I am currently a 2nd Kyu in Shotokan Karate. (This is a brown belt with a white stripe).
Around September I will do my grading exam for 1st Kyu, which is brown with a red stripe, and then the very tough work starts of preparing for my 1st Dan black belt.
From white belt onwards we used to grade every 3 months, but ever since 3rd Kyu (brown belt) this time has doubled (much more and much more difficult stuff to learn).
After getting my 1st Kyu it will take at least a year before I can grade for my black belt.

I've been doing Judo since I was four years old (sixteen right now) and I have got a brown belt which I've worn for like three years, getting ready for the black one. Hopefully next year I will be getting it.
By the way, did you know that when you have a black belt and you find yourself in a fight, you have to tell the others that you are a black belt. If you don't, they can even sue you for not telling them and they would be right. I think it's funny, but it sucks, like having to fight a guy and saying: 'Hold on, let me tell you that I'm a black belt.' But it would be kind of funny too..

Yeah, Im only a white belt But my instructor wants to just jack me up to a green belt. I think thats awesome! Don't know if he is going to do that, but he said I would take three consecutive classes. I think it's because I catch onto things fast.

Shenzetrix, would you mind adding to your post what sport/kind of style you are into?
Remember, all sports have a different belt system, also the different styles within a sport do.
Eg. Shotokan Karate belts will be different to Kempo Karate.

ITF style TKD (TaeKwonDo). Its not really effective at all in a fight, its good if you like TaeKwonDo, its horrible if you want to fight ANYONE other than another ITF member.

In tournament you cant:
Use excessive/uncontrolled force (they cant be random kicks/stuff although this is ignored heaps, bleeding/broken things/KO's are rare)
Attack below the belt ANYWHERE unless they have their shins up for blocking
Use any other tool for attacking except fists & feet
KO = disqualify usually


and a bunch of other silly stuff. WTF TKD is more of a contact sport. ITF TKD really looks at form and precision over combat, its a peaceful martial art in my opinion. I'm currently a green stripe at it and have passed with only "A pass"s so far, just means i did particularly well *shrug* O_o

White
Yellow stripe
Yellow
Green stripe
Green
Blue stripe
Blue
Red stripe
Red
Black stripe
Black (1-9th Dan)

Between each Dan you have to wait the number of dan you are in years before the next grading.


Generally the only people that use it for sport are the 16~24ish age group since they're the fittest and lightest.

I've trained at academies of both associations and I really think that WTF TKD is on average much much less practical than ITF.

I do a mixture of martial arts as my instructor has multiple belts in multiple martial arts. The main martial art i practice is TKD, which has a belt system of

White
Yellow stripe
Yellow
Green stripe
Green
Blue stripe
Blue
Brown stripe
Brown
Red
Black (1-8th Dan)

I am currently a Red belt, and i am content to stay there for the rest of my life if i have to. In my school, its mainly light to no contact in "formal" classes. I mean this because when you start, you do Tae Kwon do in "formal" classes that are meant to teach BASIC self defence, and tae kwon do. When you become more a part of the community, you are able to take less formal classes, like the adult judo classes, or my personal favorite Fight Night. These classes are mainly about self defence, and are not available to anyone usually under the age of 15-16 (I was the youngest at 15 years old when i joined) Since then i have become a dedicated street fighter, and I have fought with many people from many different settings (All perfectly legal at fight night) And as such, im horrible at tournaments, but when push comes to shove, ill take out any Pure TKD blackbelt. (That being 1-2nd degree, with only tae kwon do background). The other martial arts im in include Judo, Juijitsu, Apkido, Wrestling (non martial art), Boxing (Non martial art), Okanowan Karate and Oriental Weaponry (mixture of a whole bunch of stuff)

I am a first dan black belt of Tang-Soo-Do. It took my about 7-8 years to get it

That is some form of Korean karate, correct? It seems interesting enough, although i really havent heard much about it at all (A few words in conversations from people of different schools)