Belts & Rank

How many belts are there?  What are the colors leading up to black belt?

Since the introduction of the belt system, which was first used in Judo, prospective students have held a fascination with the various colors that martial arts practitioners wear around their waists.

As flashy as a colored belt might be, it's the rank that the belt represents which is most important.  In Traditional Shotokan Karate, there are twenty ranks...  Ten lower ranks and ten upper ranks.

Each lower rank is called a Kyu.  10th Kyu is the lowest, and 1st Kyu is the highest.  Each upper rank is called a Dan.  The ordering is reversed, and 1st Dan is the lowest, and 10th Dan is the highest.  The Kyu ranks are represented with colored belts, beginning at white and ending at brown, and the Dan ranks are all represented with a black belt.

The guidelines for what color represents each Kyu may vary from one dojo to another.  Standard Shotokan practice always puts White at the beginning, brown just before black, and black representing all the Dan ranks, but all the Kyu ranks between white and brown can be different.

Some Shotokan Dojos use only a white belt, a  green belt, a brown belt, and a black belt.  White represents 10-7th Kyu, Green represents 6-4th Kyu, Brown represents 3-1st Kyu, and Black represents all ten Dan levels.  Other Shotokan Dojos prefer to uses as many colors as possible to represent each Kyu rank.  It's personal preference and often decided by the instructor.

I like to see as many colors as possible, because it can be confusing when so many students share the same color, but are in actuality, different ranks.  At Perro Shotokan Karate, our belt colors are as follows:

10th Kyu - White Belt
9th Kyu - Yellow Belt
8th Kyu - Orange Belt
7th Kyu - Red Belt
6th Kyu - Green Belt
5th Kyu - Blue Belt
4th Kyu - Purple Belt
3rd-1st Kyu - Brown Belt

1st - 10th Dan - Black Belt

Learning Core Karate In 30 Days

Belt colors indicate rank fron KYU levels to DAN

Many of you may be familiar with the book All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum, and it is interesting to note on a similar level, that you can learn all Core Karate Techniques in just one month. Nearly everything you’ll be practicing from white belt to black belt can be taught to you in just thirty days.

This probably sounds simplistic, and maybe even unbelievable.  All Core Karate in thirty days? How can that be possible? There must be some kind of catch? There isn’t. To prove it, our dojo encourages beginners to try out month of training for free. After a month you’ll know if you have the willpower to stick through it, and then it’s up to you to make the core techniques you’ve learned effective.

Like any physical activity, there are only so many specific moves. It’s not so much how many moves we know, but more about how we can apply them, modify them and use them effectively in the spur of the moment. That’s the part that takes years to master.

To illustrate why this is the case, I’m going to use the game of basketball as an example. In basketball, there are a limited number of rules, and it doesn’t take long to learn how to play the game. That doesn’t mean a beginner will be as good as an NBA Champion in a month’s time. With sports, we accept that it takes years to perfect the technique. So why should we expect anything different when it comes to martial arts? 

Most likely, common misconceptions about karate are in part due to how martial arts are showcased in entertainment. Movies generally feature inexperienced students learning complex technique quickly, and the results are almost magical. Video games offer players the chance to learn complex button patterns, and if they memorize them all, they’re instantly expert players.

People who study karate are: driven, focused, and smart. Often, they are well educated, work in high-level professions and have exciting stories to share before and after class. They also have a natural tendency towards discipline and determination and are motivated to take the necessary time to develop amazing power and speed. After a few years of study, they earn it.