Belt System

Discussion in 'Tae Kwon Do' started by ratman, Oct 17, 2003.

  1. ratman

    ratman Valued Member

    Hi,
    It s me again. I was just wondering if anyone s belt systems is similar to mine . I trained up to 1st red in a country far far away under WtF teakwondo(really really hard). The belt system went like this:
    (1) White to white with yellowtag.
    (2) yellow to yellow with blue tag.
    (3) Blue to blue with brown tag.
    (4)Brown to brown with red tag.
    (5)red to red with black tag.
    (6)black then the dans.

    One of my coaches competed using this belt system in barcelona(think that was when taekwondo became recorgnised as an olympic sport)think he got a medal.

    Here in the uk, green belt replaces the blue or is it the brown belt. Same parterns, poomse and terminology. Same every thing.
     
  2. Helm

    Helm New Member

    Green replaces blue, blue replaces brown here.
     
  3. flyingblackbelt

    flyingblackbelt New Member

    I think our system is a little bit easier to understand:
    White
    Gold
    Green
    Purple
    Blue
    Blue II
    Brown
    Brown II
    Brown III
    Black

    we do have certain stripes, like red stripes mean the students have proved to the instructors they know their form and are ready to test, which actually means they already have proved they are worthy of the next belt and have passed the test but we dont tell them that;) . We also use black stripes so that instructors know how many classes the students have and were they should be at in their training so we can adjust our instructing accordingly, an excellent tool for the instructors. Of course this is mainly for the children because for the most part the adults learn what they need to and accept when they are ready to test, for the most part.
     
  4. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member

    WTF TKD

    10 geup white belt
    9 geup white belt with yellow tag
    8 geup yellow belt
    7 geup yellow belt with green tag
    6 geup green belt
    5 geup green belt with blue tag
    4 geup blue belt
    3 geup blue belt with red tag
    2 geup red belt
    1 geup red belt with black tag
    BLACK BELT ... DANs

    and the time that has to pass between the two belts varies of course, depending on the belt.
     
  5. booksie_girl

    booksie_girl Lucy the Terrible

    Same as neryo's, except it goes:
    white
    yellow with white tip
    yellow with 2 white tips
    yellow with green tip.

    Same number of steps, just gets you out of the white belt sooner I suppose.
     
  6. Taeho

    Taeho New Member

    Ours are as follows:

    White belt
    White belt with 3 colored stripes (red blue green) on end (earned one by one for learning stances, steps, and form)
    Yellow belt
    Yellow belt with 3 colored stripes (red blue green) on end (earned one by one for learning stances, steps, and form)
    Green belt (we begin sparring at this stage)
    Sr. green belt with black stripe down the center
    Blue belt
    Sr. blue belt with black stripe down the center
    Purple belt (board breaking begins here)
    Sr. purple belt with black stripe down the center
    Red belt
    Sr. red belt
    Probationary black belt with 6 months to become decided 1st degree. (or demoted back to Sr. red)
    BLACK BELT ... DANS

    Most dojangs have their own belt system up to black, which is why it's hard to compare your self to someone else from another school by simply asking the rank.

    mc Ÿ
     
  7. beth

    beth New Member

    White
    Yellow
    Orange
    Low Green
    High Green
    Low Blue
    High Blue
    3rd Brown
    2nd Brown
    1st Brown
    Temporary Black
    Black
    Another TKD style I trained in was easier (but the time between each level was longer)
    White
    Yellow
    Green
    Purple
    2nd Brown
    1st Brown
    Black
    and I sure do like the purple belt
     
  8. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member

    purple????

    it's the colour right he he he he he he

    :Angel:
     
  9. djhallib

    djhallib Guest

    Mine is like this:
    White
    White yellow tag
    Yellow
    Orange
    Green
    Blue
    Blue with red tag
    Red
    Red with black tag
    Red with two black tags
    Red with three black tags
    Black
     
  10. Holgate

    Holgate New Member

    TAGB and Puma

    white
    white w/ yellow stripe
    yellow
    yellow w/ green stripe
    green
    green w/ blue stripe
    blue
    blue w/ red stripe
    red
    red w/ black stripe
    black
     
  11. semphoon

    semphoon walk idiot, walk.

    ITF UKTA (tag is small band of material around the ends of belt...usually electrical tape.)
    white
    white w/ yellow tag
    yellow
    yellow w/ green tag
    green
    green w/ blue tag
    blue
    blue w/ red tag
    red
    red w/ black tag
    black
    dans up to 9
     
  12. tkd ajumma

    tkd ajumma New Member

    WTF in Korea officially goes white, yellow, green, blue, red, black. But you will find other belts in between, varying from school to school.

