Belt Meaning

[Melanie]

Hello All,

On one of my ventures into other forums - I found this message by a lady called Bobbie, ISKF Shotokan. Thank you for letting me pass this on to this forum Bobbie :)

BELT MEANING:

White: Courage--because it takes a lot to get on the floor with it all to learn!

Yellow: Patience--by now the kids "know it all" and want to go way ahead

Orange: Committment--a break point, to continue or not

Green: Determination--new class, new demands

Purple5: Perseverance--perfection takes this

Purple4: Pride--have come a long way and show it

Brown 3: Resolution---partway there, time to focus

Brown 2: Tenacity--doing it right is not always quick and easy

Brown 1: Heart--it takes a lot of this to continue your goal

Black: Spirit--this is when you will get it and continue or not get it and end

Has anyone else got similar thoughts?

[Chazz]

We have something like that with our style.

White: Signifies innocence, a birth, or beginning, of a seed. A white belt student is a beginner searching for knowledge of the Art.

Yellow: Signifies the first beam of sunlight which shines upon the seed giving it new strength with the beginning of new life. A yellow belt student is given his/her first ray of knowledge, opening his mind, from an instructor.

Green: Signifies the growth of the seed as it sprouts from the earth reaching toward the sun and begins to grow into a plant. A green belt student learns to further develop and refine his/her techniques

Blue: Signifies the blue sky as the plant continues to grow toward it. A blue belt student moves up higher in rank just as the plant grows taller. The light feeds the plant so it can continue to grow. The student is fed additional knowledge of the Art in order for his/her body and mind continue to grow and develop.

Red: Signifies the red-hot heat of the Sun as the plant continues growing toward it. A red belt student is higher in rank, he/she acquires more detailed knowledge and, just as the plant grows slowly toward the Sun, so the red belt student learns to be more cautious as his/her knowledge and physical abilities increase.

Black: The True start of being a student of the martial arts.

Those are ours but in a way i do like the other better.

[do xuan tung]

For me, the belt is the thing help us to focus more on our progress during our training. Because we have reach black belt we have to be more diligent to make it have what it really means. With other colour belts, the owners have clear awareness that they should try harder to get the higher colour.

The situation is not the same in wingchun, or more exactly, in Vietnamese practice of wingchun, we don't use belt to value our level in practising. This is to give disciples freedom to compete with all others in the same dojo (this stem from the difference in our wingchun dojo, we come in different levels but practise at the same time in the same place with each other). That explain why people, who came to the dojo later than me, can have a real competition with me in daily exercise (or fighting) and i myself have a very good chance to challenge my skills in exercising with many superior fighter.

[Silver_no2]

Originally posted by do xuan tung
The situation is not the same in wingchun, or more exactly, in Vietnamese practice of wingchun, we don't use belt to value our level in practising. This is to give disciples freedom to compete with all others in the same dojo (this stem from the difference in our wingchun dojo, we come in different levels but practise at the same time in the same place with each other). That explain why people, who came to the dojo later than me, can have a real competition with me in daily exercise (or fighting) and i myself have a very good chance to challenge my skills in exercising with many superior fighter.

We have everybody training with everybody else and still use a coloured belt system. The advantage of this is that the higher belt can then train at a level that the less experienced person can handle. I'm not suggesting that they go easy on them just thta they train at a high enough level to stretch the less experienced person without overwhelming them.

I had a bad experience when I had only being studying aikido for four or five months. I went on a course with my sensei (Tintin) from another style of aikido, in which they don't wear coloured belts, so I got my hands on a white belt. I was one of perhaps seven or eight non-dan grade people there. When I got teamed up with a 2nd dan from the other style I was quite chuffed as I knew that it meant he could teach me lots. That is, I knew this right up until the point where he slammed a wrist technique on me so hard that my knees buckled under me, tears came to my eyes and I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming out loud. Two years later my wrist still gives me trouble every now and then. He had assumed that because I was on this course I must have only been a step away from my dan grade and so would be used to this sort of treatment.

Had we been wearing coloured belts then he would have known the extent to which it was safe to go with me, and I wouldn't have a permanently weak wrist! :D

[mattsylvester]

Originally posted by chazz982001
We have something like that with our style.

