Belt Colours - Why?

[Dobbersky]

I was wondering why do different schools have different coloured belts and in different sequences. I love reading the Ethos behind the colours too. I'm not too sure if they acturally put some real thought process into it or whether it was just hype to "Sell" the grades

My Sequence is:

White - Red - Purple - Blue - Yellow - Orange - Green - Brown - Brown/Black1 (Brown/white1 - kids) - Brown/Black2 (Brown/white2 - kids) - (Black/white1 - kids) - (Black/white2 - kids) - Black - Black/Red

My reasoning

White - comes with the Gi

Red - I'm a Man City Fan so bottom of the Pile

Purple - is a Mix or Red & Blue

Blue - as it was the lowest grade in Ashihara karate

Yellow - next highest grade

Orange - its a nice colour and its close to Yellow

Green - it was the next closest to Brown

Brown - always the highest Karate Kyu Grade

Brown/Black1 - Its a brown belt with a black stripe through its because these days people winge if they dont get anything more that a bit of electrical tape

Brown/Black2 - Its a brown black split belt again its because these days people winge if they dont get anything more that a bit of electrical tape and after 12 months or failing Dan grade the belt is reverse so black on top instead of brown on top. (If Stocks depleated, this would become Black/White1 belt)

Brown/white1, Brown/white2 - kids - Same as above but didn't want to have any black in a junior Grade.

Black/white1, Black/white2 - kids - Didn't want a FULL Black belt for a Junior Grade)

Black - its a Universal colour for Dan grades, No Dan Bars at all to be shown as the user should be able to portray their grade without the need to label their belts with it

Black/Red Block Belt - a Master's Belt - to distinguish between technical grades and Time served Grades. Only compulsary to be worn on Gradings and Seminars, otherwise Black belt may be worn. Choice of Colour(s) - same as the Retro Man City Away Stripe top

As you can see not pretty reasoning for the belt sequence and yes some of the grades "seem" mixed up but hey, its my school lol

What are your thoughts and reasoning behind your belts and what colours would you have if you had a choice?

[Liver Punch]

I'm a big fan of not having a lot of belt levels as it gives each belt more legitimacy, and makes people work harder/longer for a belt. Our system has 7 Belt colors, and two additional levels of brown belt. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has 5, and stripes vary by school. I'm a big fan of 5-7, but, that's probably not the most profitable way of going about things.

[ninjanurse]

I think marketing does have something to do with it-people today are very much into instant gratification and getting something tangible for their efforts. But, this can work to your advantage as long as the message is right....and doesn't get lost along the way. I use "extra" belts in my program-not to "sell belts" but to teach patience (as their progression "slows") and to give me more time with struggling students, as oftentimes, the one's who struggle are the one's who will bring you the most treasure...and anything you can do to keep them with you until they have the "a-ha" moment is worth it.

Here are my belts, divided into Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced:

(It is somewhat based on a traditional TKD system of colors)

White

Orange

Yellow

Green

Purple

Blue

Sr. Blue (black stripe)

Brown

Sr. Brown (black stripe)

Red

Sr. Red (black stripe)

Red/Black (Black Belt candidate)

I have a separate belt system for kids ages 4-7. When they graduate from that program they start at Yellow and progress from there. I make no outward distinction (belt color/stripe) for students 8-16 but they are considered "junior" gup or dan holders.

[DWx]

Red - I'm a Man City Fan so bottom of the Pile

I love this reason! Although why not make blue the 1st kyu level too?

We've got these colours, half-belts / stripe belts are in between

White: to signify innocence and no knowledge of the style

Yellow: signifies earth, foundation level, plant your seed of knowledge in it

Green: plant's growth as your skills develop

Blue: heavens to which the plant's growing

Red: signify danger as the skills develop but to also caution the student themselves to exercise care and control

Black: opposite of white, also impervious to darkness and fear (I guess this means being cool headed and still making the right choices )

Use roman numerals or bars for dan grades 1 to 9. Schools in the system that do award junior blackbelts give them a blackbelt with a white stripe through the centre.

I half suspect we stole/copied the colours from other styles and applied these meanings to it.

[bushido_man96]

I think it just boils down to the preferences of those who put their rank systems together. I know TKD styles have tried to liken what the colors mean to the growth of a tree, or the hours in a day that the sky colors with, etc.

In the end, though, I think they serve the purpose as mainly indicators of knowledge in a class setting, and makes it easier for instructors to focus on what each rank needs to work on.

[MaxMarks]

I think it just boils down to the preferences of those who put their rank systems together.

I totally agree. The belt system is relatively new in the history of the martial arts but it's fantastic for what it teaches us about reaching for and achieving goals. It's a text book example of breaking a large goal into smaller ones then even smaller ones. Most martial artist know exactly what they need to do on any given day, when they step on the mat, to get to their next belt or stripe.

I wrote my New Years blog post on the subject. http://lifeskillsfromthedojo.com/?p=126 Check it out and share it with your students. It's great for them to realize they can apply their experience with earning rank to any life goal they have.

[JusticeZero]

What I recall hearing was that it was started from judo so that a visiting instructor would know who they could throw hard and who was new and had to be treated gently. There are some explanations for colors, but they really just seem like they were come up with arbitrarily to me.

[Martial Walrus]

I see the Kyu/Gup ranks as more of a organizational tool for the instructor than a mark of achievement for the student. There isn't much difference in actual skill between a white belt and a yellow belt (or whatever color comes after white in that system), but the belt makes it easy for an instructor to know what a student has already learned. I think the Dan ranks are more of an actual mark of achievement. The Dan ranks are also when you start refine what you learned in the Kyu/Gup ranks.

Ironically, my master is color blind.

[RW]

My ex-school has the weirdest system:

White

White w/ one black stripe

white w/ 2 black stripes

purple

yellow

orange

green

blue

brown

black

-

-

Some instructors had a black belt that was white in the center of the belt

The sensei had a black belt with a red stripe in the center of the belt

[yamesu]

I have read a different take on this.

Old school belts were white - the longer and harder one trained, the dirtier their belt got until it was literally brown.

Nowdays the belt system mimicks this.

This appears true for Kyokushin: White, Yellow, Orange (or Red depending who you train with), Blue, Green, Brown, Black.

Starts light and progressively gets darker.

Not my opinion, just something I read years back and has stuck with me as it makes more sense than a lot of other reasoning.