Belts (revisited?)

[-uRs-Hawkeye]

OSU! Hello everyone. I am new to these forums and I have a question. I have done an exhaustive search (well, okay I'm kinda tired) but I can't find much good information on what the various yudansha colored belts are. (ie, red/white, red/black, black/white, etc.)

Could anyone explain what ranks get which belts, or point me to a place that already has an answer to this?

Thank You very much in advance.

[Brandon Fisher]

Red / White blocked belts are most commonly used for 7th & 8th Dan or Kyoshi. On some occasions 6th Dan's will wear these.

Red / White Split Belt are most commonly used with 5th & 6th Dan or Shihan or Renshi. However some start at 4th dan with this but very rare.

Red Belts are typcially 9th and 10th Dan Hanshi at least in the Okinawan / Japanese systems.

Red / Black blocked and black and white blocked are most commonly used as the same belt as the red / white blocked belts but not as common.

Keep in mind sometimes the ranking system within a organization may use these belts at different times.

Hope that helps some.

[Holland]

In our style the blocked red and white is given out at 6th dan. I think this is fairly universal.

The black on one side/red and white on the other is a bit different and I have seen multiple different ways of doing this. In my dojo you can wear this belt at 4th dan, but the black is facing out, at 5th dan you flip it over. But once again I have seen different criteria for this.

[ps1]

We all just wear black. No stripes. We all know who is in charge. I guess if there was a large orginization...the others may be necessary for immediate recognition. Your best bet is to ask your instructor what they mean in your art.

[Brandon Fisher]

I rarely wear anything except my old worn out black belt its like an old friend.

[setboy]

In my dojo we keep the same black belt you test for at sho dan.

my head Sensei is a Shichi Dan and still has a black belt.

[jaymac]

Holland, ours is the same; however, even though my instructor has the red/white Shihan belt, he seems to prefer his black belt that he originally received at shodan.

[Eugeu_Ryu_Stylist]

In Eugue Ryu, our Nidan is a black belt with 2 stripes, our Sandan is black with 3 stripes, Yondan block red/white belt, and Godan solid red.

[-uRs-Hawkeye]

Okay, thoses were pretty good answers. As for asking my sensei, I have lost contact with him recently and don't know when we will re-establish. He is shichidan and wears a solid black belt, as does our GM. I understand that other colors are pretty much ceremonial occasions and so they wouldn't be what they would normally wear around the dojo. I was just curious because I ran across a few that I hadn't seen before.

Thanks for the help, everyone!

[Brandon Fisher]

Some do wear the others on a everyday basis.