·         In Malcom Gladwell’s book, Outliers, he posits that actual “mastery” of a skill requires approximately 10,000

           hours of practice. 

·         According to the ASU testing guidelines*, reaching the 1^st milestone of 6^th kyu requires 3 months or 30 hours

          (1 class = 1 hour…yes, our classes are 1.5-2 hours, but ASU doesn’t roll like that.) 

·         Translated into “Emory Aikikai training time” roughly gives you about 50 actual hours of training before you can

           reach 6^th kyu.

·         850 Emory hours before you reach the level of shodan. 

·         If you come to ALL three classes per week, you will have trained 5 hours per week.

·         10,000 hours/5 = over 38 years of consistent training

·         Adding an extra 2 hours per week will cut it down to a mere 27 years. 

*http://www.aikidoschool.org/ASU_Handbook.pdf