White: Signifies innocence, a birth, or beginning, of a seed. A white belt student is a beginner searching for knowledge of the Art.

Yellow: Signifies the first beam of sunlight which shines upon the seed giving it new strength with the beginning of new life. A yellow belt student is given his/her first ray of knowledge, opening his mind, from an instructor.

Green: Signifies the growth of the seed as it sprouts from the earth reaching toward the sun and begins to grow into a plant. A green belt student learns to further develop and refine his/her techniques

Blue: Signifies the blue sky as the plant continues to grow toward it. A blue belt student moves up higher in rank just as the plant grows taller. The light feeds the plant so it can continue to grow. The student is fed additional knowledge of the Art in order for his/her body and mind continue to grow and develop.

Red: Signifies the red-hot heat of the Sun as the plant continues growing toward it. A red belt student is higher in rank, he/she acquires more detailed knowledge and, just as the plant grows slowly toward the Sun, so the red belt student learns to be more cautious as his/her knowledge and physical abilities increase.

Black: The True start of being a student of the martial arts.

Those are ours but in a way i do like the other better.

Interesting -

In our style (ex-TAGB) it is:

White - Innocence, lack of knowledge,

Yellow - The earth into which the seed is planted

Green - The blossoming/growth of the tree of knowledge

Blue - The sky to which the tree is growing

Red - Danger, just becuase you're this level doesn't mean you can take everything and everyone on.

Black - Absence of fear and arrogance.

IN short and a very summarised manner but I'm sure you get the idea :0)

White

[Freeform]

I personally don't really believe in a belt system (except in the case of indicating who are instructors), or gradings really, i think it focuses the students thoughts on earning a piece of cloth rather then studing the style. A typical example of this is the Karate BB (and I've met them) who earn their BB in 3/4 years 'know' all their kata and could fight their way past my 10 year old sister (granted I have been teaching her... ) and don't understand the applications of a kata. How can you award a belt to someone for practicing something they don't understand.

Opening a big can of worms and ducking for cover.

Col

[pgm316]

Originally posted by Freeform
I personally don't really believe in a belt system (except in the case of indicating who are instructors), or gradings really, i think it focuses the students thoughts on earning a piece of cloth rather then studing the style. A typical example of this is the Karate BB (and I've met them) who earn their BB in 3/4 years 'know' all their kata and could fight their way past my 10 year old sister (granted I have been teaching her... ) and don't understand the applications of a kata. How can you award a belt to someone for practicing something they don't understand.

Opening a big can of worms and ducking for cover.

Col

I agree with you 100% To me, belts appear to be handed out for attendance rather than ability. They can be a distraction from the real aim of just training and improving yourself. I've seen to many black belts who think there something that would get torn to shreads in any real situation. My point being they believe this won't happen because "they are a black belt"

[morphus]

I once heard that belts only came in white at one time, the fact that it changed colour was due to the fact no-one ever washed there belt and therefore someone who had a very dark belt had obviously been studying a long time andw as obviously very advanced in the system and someone with a white belt very new to the system - hence the fact that belt systems often run from white(beginner) through the colours gradually getting darker until the black belt(advanced).

what do you think of that theory and has anybody else heard this or mabey its common knowledge, i don't know.?????????????????

[stump]

By that rationale we should have dark grey belts as instructor grades!!!!! :)

I've heard that rumour too. I thought belts only became popular when Judo came to the west?

[Andy Murray]

Hope Ozebob doesn't mind, but I lifted most of this post from a discussion we had here a while ago. Seems kind of relevant here!

Originally posted by Ozebob;

"The Dan/Kyu system was introduced by Jogoro Kano, the founder of Judo. As a side note, Kano createdJudo after just 8 years or so of training in Jujutsu.

Kano also took the coloured belt system from swimming. The swimmers used to wear sashes or ribbons whose colour denoted whether they were a novice, intermediate or an experienced competitor.

The Black Belt was used first and there are old photos of Funakoshi Sensei wearing a black sash around his uniform. The obi was created based on similar belts in use and the colours were introduced more and more over time.

