatrix New Member

    1 or 2 years? thats nothing, i've seen worse, lol

    a guy i knew about 7-8 years ago, when to a karate school at a ymca, and no joke, he had his black belt in 7 MONTHS! dont ask me how, but he started at white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, black, got 1 belt every month, no 2nd blue no 2nd and 3rd brown, just one of each!

    when he told me i was like :eek: and he was like :cool:

    talk about a mcdojo, rofl.
     
  5. karshin

    karshin New Member

    It just goes to show that maybe you're asking the wrong question. Perhaps, you should be asking "how long will it take to get as skilled as sifu?" :p
     
    Monkey_Magic likes this.
  6. Gert-Jan

    Gert-Jan Valued Member

    There is no graduation system with belts in Wing Chun and please keep it that way. Motivation for belts is different from motivation to do training and development. It doesn't help it makes you focus on the getting things like belts, diploma's and god knows what. Lets keep focus on our elbows, knees, position, balance, skill and perseverance.Training means developments and has it’s ups and downs. At the downs, perseverance comes into play and you have a chance to show character.

    GJ.
     
  7. yelserpdog

    yelserpdog New Member

    We don't have belts or sashes at the school I go to and we don't have many gradings/ tests. I go to class to learn the art and how to defend myself, that's what's important (to me anyway!).
     
  8. Bil Gee

    Bil Gee Thug

    We have a grading system, it would probably take about 4-5 years going flat out to get the first (of four) black sashes. If you are just aiming to shoot through the gradings so that you can tell people that you're a black belt, wing chun isn't the best option.
     
  9. oldman

    oldman Banned Banned


    Dude first lets get things in perspective. If you are wanting a black sash get one from ebay now. You really should be training for the love in wing chun and not for trinkets and at the age of 23 a black is not a bad thing stop wishing your life away martial arts is a life time experience :eek:
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2006
  10. pqs

    pqs Valued Member

    What is a Black Sash in Wing Chun anyway?
    Traditionally the first 2 forms were considered the Basics of Wing Chun (ie defend yourself quite quickly) Bui Gee is the gate out of jail card(the advance stuff) then you have the dummy at some point, then the weapons which is when you staart to research the system and make it your own.
    You may have a black sash in a few years but you won't know the system.
    Best Regards
    Peter
     
  11. Bil Gee

    Bil Gee Thug


    I don't think there's a definitive definition of a wing chun "black sash". We have gradings in the organisation that I train with, they aren't a big deal, nobody wears belts in class, you have to be in the class for a while and attend a few gradings before you even get to know who's at what grade. The gradings are about having a structured syllabus rather than about status.

    We have four belts, red, green, brown and black.
    each of the four belts has four grades.
    we have to be approved to go for a grading by our sifu first
    red = SLT
    green = CK
    brown = BG
    black 1= Wooden Dummy
    after that I'm not too sure, but there are four blacks and the pole and butterfly knife forms are in there somewhere.
    Gradings requiring application of wing chun in full contact sparring are from green upwards.

    Personally I prefer it because you have a clear short term objective, and a long term plan for development, and it seems to work because WC skills amongst the senior students seem to approximate to their grades.

    Gradings occur every three months, so it's possible to go through red and green in approximately two years (attending 3-4 nights a week). I think it takes longer to move through the brown gradings (I'm guessing twice as long) although I've not come across anyone who seems to have moved through the syllabus at that rate, less than half the class tend to grade each time round.

    Theoretically, I guess someone could get their first black sash in about 4 years, but I don't think that happens very often, and they would still not have learned the complete system.

    I know a few people who have been at it for years and have been happy to plod along at a really slow pace just making it to green or just red or in one case never doing any gradings at all. Nobody is really pushed people just go at a pace that they feel comfortable with.
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2006
  12. Freeform

    Freeform Fully operational War-Pig Supporter

    It's is currently in the process of renegotiation ;) The Black sash is being made harder :)
     
  13. Strafio

    Strafio Trying again...

    We have sashes to show roughly what we know.
    So different sashes will do different things, depending on what they're considered ready for.

    I've been Red for aaaaages now.
    My "technical wing chun" is fairly good (although my footwork/stancework needs more work), my main problem is that I still can't keep my nerve in sparring yet. I don't flinch as badly as I used to (turning away and closing my eyes, hoping those incoming punches would just disappear! :)) but it still breaks my composure and my opponent ends up getting the better of me much easier than they ought to.

    I'll master it all someday! :)
     
  14. Gert-Jan

    Gert-Jan Valued Member

    We have training for that! :rolleyes:

    GJ.
     
  15. Lord Varatrix

    Lord Varatrix New Member

    See, in my wing chun class we dont have belts, so i dont gotta worry, i still got that nice long black sash around my waist :D
     
  16. someotherguy

    someotherguy Valued Member

    I have a belt, it keeps my trousers from falling down...very useful object
     
  17. Gert-Jan

    Gert-Jan Valued Member

    In Holland we have invented elastic to solve that problem. :)

    Of all sports and arts, only in the martial arts people want to train in old fashioned clothes and gear. :rolleyes:
    Training clothes should be very practical and sashes, kimono’s, kung fu suites, sleeves, Chinese slippers and belt’s are a burden. Maybe nice for a few traditional photo’s, but that’s it. Go with the time: adidas, nike, puma etc. have made good inventions on sportswear.

    GJ.
     
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  18. jimmytofu

    jimmytofu A majority of one

    It's all made in China anyway.
     
  19. Strafio

    Strafio Trying again...

    Do you consider yourself too "grown up" to enjoy dressing up then?
    Meh!
     
  20. Mushroom

    Mushroom De-powered to come back better than before.

    (non-WCer here)

    Slightly serious reply here. (a bit unusual for me I know but I've had a few :9)

    Wouldnt you rather be thinking about how well you're doing rather than wondering how long its going to take to get a blet?
    I do understand that a belt can sometimes stimulate the student to try harder to get a belt, a marker of position...but saying 'oh its going to take ages' is a bit of a negative thought isnt it?

    Would you rather have a rushed training and have abelt? or an eventual achievment of your goal dependant on your abilities?

    In my class, we dont use a belt system. We figure out students via the forms they have learnt. So in a way our forms are our belts.
    Learner is set 1-3, middle is sets 4-7 and so on.........
     

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