What is the quickest and easiest black belt to achieve in martial arts?

When it comes to learning and training martial arts, you’ll quickly learn that there’s a spectrum of speed in regard to belt promotions. In other words, you may know that certain arts such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu takes roughly 10 years or more to get a black belt. Elsewhere, other traditional arts such as Karate and Judo take roughly 5 years to earn a black belt. Ultimately, this doesn’t mean that a black belt is better or tougher than a different black belt in another martial art. Instead, it just means that the grading system is different.

Also, it should be also noted that we’re on about averages here and we’re not focusing on extremes. Sure, there may be someone that got a BJJ black belt in a couple or years, or someone that took over 20 years to get a Karate black belt. Instead, we’re focusing on generalizations. Another thing worth mentioning is that we’re not looking at some bizarre, made up or completely obscure art either.

For those wondering, this article isn’t about measure belts and nor should it be a cheap insight into how to get a quick black belt. If that is truly your intention, then you can probably pay a shady gym owner or turn up at your local McDojo and get it soon enough. Instead, this article is literally about what martial art gives out black belts the fastest and looks at this from an inquisitive point of view.

So, what martial art takes the least amount of time to get promoted to black belt?

Overall, the fastest route to black belt is probably by training Taekwondo. Of course, Taekwondo is a legitimate martial art and no one is really disputing it is otherwise. Whilst Olympic Taekwondo may have certain rules that some people call soft and watered down, this criticism can be said for various other martial arts. From BJJ, to Karate, to boxing…you’ll hear this all the time from nitpickers.

In general though, it takes the average person around 3 years to go from a complete beginner in TKD to a black belt. As mentioned, there are always outliers and extremes, but we’re talking about generalizations here. It should again be noted that this goes for an average Taekwondo practitioner that trains roughly 3-4 times per week.

One thing that is relevant though is that like other martial arts, in TKD – the black belt is meant to represent the beginning of your journey. In other words, whilst the black belt may be a literally badge of honor, it’s still only representative of a few years of work. Typically in most TKD gyms, you’ll also find third and fourth dan TKD black belts too. This means there’s levels to the belt and some are far more experienced than others.

Is this a bad thing?

Really, there’s nothing wrong with getting a black belt in 3 years, so long as it fits the context. If the Taekwondo community is fine with this, then that’s all that really matters. Besides, would a TKD black belt be able to handle an untrained attacker? The likelihood is yes, so in that sense it’s a good indicator of skill and should mean that you’re proficient and effective in using your skills.

It could also be argued that 3 years in Taekwondo is worth more than over 10 years in Aikido which is less effective in a self defense scenario. Whilst Aikido practitioners may argue otherwise, TKD has been proven to be more effective over the years compared to Aikido. This means that by this measurement, a 3 year black belt is actually very acceptable.

Ultimately, the black belt shouldn’t be your goal in martial arts

If you’re after a fast route to a black belt, then sadly your goals aren’t aligned with what martial arts is about. Martial arts should be about a lifetime of self improvement, both physically and mentally. This means that whilst a black belt is nice, they’re nothing more than a piece of material.

If you look at wrestling or boxing for example, these martial arts don’t use a belt system. Therefore, you don’t know if someone’s been training for 5 years or 5 minutes. However, you will know if someone is a good martial artist when you spar them. In this sense, time never lies and will expose you if you’re in it for the wrong reasons.

That is if you even make it that far in the first place. In short, a lot of people who are in martial arts for the wrong reasons (belts and status) often lose interest quickly and fall off. Instead, you should be looking and comparing martial arts to see what one you may prefer and enjoy more compared to others. Basically, your intentions should be good and if you’re after clout then you’ll probably quit within a few months. Similarly, your teacher may even promote you slower or hold you back if they sense this behaviour as it teaches a valuable lesson.

Conclusion

In general, most people agree that Taekwondo is the martial art that promotes the fastest to black belt. Roughly, this is done in around 3 years. To put this into perspective, if you train BJJ then after 3 years you’d normally be a blue belt which is the second belt after white. In short, this shows that TKD is quick to promote its students and if you train it, then you can expect to be promoted to a new colored belt every few months.

In conclusion, whilst Taekwondo may promote the quickest out of all the martial arts – it should not be taken lightly either. Taekwondo is a deadly martial art that truly takes years to master. With this said, don’t train if you’re not in it for the long run!