[jarsbars]

As i mentioned in your other thread, rank advancement depends primarily on what country you're in and even your state. Just to give you the Australian system for instance, each kyu rank takes a minimum of 6 months between gradings, though there is sometimes a chance to skip a grade each grading if you're absolutely beyond your current level. So to put it in perspective, the absolute bare minimum time it would take to reach shodan in Australia would be 2.5 years (skipping every possible grade, you can't skip from 2nd kyu to 1st kyu and you can't skip at all when it comes to gaining dan grades). This however is phenomenally quick, and 3-4 years is more normal. However in some countries, shodan can be gained in 12 months