If you have started researching yoga teacher trainings, you have almost certainly run into the "200-hour" and "300-hour" labels used across the industry. They come from a widely-used tiered structure, and understanding what each level generally involves will help you figure out which path actually fits where you are right now.
What a shorter, foundational training generally covers
A shorter, entry-level training is typically built for people who want a solid foundation: how to safely guide a general class, core anatomy relevant to teaching, the basics of sequencing, and enough philosophy and practice to teach confidently at a beginner-to-intermediate level. It is usually intensive by design — meant to be completed in a matter of weeks — and works well for people who already have a consistent personal practice and want to formalize it into the ability to teach.
What a longer, advanced training generally adds
A more extensive program builds on that foundation with more depth: advanced anatomy and physiology, more sophisticated teaching methodology, deeper philosophical study, and often a specialization (therapeutic yoga, movement science, a specific lineage or methodology). It is usually spread over a longer period — months rather than weeks — to allow time to actually integrate and practice what you are learning between modules, rather than absorbing everything in one intensive block.
Who should choose which
If you are unsure whether you even want to teach long-term, or want to deepen your personal practice with a formal structure, a shorter foundational training is a lower-commitment way to find out. If you already know you want to teach professionally, or want a more complete, credentialed path from the start, a longer program is usually worth the extra time and cost.
There is no rule that says you must do both, or do them with the same school, though many people do build their training progressively — starting with a foundational certification and later returning for a more advanced one once they have real teaching experience under their belt.
How IKY structures its own two programs
IKY offers two distinct paths that map onto this general structure, though we describe them on their own terms rather than borrowing generic hour labels:
Instructor Training (Instructorado) — a 21-day intensive program, designed for people who want to start teaching yoga relatively quickly, with a solid foundation in the IKY System.
Teacher Training (Profesorado) — a complete 300-hour program spread over 6 months, with registration in RIPEY (IKY's international registry for yoga teachers) and a more complete immersion into the full methodology: tantric yoga, the Feldenkrais Method®, Mayan kankueb cosmovision, and IKYnesis.
Both are led directly by C.R. Kan, with more than 25 years of experience and over 350 instructors and teachers trained internationally, at Ishka Center in Cali, Colombia.
If you want the specifics of duration, format and what is included in each, you can compare Instructor Training and Teacher Training directly.