This is for all you GEEKS who are salivating at the thought of seeing the upcoming Batman movie and making group field trip plans to IMAX to see it. This is a good article on Scientific American on whether Batman's wits and physical abilities is attainable in real life and the sort of training that would require to become Bruce Wayne's alter ego. SA sat down with "E. Paul Zehr, associate professor of kinesiology and neuroscience at the University of Victoria in British Columbia and a 26-year practitioner of Chito-Ryu karate-do" who is publishing a book on this very topic to discuss this matter."
How long would Bruce Wayne have to train to become Batman? In some of the timelines you see in the comics, the backstory is he goes away for five years—some it's three to five years, or eight years, or 12 years. In terms of the physical changes (strength and conditioning), that's happening fairly quickly. We're talking three to five years. In terms of the physical skills to be able to defend himself against all these opponents all the time, I would benchmark that at 10 to 12 years. Probably the most reality-based representation of Batman and his training was in Batman Begins.
Read more here.
[Via]