Belt Rank

Judo, its red and white after 6th dan I think (could be seventh), although most wear and actual black belt.

Hey, I ain't telling them off!

 

all schools and arts are different, in my school it goes white, yellow tag, yellow belt ,green tag, green belt, blue tag, blue belt, red tag, red belt, black tag, black belt, but in another school it will be different

 

Generally, most systems begin at White belt, you move to Gold/Yellow, then Orange, then Green, then Purple, Blue then Brown, Red then Black. Some systems may not use a certain color but will add a degree (length of additional time training at the color rank)
For example, there may be 2 "degrees" or levels of Blue belt and 3 degrees of brown belt. (as our school does)
Many Karate systems equate the colors by Kyu.
White belt is 9th or 0 Kyu. Yellow belt is 8th Kyu, Orange is 7th Kyu, Green is 6th Kyu, Purple is 5th and 4th Kyu, Brown is 3rd, 2nd and 1st Kyu. Black belt becomes what is known as Dan (pronouced "Don") and begins with 1st Dan, or degree, and moves upward to 9th Dan.

Whatever everyone's views or opinions are on belt ranks .... they are necessary for the instructor and maybe more so for the student. But anything over and above the use of say 6 ranks (including 2 ranks each having 2 degrees before black) and then Black (1-9 dans), is used for nothing more than generating extra income from the students, or as a means keep students who would otherwise have dropped out early on.

Guitarboy is correct in saying that early on martial arts did not have a belt sytem ... but they did wear belts.

"Classes were usually small enough that everyone knew who the instructor was...thus the instructor dressed no differently than his students. Everyone wore belts that were colored white, for the express purpose of keeping their gi-tops or doboks from flying open."
"However, even though they never had belt tests, the color of their belts did change. As the student began to work hard, his sweat would pour out, and stain his belt from white to a dim-yellow. As time passed, the sweat stains were joined by grass stains attained from rolling on the ground, and thus the belt would appear to have a greenish-tint to it. As the student continued to acquire grass stains, he would also continue to sweat, forcing a color change of green and yellow at the same time, thus the belt would appear to be blue. Dirt would also begin to collect on the belt, as student progressed, sometimes creating the illusion of brown. As the student advanced, and became better and better, his instructors and opponents would push him harder, and frequently injure him to the point of bleeding, which would cause the belt to show qualities of a dark red.

Ultimately, when the belt was stained to the point that no color change would occur, it became a dark-gray or black. This change would take years to occur, and signified the wearer as an advanced practicioner. But this was not the last change to take place. Eventually, after many years, the material on the belt itself began to wear away, and it would slowly change from black, BACK to white. A person whose belt had endured this change, was revered as a master, and respected by warrior and commoner alike."
Belt and Color Meanings

 

Black means they SHOULD be good!

Its a good rule of thumb and then brown is always a high one or there abouts!

SONSHU

 

Although this is the same as my previous karate schools system, not ALL karate schools follow this (I'm not sure whether you implied this, but it sure sounded like you did )

Srangely enough, my kobudo association has recently changed the belt colours:

Novice - white
10th Kyu - White/black
9th Kyu - white/yellow
8th Kyu - yellow
7th Kyu - orange
6th Kyu - green
5th Kyu - blue
4th Kyu - red
3rd Kyu - purple
2nd Kyu - brown
1st Kyu - brown/black
Shodan - black

TADA

 

yet another discrepancy... No, I didn't mean to imply at all, in fact until I became involved with posting in these forums, I was really unaware of "kyu"'s and shodan/nidan etc.. etc... as I am only familiar with the Korean ranking system. I had to find out on my own when someone posted that they were 9th kyu that they were actually a white belt and not a 9th "dan" (bb) as I then assumed.
Still learning......

 

i duno if someone has already said this but in tae kwon do, every belt has a meaning, but i forgot the meanings for them i can early remember yellow belt i think its "yellow signifies earth, from which the plant sprouts and grows routes as tae kwon do foundations are being layed" (give or take a few words)

 

If you click on the link above in my post and scroll down ... it explains the meanings of the belt colors

"Sunlight pours down from the heavens, and gives the plant the life and energy that it needs to grow. Such is the yellow belt who takes life from the knowledge of his/her instructors"

 

There are no belts in kendo....I feel left out.....we had patches at my old school but not anymore...

 

I'd rather not have belts. I think they are a distraction.

 

exactly.




psst! - there are no belts at the school I train at - shhh

 

Good KickChick - didn't want to fall out with one of my 'allies'. United against a common enemy

 

LOL ...
:woo: ---->enemy

One good thing about those belts .... its always handy!!

 

.... also here's another "meaning" for wearing a belt


The belt "encircles" its wearer. The "circle" is a universal symbol of wholeness and harmony, and symbolizes the totality of the universe. The circularity of the belt reinforces the circular cycle of training; the fact that, after years of training, one realizes that the true essence of the martial art existed at the beginning.

As a practical matter, the belt holds the uniform closed, but its real significance is far greater than merely being a clasp or even a signifier of rank.

The belt has symbolic meanings, both in eastern philosophy and in its color.


In Korea, the ordinary belt is addressed as "horitti" or "yodae" (meaning waist belt). The belt used in TKD is called "tti." The main purpose of the belt is to document a student’s progression through Tae kwon do. Just as the "The sapling is hidden amongst the taller oak trees and must fight its way upward," students must struggle to achieve TKD proficiency.

The belt system rewards them for their struggle and perseverance and encourages them to develop their skills, discipline, and self-control so they may progress to even higher belt levels. Belt color denotes the proficiency level of the wearer and it is the outward expression of the wearer’s inner level of confidence and wisdom.

Belts also as mentioned earlier, do help an instructor properly manage a training class. From the front of a class, an instructor may quickly evaluate the training levels of the entire class using the belts the students are wearing.

 

You should feel proud that there is no belt system in the martial arts you practice. it is the original way. At least it shows that your going to a school that isn't only thinking about rakin' in the dough

 

I practise Choy Lee Fut and I'm a black sash!!!!!!!!!

But then again everyone is a black sash as we don't use anyother colour or have gradings.

I like this more traditional approach.

I feel that the use of gradings and the presenting of belts is more of a money spinner.

I do recognize that students may be spurred on by attaining a higher belt or work hard towards a grading but to me this shouldn't be so.

If ur in MAs then u work hard becauseu u want to, u want to improve urself and ur skills. U don't do it for a bit of matrerial u tie round ur waist.

Also, the ranking system although it allows u to see wot level an individual is at tends to segregate students into little groups of beginners, intermadiate, seniors etc. (or @ least it did in clubs i trained at in the past)

This ranking system can make a student feel quite alienated (Esp a beginner) seeing all these different groupings.

I believe that a MA school should be like a family, all brothers and sisters together everyone consantly learning and evolving. U can identify beginners, intermediates and seniors without the use of coloured belts. Everyone havin the same colour or not @ all gives the beginners a little boost and keeps seniors grounded.


Well that's jus my opinion folks

 

Ha Ha Ha didn't realised i'd typed so much.

Sorry bout that guys an gals

 

It's a bit like trying to see the woods for the trees isn't it?

You can get so hooked on working your way into the next peer group, that it's a real eye opener when you realise you've gone as far as you could go.

Yet it's only when you have done this, that you can be retrospective about it?

 

Yeah that's true.

 

Very true Andy - only by having travelled is it possible to return home