Belt question

[Polaris]

I have probably a stupid question.

 

When you get to Dan ranks you get stripes added to your belt. I know its probably artform specific but in general if you were 10th Dan would you have 10 Dan stripes on your belt?

 

What are the higher rank belts like in different martial arts?

 

Thanks!

[TangSooGuy]

I have probably a stupid question.

 

When you get to Dan ranks you get stripes added to your belt. I know its probably artform specific but in general if you were 10th Dan would you have 10 Dan stripes on your belt?

 

What are the higher rank belts like in different martial arts?

 

Thanks!

 

Honestly, it depends on the system/ organization in question.

 

In my particular organization, the belt system is as follows:

 

http://www.keystonemartialarts.com/main/belt_system.asp

[STR33T GUY]

I’m going to hi-jack this thread.

 

All that a colored belt means is that you have paid your fees and put in your time. If you want a belt that is worth something, you have to win it in the ring or octagon.

[Grenadier]

As TangSooGuy stated, it depends from one organization to another.

 

In my current, and previous two dojos, all of the black belts do not have stripes on them. The current dojo's only labelling is the name of the organization embroidered on one side (in kanji), and the yudansha's name on the other side (in katakana), while the previous two had nothing at all on them.

 

At a younger phase of my life, the dojo I trained in, did use stripes (made out of medical tape), with one stripe per dan rank, so shodan ranks had one stripe, nidan ranks had two stripes, etc., all the way to the chief instructor of the division, who as a rokyudan, had six stripes.

 

I still use my old belt occasionally, in the current dojo, although I did remove the stripes to conform to the others. Still, you can see white markings at the end, where the two stripes used to be, if you look closely. I sometimes think about taking some solvent to get the remnants out, but I'd rather not leach out the color of the belt in the process.

[cathal]

My dojo doesn't use coloured stripes on the Dan belts, they are all just black.

[MASIsshinryu]

It has been my experience that this is almost completely up to the instructor. Even within a given style or governing body, there is often variation.

[Shorin Ryuu]

There are numerous threads about belts, dan ranks, the ranking system, etc. on the karate board, if you wish to see more about this topic and variations of it.

[TangSooGuy]

I’m going to hi-jack this thread.

 

All that a colored belt means is that you have paid your fees and put in your time. If you want a belt that is worth something, you have to win it in the ring or octagon.

 

Normally, I would just choose to ignore you, however, I just want to say that I am truly sorry if this is your experience, in that you have never had the honor of training with good traditional martial artists who make use of the belt system...

Edited March 18, 2005 by TangSooGuy

[Snakeeel]

Str33t Guy wrote:

All that a colored belt means is that you have paid your fees and put in your time. If you want a belt that is worth something, you have to win it in the ring or octagon

.

 

So, what you're saying is that only MA practitioners that practice their art as a sport and compete should advance through the belt ranks. Fairly narrow minded outlook in my humble opinion.

 

I don't know how they do things in your part of the world but putting in your time and paying your dues was not how we advanced. I'd change my school if I were you. Snake

[STR33T GUY]

So, what you're saying is that only MA practitioners that practice their art as a sport and compete should advance through the belt ranks. Fairly narrow minded outlook in my humble opinion.

 

I don't know how they do things in your part of the world but putting in your time and paying your dues was not how we advanced. I'd change my school if I were you. Snake

 

On rare occasion I’ve witness an instructor telling a student not to take a promotion test because they weren’t ready for advancement to the next belt level. But I’ve never seen someone actually fail a test for a higher belt. Now I have seen many people fail to win a championship belt in the ring.

 

So which belt do you think means more, the black belt that almost anyone can get if they apply themselves long enough or a belt that says middleweight champion of Minnesota (or where ever)?