The coloured belts have a dual purpose. They allow for the teacher to see at a glance how to arrange his teaching material and they are a goal-setting tool for students.

Students are motivated to achieve their long term goal, the Black Belt, via incremental steps that are visual feedback on their progress to the main goal.

Teachers who feel that the belt system is wrong do not have to adopt same. The Chinese and the Japanese both had a Menkyo Kaiden system which is simply a piece of paper that shows at what stage of learning the holder has reached.

However, the knowledgeable teachers know that nearly all students need extrinsic motivation before reaching the stage where they will train for the sake of the training itself, intrinsic motivation.

The Dai Nippon Butokukai created a Ranking Standards guide for all Budo arts in 1963 and revised it in 1971. It states that a minimum of 3 years of training is required to achieve Shodan. There was no age restriction and most Japanese systems grade juniors to Black Belt.

The International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF) under Nishiyama Sensei adopted this ranking standard but included a set of standards for kyu grades as well. They also dropped the number of years from 3 back to 2 to achieve Shodan.

The Japan Karate Association in theier 2000 Handbook state that it is possible to achieve Shodan in a year and the grading wuld be carried out in their HQ. In other locations it was to be 3 years.

Many a Japanese Instructor has hopped on a plane in Japan at say 3rd Dan and alighted in another country as a 5th Dan. This is not uncommon, nor is it uncommon for a westerner to visit Japan and convince an organization that he has a big association back home and be rewarded with an extra Dan grade for joining them."

[darlph]

Melanie, that's The order we have our belts with white being committment. I don't believe a person should earn a belt for his attendence, it should be for acheivement. I enjoy the look on students faces when they receive their new belt.
I know a few schools like to heighten the training in class so that all the students in that class will advance at the same time. And the students know without being told that in 2 weeks they will receive thier new rank. I believe everyone has their own pace and determination. If they want it, they will work for it and earn it. Not because their mom or day have $$$$.
You know something that really irks me. Is when a parent pulls their child out of class because he isn't succeeding as fast as they would like them to. How about a BB in 2 years? Then they get him into soccer, or football, even though he really wanted to learn tennis, but they took him out of that because he couldn't hit the ball over the net everytime. I don't get it? Is this for the child's developement of the parents prestige? Yes Morphus, that apparently has been around a few years. Many years. In fact, if you want to see my original white belt from 1973, The sweat marks are there and it's a bit tan now.(Almost a lite brown) That was when I was healthy and stupid, now I'm older wiser and a bit frayed around the edges, with some big regrets.
Andy, you hit it on the nose. You don't have to adopt a belt system in your school. But I'm glad I know that guy has a white belt so I don't embarrass him for doing forebalane wrong. Yikes!!

[Freeform]

There is a story going arund that says that once Funakoshi garthered his 5 original students and their students in a hall all at once, several hundered people. And because eveyone was dressed in white Gi's with white belts he had a hard time trying to find his original students. When he eventually found them he sent one out to buy some coloured belts from the market, so the six of them ended up wearing BB's.

Don't believe it but its still kinda ammusing (or I'm getting really boring in my old age)

Thanx

[LilBunnyRabbit]

We use belts purely to mark rank, and knowledge of techniques and drills. Its also a convenient way to keep lower ranks doing safer drills until they develop control.

Besides its great fun to yell 'Yellow belts to me!' and hear the stampede of feet.

[Chazz]

"Besides its great fun to yell 'Yellow belts to me!' and hear the stampede of feet."

Thats always fun. Even better when you do it with a sharp tone and watch the expression on their faces. Kinda funny in a way. Muhahaha. :-P

[wayofthedragon]

A belt has one meaning to me.....to hold up pants:D

[LilBunnyRabbit]

Another good one is to say 'Of course, that'd be too easy for all you senior belts' and watch their faces fall. :)

I know that these people who say belts have no purpose but to hold up your trousers either have other ways to measure rankings or don't measure them at all, but there really is something special about putting all that work in, and getting something for it. Its much nicer to have a visible sign of your effort and skill rather than simply be called a senior student.