Earning a black belt is like earning a highschool diploma. It means you've reached a milestone in your learning. But it is hardly the end of your learning; in fact, it's only the beginning. A highschool diploma is required for most jobs, college, and military. but a black belt has no civil equivalent. There is no life activity whose requisite is a black belt.
Except that it takes 12 years to earn a highschool diploma, at a rate of 180 days per year, 8 hours per day.
That's 1440 hours per year, which is just over 27 hours per week - for 12 years.
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For you to match that, you'd have to be studying Hapkido for 27 hours a week for 12 years.
Most places only have 1-hour classes 5 days a week. If you find a school like this, and go 5 days a week, then, to legitimately get your black belt in the same timeframe as a high-school diploma, you'd have to be taking about 17,000 classes, or classes every week day for the next 3,500 weeks - or the next 66 years.
And for all that hard work in school, what does a high school diploma get you in life?
Now, how sure are you about wanting that black belt? No place I've ever seen made anyone wait 66 years to get their black belt, which means, all the places I've seen give it in the equivalent of handing a high-school diploma to a 3rd grader. Which is interesting, because that's 3 years into educational training, and 3 years is a common timeframe for black belt - only that the student has attended 1/9th of the educational classes in martial arts classes.
The answer, then, is that black belts and time have nothing to do with each other.
Each person advances at his or her own pace, under the guidelines set by the instructor. If an instructor has loose requirements, expect to meet those requirements a little faster than other places.
It takes a lifetime to truly earn your black belt. In reality, some martial arts schools will promote you to black belt in two years. That isn't good. Five or six years is more reasonable of a time frame.
3 years = Training 3 times a week, 2 hours per class
1 year = Training 6 times a week, 3 hours per class
There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen?"
The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years."
The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast. How long then?"
Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years."
"But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student.
"Thirty years," replied the Master.
"But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student, "at each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?"
Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."
Depends on how many days a week and hours you study. It also depends on the school and instructor. It should take roughly 3 years give or take a few months.
i used to know a guy who caught pokemon & he said many many years to be a pokemon master.
And to add to what KW said, you can put as many colored stripes on it as you want.
