How many belts should there be?

[Harkon72]

We are lucky enough not to have any membership fees or contracts of commitment. It's £4.50 a lesson, pay as you go, first lesson free. We might see them every week for 10 years or never see them again. Adults pay an admin and legal insurance of £10 a year, our gradings are £20 and that's it! People think that because we are cheap, we are useless; but I'm proud to say that we have some of the best Karateka in Wales.

[Nidan Melbourne]

that's true a lot of schools would have low fees yet still produce world class karateka.

Even though we have our memberships people can still cancel it at any point in time without paying an exit fee or the likes.

They can choose to either pay it fortnightly, monthly or in full. The fortnightly and monthly it is a small fee (like those commercials for skin products where you can either do 5 payments of $30 or pay $150 straight up).

If they pay in full and cancel we refund the remaining fund. So if they pay $2000 for a 4 year membership and cancel with 1 year to go you get $500 back. As it works out to be $500 per year.

[Hawkmoon]

hmm...!

Kyokushin has 10 kys then Black!

10 Red

9 Red +tag

8 Blue

7 Blue +tag

6 Yellow

5 Yellow +tag

4 Green

3 Green +tag

2 Brown

1 Brown +tag

Black Shodan 1st

Black Nidan 2nd

Black Sandan 3rd

Each grade is generally 3mths apart up to 4th kyu then 6 moths to 1st kyu then a year to Shodan. Effectively making a 4 and a half year path to Shodan, so long as you pass each grade first time that is!

Ten stages to black is reasonable to me, logical even, more or less belts/stages wouldn't make me angry or anything, it shows progress which mostly everyone 'wants/needs' as they move through anything in life.

However, I do wonder if adding more simply makes the obtaining of Black belt a 'thing to far' if there was say 20 belts or something.

The license fee just short of £100 for the year.

Dan grades start at £100 for Shodan, and mount up form there, kyu grades are whatever the dojo ask for as far as I am aware.

[Harkon72]

We have the Following grades;

White (no grade) 3 months >

Yellow 8th Kyu 3 months >

Orange 7th Kyu 3 months >

Green 6th Kyu 3 months >

Blue 5th Kyu 3 months >

Purple + White Stripe pre-4th Kyu 3 months >

Purple 4th Kyu 3 months >

Brown + White Stripe 3rd Kyu 3 months >

Brown 2nd Kyu 6 months >

Brown + Black Stripe 1st Kyu 6 months >

Black + White Stripe pre-Dan 1 Year >

Black Shodan 2 Years >

The times are the minimum time you remain at that grade, regardless of hours trained. So as you can see it takes at least 4 years to get to Shodan.

[Nidan Melbourne]

We have the Following grades;

White (no grade) 3 months >

Yellow 8th Kyu 3 months >

Orange 7th Kyu 3 months >

Green 6th Kyu 3 months >

Blue 5th Kyu 3 months >

Purple + White Stripe pre-4th Kyu 3 months >

Purple 4th Kyu 3 months >

Brown + White Stripe 3rd Kyu 3 months >

Brown 2nd Kyu 6 months >

Brown + Black Stripe 1st Kyu 6 months >

Black + White Stripe pre-Dan 1 Year >

Black Shodan 2 Years >

The times are the minimum time you remain at that grade, regardless of hours trained. So as you can see it takes at least 4 years to get to Shodan.

is the pre-4th kyu mandatory for all students (both juniors and seniors) or just for one of them? Or am I just going insane?

[Harkon72]

Yes, pre-4th Kyu is an important intermediate grade, for a full 4th Kyu you must perform 2 Kata (Pinan Yondan and Pinan Godan), one previous Pinan Kata and two Basic Kata of the examiner's choice. There are multiple combinations and one step Kumite as well as two opponents for free sparring. The step into 4th Kyu takes two gradings as you enter the more advanced level of practice and a taste of what is expected of you for a higher grade.

[Nidan Melbourne]

Yes, pre-4th Kyu is an important intermediate grade, for a full 4th Kyu you must perform 2 Kata (Pinan Yondan and Pinan Godan), one previous Pinan Kata and two Basic Kata of the examiner's choice. There are multiple combinations and one step Kumite as well as two opponents for free sparring. The step into 4th Kyu takes two gradings as you enter the more advanced level of practice and a taste of what is expected of you for a higher grade.

OK that makes sense. We don't do that unfortunately. Our green belts get put through the ringer if they continue. If they slack off it will take them longer to grade and the harsher we are

[quinteros1963]

If you are in business you need to appease your customers. Having said that people expect to see progress. I use 3 tips on each belt to show progress between belt changes. 7 belts in all. There is no charge for anything except uniforms and belts. I'm just collecting data in case I decide to teach for profit someday.

[Picalo]

PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 7:55 am Post subject: Reply with quote Report post

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We have the Following grades:

White

Yellow

Orange

Green

Blue

Purple

Brown

Brown

Brown

Black

/each rank has a half rank denoted by a white stripe in the center of the belt. This was added because so many youngsters would quit because they were a certain belt for too long. Purely for the sake of keeping the dojo opened.

[devil dog]

I really don't think it matters how many belts there are as long as quality is taught and it makes sense.

When I started at the age of 8 we had two belts. White and Black. When I was a teenager they incorporated two more belts to go as follows; white, green, brown and black. Now there are several more and even more for the youth.

If the time frame stays the same from white to black then I fail to see how it would matter. I am sure there are nefarious reasons for including more belts such as more money but I believe that most instructors do it as a means of energizing their younger students and breaking down the material so they do not become overwhelmed with the content.

The system I use for adults is white, green, green + tag, brown, brown + tag, brown + 2 tags and use white, yellow, orange, blue, green, green + tag, brown, brown + tag for my youth classes.

There are 6 kyu ranks for adults and 8 for kids. The curriculum stays the same. Normal time to Shodan is 5 years.

I have found that it gives the kids a goal and a feeling of accomplishment that keeps them energized. Most adults do not need the extra stimulus of earning yet another belt so the 4 belt system works.

I have had anywhere from 2 belts up to 10 belts to black belt in the different arts I have studied and it really did not make a difference. The cuririculum is the same just broken down into easy to chew bite size pieces so to speak.