Introduction to Martial Arts Ranks and Belts

In American public school system students progress from grade 1 to grade 12. Elementary school is grades  1 to 6, middle school is grades 7 and 8, and high school is grades 9 to 12. After that is college.

Martial arts have similar progression for students. The ranks are signified by belts. White is like elementary, green is like middle school, brown is high school, and black is college.

But not all martial arts use the same progression. While most agree with the basic white-green-brown-black progression, some have colors in between, like yellow, orange, gold, blue, and red. There is even confusion on the rank of red. Some consider red higher than black while some think black is higher than all colors, including red.

The use of kyu for martial arts ranking is a more standard practice than the belt color system. All beginners are 10 kyu. After learning the beginner skills a student becomes 9 kyu, and then 8 kyu. Most dojos award the green belt at the 8 or 7 kyu, the brown belt at the 5 kyu or 4 kyu. This progression continues until a student reaches 1 kyu, at which point the student is a candidate for black belt.

 

The average time period to progress from 10 kyu to 1 kyu, and earning the black belt, is three years. Some students will earn it in one year through hard work - practicing daily, watching videos, attending seminars twice or more a week, and reading books. Some may take more than five years to earn their black belt - they study martial arts once a week and never think of it any other days.

Some instructors will delay a person's black belt if they suspect the student will misuse it. Students who fail to exhibit respect for peers, for example, may be denied black belt promotion. In general, promotion of women is slower than that of men, especially in dojos where there is strong emphasis for sparring and tournaments, but this is changing. Martial arts have given women opportunities to assert and demonstrate equality with men.

After becoming black belt, a student may continue learning martial arts to become 2nd degree. Just as it usually takes three years to become first degree, it takes about three years to become second degree. Whereas a student gets many belt promotions on the way from white belt to black belt, there is only one belt promotion from 1st degree to 2nd degree over the same period. This is a common reason why many students quit martial arts soon after they become black belt.

There are good reasons why a student should continue martial arts after becoming black belt. Black belt does not mean you are a trained fighter. It means you have learned all the basics and fundamentals and, therefore, you are ready to put them together be trained like a regular warrior. It's like saying "you're one of the big boys now and it's time for you to learn how big boys do it."

If you are going to quit learning martial arts, do it after you have earned second degree. By then you know many secrets of martial arts. It is very likely, however, that you will enjoy your discoveries so much that you will want to keep on learning. Then you may choose to become a martial arts instructor so you can help others enjoy martial arts, too. 

Ray Colorado
Brown Belt, Shizen-na Karate under Richard Morris

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