Grading in between belts?

[Truestar]

How do you work things in between different belts with students? Our school has tried several different striping methods, and the latest one seems to do very well.

Each belt has six stripes. Form, Technique, Grappling/Self Defense, Physical Fitness, Dynamic Performance, and Breaking. At each belt level the student is expected to learn a new form, new technique, and perform at greater levels physically.

I believe some schools don't do stripes, and simply go from belt to belt based on whether or not the student is ready. I guess our stripes are an incentive for a student to do well. They see they have 5-6 stripes, so a new belt is on the horizon. You could say it's also a way of Americanizing the system, but it seems to work very well, which certainly isn't a problem at all.

So does your school go from belt to belt, or do you have some kind of system in between the belts?

[bushido_man96]

My current school doesn't use stripes. My former school did. They are good if you have certain identifiers to go by. Either way is ok.

[DWx]

We have something for the younger kids where they can earn badges but we don't really break down the main ranks. You do have to test on each of those factors though.

[jaedeshi]

So does your school go from belt to belt, or do you have some kind of system in between the belts?

At my dojo I decided to use more stripes instead of more belts. I use 10 levels before black belt. Although each level is not distinguished by a belt but rather by either a belt or a stripe. I do test for each level. I've been to different martial arts schools and they all did it differently. One school gave stripes but didn't test you for them and the other did test you. This is how I break it down.

10th kyu white belt

9th kyu white belt 1 stripe

8th kyu white belt 2 stripes

7th kyu white belt 3 stripes

6th kyu green belt

5th kyu green belt 1 stripe

4th kyu green belt 2 stripes

3rd kyu brown belt

2nd kyu brown belt 1 stripe

1st kyu brown belt 2 stripes

There is a set curriculum for each level. Also I can easily distinguish beginner, intermediate, and advanced students by belt color.

white beginner

green intermediate

brown advanced

I'm not sure of how this system motivates students as its the only system I've used. I just never saw a reason to have so many belts.

[ninjanurse]

We stripe in between belt tests: 6 stripes in all for white-blue, 3 stripes for brown & red. It works well for most and keeps younger students on track for testing.

[sensei8]

Use of belts and their stripes can get out of hand, imho! More of each/either is for one reason, imho, no matter how the reason might be explained away...MONEY$$$

This is not to say that my style's way is the right way, it's just our way; no stripes except for Sankyu to Judan. There's no vailid reason, imho, for any style to have a camo belt...no reason!

[Truestar]

Money isn't what's being used here.

There are 6 stripes for each belt up to Junior black, they don't cost anything, however are merely "steps" building up to each rank.

[sensei8]

Money isn't what's being used here.

There are 6 stripes for each belt up to Junior black, they don't cost anything, however are merely "steps" building up to each rank.

This is an interesting concept as well as an excellent way to monitor progress. I apologize for assuming money was at the root of many stripe systems; there are obvious exceptions.

[joesteph]

Soo Bahk Do

For age twelve through to adult:

10th gup--white belt

9th gup--white belt w/ stripe

8th gup--orange belt

7th gup--orange belt w/ stripe

6th gup--green belt

5th gup--green belt w/ stripe

4th gup--green belt w/ two stripes

3rd gup--red belt

2nd gup--red belt w/ stripe

1st gup--red belt w/ two stripes

Then dan member, using midnight blue instead of black for the belt color; at fourth dan, a red stripe encircling the belt from end-to-end is added in the middle of the midnight blue. Highest dan rank is ninth (Grandmaster).

For children:

White belt, then up to eight stripes earned individually on the white belt: two orange, two green, two red, two blue; then to orange belt, and continue with two of each color; then green belt, etc.

Bonuses for children:

Stickers (Awesome! Good job! etc.), cookies, and chocolates appear every so often between all these stripes.

[Truestar]

Money isn't what's being used here.

There are 6 stripes for each belt up to Junior black, they don't cost anything, however are merely "steps" building up to each rank.

This is an interesting concept as well as an excellent way to monitor progress. I apologize for assuming money was at the root of many stripe systems; there are obvious exceptions.

No apology needed!

However money does tend to be the root of many things.