I used to not only take classes but helped teach classes in traditional Tae Kwon Do. Forms, styles, comboes, and techniques all from a South Korean teacher straight from the country taught in their ways. I reached my black belt test in the 3 year mark and it lasted for 2 hours for a test of about 20 students, we were the first "black belt generation" to be apart of the school because of how new it was. The school itself was only 4 years old at the time, when it comes to martial arts, I'm very serious and passionate about it, I would get annoyed and frustrated when other students in adult class (and under) would talk on the side or wouldn't take their training as serious as they should be. In my eyes, nobody should be just GIVEN their belt which I see quite common these days in a lot of schools, sure they test for it but there's too many flaws I find personally, which is probably why I'm not the Master, lol, he is strict but also fair on some people whether it's by age or he lets a couple of things slide which to me shouldn't.
My buddy is a black belt in Karate (I don't know what style, Joe Corley if that sounds familiar to you is his master, I don't know why but I just can't seem to wrap my mind around such an American name for a master of a studio for a Japanese art) but I get so irritated personally because he's obese, he's childish, and his black belt test was not longer than 30-45 minutes. The students did NOT respond in a fast manner, the students as a whole had their own side conversations as the Master was talking to the whole class and parents, they didn't respond with ANYTHING when they were called (no Yes, sir, just silence as they walked leisurely), their test was more like a demonstration, they each did maybe one form individually and as a group just did a few comboes called out by the teachers. My buddy then even told me the other day that he has not EVER broken one real wooden board, just that plastic one that you can put back together, yeah, the training board. Was it budget cuts? I mean, I've never heard of any martial arts studio/dojo that doesn't break wooden boards as part of training or tests or something harder.
I strongly dislike the fact that my buddy is obese and clearly out of shape, he can't go up one flight of stairs without getting tired, he can't walk across the road without getting tired, it's ridiculous, I've known him for years and he just keeps getting worst, it's not like he was ALWAYS obese but then again he was never really in peek condition or anything. Even worst, the Master of his dojo clearly doesn't cover discipline as much as he should because his dojo is known for the students using what they learned in bullying at school, they used it to show off and some get beaten up because of which (called out).
If you're learning martial arts, you should not have to separate from your usual training methods to teach about self defense when you learn how to in sparring and when you learn about certain kicks and punch techniques! I know several dojos that have that problem, even some kids of my own dojo tends to have that problem, bullying problems, not them being the bully (or at least from what we hear). HOW CAN YOU BE HAVING A PROBLEM?! I understand that some people just can't take being bullied so they take insults personally or getting pushed around and don't fight back, but seriously they shouldn't have to put up with it at all, ESPECIALLY after what you learn spiritually, mentally, and physically in martial arts! If my kid was getting bullied then he fights back for once and gets in trouble, I'm not going to yell at him because he taught that bully a lesson! You shouldn't get away with fucking around with other people!
So anyways, I reduced this a bit so I'm not branching off, martial arts should be treated more than just a sport in my opinion, it shouldn't be just how to fight but more of how to improve oneself mentally and spiritually as well. Some movies take it to the extreme though, such as why would a woman be all the way out there and doing whatever she was doing with a cobra in the new Karate Kid movie (which millions of people pointed out that Karate and Kung Fu are completely different in so many ways). You definitely should NOT be teaching people how to kill others with your own bare hands or whatever else without first teaching them a lot in self discipline and self control.