I pretty much concur with Andrew's response in terms of grading and compared to Japanese timing you are not comparing apples with apples ... To add context to my journey to shodan; it took seven and a half years of (pretty much) three (1 1/2 to 2 hour) sessions a week with national holidays off ... so work out that if you wish, but is is a lot. Yes, I know of guys and girls that got there in less time. But, as one of my chums told me a while back 'on the mat your aikido is only as good as it is; a coloured belt does not change that'. I have said in a previous post that I would rather be a bench mark of what a grade is than the baseline ...