    My teacher says that in Korea in olden times there were only white belts, which gradually became blackened by wear over time, so the most experienced martial artists could be recognized by the blackest belts. He says that coloured belts were only introduced because in modern times we (particularly westerners) like to have goals to work towards and rewards at each step of the way. Certainly this seems true of children, who can get disheartened if they keep the same belt colour for too long.
     
  13. Thomas

    Thomas Combat Hapkido/Taekwondo

    We are a WTF school (that also uses ITF forms) that uses the following rank system:

    White
    Beginner Yellow
    Intermediate Yellow with one green tip (actually green electrical tape)
    Advanced Yellow (2 geen tips - currently we don't have this rank... the previous grandmaster had removed it, but we still learn the poomsae for it)
    Beginner Green
    Intermediate Green (one blue tip)
    Advanced Green (two blue tips)
    Beginner Blue
    Intermediate Blue (1 red tip)
    Advanced Blue (2 red tips)
    Beginner Red
    Intermediate Red (1 black tip)
    Advanced Red (2 black tips)
    (all tips go on the left side of the belt)

    Black belt, 1st dan and up... black belt with a gold line on the left side for each dan grade. (Name and grade go on the left... school or master's name on right)
    Alternatively, some of us wear just a plain black belt or one with our Korean names and style(s) embroidered and without lines to indicate grade.
     
  14. hwarang

    hwarang Guest

    WTF hwarangdo

    white
    yellow (1 blue stripe)
    yellow (2 blue stripes)
    yellow (3 blue stripes)
    blue (1 red stripe)
    blue (2 red stripes)
    blue (3 red stripes)
    red (1 black stripe)
    red (2 black stripes)
    red (3 black stripes)
    black...dans
     
  15. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member

    i read about what tkd ajumma wrote in her post.

    we can all see that there are diiferences in the belt system within a city, country and of course between countries. but i don't think that it should worrying. the only thing that bothers me about the belt systems is that for example my 5th belt is (not) on a par with the 5th belt in another club or country.
    i have already written about the situation at my club. so i'll just make a long story short: a girl who used to train TTA started training with us. she got a black belt after 2 years of training. i can say that my green belts are better than her. so if she says that she is a black belt some people will admire her, but if someone says that they have a green belt some people might say that that is nothing, which is stupid. after all the knowledge and skills are what matter and not the belt. but still how can u get a black belt after two years of training, with no sparring and no fighting experience?????? having a black belt means a lot to me, it's not only the black color around ur waist, it's so much more.
    the bottom line is that the colours shouldn't be that important but the level of skill should, because we are talking about the same martial art (or aren't we?!)
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2003
  16. Taeho

    Taeho New Member

    Yes, I agree with neryo, I have seen black belts in my dojang, who were in my opinion, not worthy of the color. But, as in all things of life, we have to remember that our goals should not be clouded by rank. Strive for the best accept nothing less in yourself and everyone else can stuff it.

    Keep saying this to yourself when faced with discouragement because of something you may feel is not fair or just, "I know I'm doing my best, I give 200 percent and I'm proud of it. Who cares about the other guy."

    TKDshane Ÿ
     
  17. Chazz

    Chazz Keepin it kickin TKD style

    As long as you know in your soul that you are where you should be in your MA life then all is well. Dont worrie about what others have in rank. Dont worrie about what skill they have or lack there of. Some styles as well as some schools will not bother too much with sparring or fighting, they teach more forms and study the mental area of the martial arts. Also some people are not the fighting type. They might not pick up or deal that well with the sparring part of the martial arts but yet still know a lot in other areas. So dont worrie about the skills or rank of others, just deal with what you need to focus on.
     
  18. Falling_link

    Falling_link New Member

    One of my freinds who does TKD said that each belt has some kind of story to it, uh.. is this true?
     
  19. Taeho

    Taeho New Member

    Yes, each form has a meaning, and each belt color a meaning as well.

    TKDshane Ÿ
     
  20. Taeho

    Taeho New Member

    My Dojang teaches us the following meaning to belt colors:

    White Belt: Signifies innocence, as that of a beginning student who has no previous knowledge of TaeKwonDo.

    Yellow Belt: Signifies Earth, from which a plant sprouts and takes root as the TKD foundations being laid.

    Green Belt: Signifies the plant's growth as the TKD skill begins to develop.

    Blue Belt: Signifies the water which nourishes the plant as it grows, as knowledge of TKD nourishes technical and artistic development.

    Purple Belt: Signifies the evening sky which the plant matures into a towering tree as training in TKD progresses.

    Red Belt: Signifies Danger, cautioning the student to exercise control and warning the opponent to stay away.

    Black Belt: the opposite of white, signifying the maturity and proficiency of mastering the BASICS of TKD.

    TKDshane Ÿ
     

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