How long does it take to get a black belt in Taekwondo?

As a Taekwondo master, most people who are planning to start martial arts especially Taekwondo have many questions to ask, which is the right thing to do, but I noticed there is a question that I get a lot.

-How long does it take to be a black belt in Taekwondo or how many years I should train Taekwondo to earn my black belt?

The answer can not be as easy (1+1=2), and I can not answer by saying four or five years of practice.  so what are the factors that make this period of earning the black belt different from a person to another?

1 - People are physically different.

   - Some would be already fit and healthy while others can be overweight.

      - Injuries:

Injuries can be prior to joining Taekwondo training or after starting practicing it)

 - Flexibility:

 

It is an important factor that helps the student to practice and master techniques faster than people who are not flexible enough, and we mean only the amount of flexibility needed for logical kicks in martial arts, and you do not need to be a gymnast to be good in Taekwondo.

2- The age of the practitioners:

- Young people respond to training faster than older people, but it does not mean that age is an obstacle, but it is making the physical response a bit slower and the result of the training would be different of course between different ages.

3- The Commitment :

This is a very important factor, and most people get bored after a  short time of practice and they quit then go back to it, this is why some people can be in martial arts for so many years, but their achievement is too little and their struggles with the techniques are the same because they always leave the mission unfinished every time they leave the practice.

4- The school (Real or fake):

    Some fake masters and also grandmasters open training studios similar to grocery shops, it is what they call Mcdojos. In this 

''Schools'', money matters more than anything else, and the businessman (master or school owner) does not care really about the practice itself. In these fake schools, it is easy to get a black belt with less effort if you have enough money to fill your master's pockets :).

Let's go back to the question about the period required to earn a black belt :).

Let's try to do some Mathematics, even though I was not good at it and I do believe many readers are not, just joking :) 

In most schools, a student can be allowed to have a test after every three months of Taekwondo practice, and if we follow this plan, the student should do 9 or 8 tests before being eligible to have a test for the black belt.  Therefore the student will reach the 1 Gup in the red belt after 27 months (2 years and 3 months) or at least in 24 months (two years). but unfortunately, this period is too long when an inpatient student meets a Taekwondo businessman ''master'', and this period can be reduced much. 

I do believe that the Taekwondo organizations such as Kukkiwon or ITF organizations can not have complete control over the schools or about their promotions tests, because school owners can do illegal acts without being caught.

Taekwondo schools can do their own color belt certificates and the national or the international Unions have no control over that, which makes school owners promote their students whenever they want.

I  have been asked once to have a deal of one-year training with a student and allow him to test for a black belt, but I found it ridiculous, and it would look like selling a black belt certificate because, in one year of training, the student will be still a beginner.

In my personal opinion the average time to test for a black belt better be above 4 years or even more, because the period of practice in martial arts is very important, and many techniques are achieved by thousands of repetitions, and this goal can not be reached in a short period.

The ''Black belt is not something you wear, But something you become''