How long does it take to learn kung fu?

I was just watching The Karate Kid...the one with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith :] and it makes me want to learn Kung Fu lol. I was just wondering how long it takes to learn? I wish I could go to China and learn from a real Chinese kung fu fighter! It would be so exciting!|||How long it takes to learn kung fu depends on how you define 'learn'-



Hopefully people learn something within the first few minutes, and always continue to learn.



People with natural aptitude, a Master to instruct them, and who

train every day will be ~proficient after 15 -25 years.

But people should see improvement every day from the beginning.

Some people find it very rewarding and exciting, others might not.



Jackie Chan has been playing kung fu since he was a 'kid' himself-|||The answers above are ignorant.



It takes a day to learn Kung Fu, but it takes a Life Time to understand it. What i mean about a day is, in many gyms for Martial Arts, you can learn one move and master it in that one day.



In 1 week you would have mastered 7 moves like Round house, Jab, Uppercut, Knee strike, etc.



For a life time, well, it takes a life time to really learn the Martial System as a whole.





Its not the Length of time you should be asking, its whether you want to train and if there are gyms nearby where you live that teach what you want and preferable under 100 a month for fees.





There should be some people who teach REAL Kung Fu in the Western world now. People from China. I've met Shaolin Monks here in NZ and a man who was an Assassin for Gangsters too.





Edit: Like i said before. You can learn some moves in a specific system in a day but not the whole thing. The whole thing will take much longer and there are multiple styles in Kung fu. Kung Fu is the generic word to name Chinese Martial Arts.

Yes, the otehr answers are just ignorant by saying, "A life time". Well, it takes a life time to learn anything but it takes 5 years to get a 1st dan Learning the 1st set of Whatever that martial art was.



Even if you are a master you are not done learning.|||Lets do the math,



over 300 styles

w/ approx. 10 years to get the basics



= Approx. 3000+ Years



Im just kidding. Each art usually takes about 10-12 years or so to become skilled in the art. Depending on the art, the philosophy of the art, and of course, the practitioner, the 10-12 year average is quite variable.|||ok your question is not right, becuase u never stop learning martial arts. what i would tell u is that after 5 years non stoping with hard work you'll be in pretty goood conditiions, what i mean is that you will be someone not normal for other people, by that time you will be having very good skills. is that what you wanted to know rite? but if you really wanna learn martial arts you have to be very dicided about it, if not you will probably be out in a short time.

if you are really interested this is my email

abers_12@hotmail.com

if you wanna talk about it i have long experience about martial arts. i dont wanna type too much in here, i think is better by talking whats your main point of interest and it'll be easier.|||You never stop learning Kung Fu. Even the basics will take up years. Grandmasters reach the highest level at the age of 60-80, most never reach it.

And there are hundreds of different Kung Fu styles. And its very likely not as exciting as you imagine. Its not like in the movie. Its not fun. Its tough training. You need huge discipline and have to focus your whole life on it.

excs my english, im german|||This is a question that doesn't truly have an answer. First of all martial arts is individual in nature--everyone goes at their own pace according to their own particular strengths and weaknesses. Martial arts is a journey not a destination. I earned my black belt after about 6 1/2 years of study and a lot of hard, consistent effort. Sensei said at that point we were truly ready to begin our study. He also said that a black belt is a white belt that simply never gave up!|||You never stop learning. It is an endless journey where you will learn the art but also so much more about yourself and the world around you





Ps. Don't get ideas from movies. You have to 'want' to do it.|||You don't learn kung fu.



You develop it over years of dedicated training.



So it takes YEARS OF DEDICATED TRAINING.



Edit:



@ rikashiku - with an answer like yours, you should not talk about other answers being "ignorant".|||After watching karate kid movie i joined taekwondo which was the only MA school near my home.





Jacket ON Jacket OFF example by Jackie which made me to learn MA.|||It takes as long as it takes. I hope ur saving up ur money because moving to China to learn Kung Fu is pretty exspensive.|||YEARS.|||Kung-Fu is a life-long journey.|||It takes your entire life.