Seraph Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 I found this very informative and wanted to share... The Belt Color System. The belt system colours are like that because as a white belt gets dirtier... ======================================================================== What do all those different colored belts mean? Where do they come from? The belt system, as a formalized method of indicating rank, was popularized by Professor Jigaro Kano, founder of Kodokan Judo, around the beginning of this century. There are varying opinions as to whether the practice predated Kano's use of it, and where it may have come from, but it certainly wasn't common (the more traditional practice in Japanese martial arts was, and is, the granting of scrolls indicating various levels of abilities). The practice was adopted by Karate, formerly a fairly obscure Okinawan folk art, as that art was brought into the mainstream of Japanese martial arts. Many arts have since adopted it -- for example, some Western schools teaching Chinese martial arts use it, though this practice is somewhere between uncommon and unheard of in China itself. Some of these schemes are elaborately hierarchial; some schools use no belt ranking system at all. White belts almost always indicate beginners, black belts indicate those who have reached some level of ability. There are various colors used for rankings both below black belt, and for high ranking black belts, and various explanations as to what they mean. The color scheme -- and the implications for school etiquette -- vary from system to system and perhaps from school to school. An often heard story holds that the colours are explained as follows: a trainee's belts, which, traditionally, were never washed, became progressively dirtier with time (starting out white, becoming yellow with sweat, green with grass stains, and so on), finally changing to black over the years. This explanation, alas, is almost certainly fanciful. The best source of information on the meanings of belt colors and the proper behavior with respect to rank is, as always, one's teacher. ------------------------------------------------------------------- That's the Tactful answer to the "Belt Colours Groaner".... here's the not-so-tactful (and therefore, much more fun) answer, with thanks to the ever-thorough and factual Steve Gombosi: ------------------------------------------------------------------- From: sog@rainbow.rmii.com (Stephen O Gombosi) Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts Subject: Re: Belt colors -- why black? Date: 20 Feb 1996 14:48:45 -0700 In article <1996Feb19.173413.29755@walter.cray.com>, <radner@bushido.cray.com> wrote: >What does it take to put a stake through the heart of this one? A bigger hammer, obviously... >Gombo? It's time for your biweekly post on this one. I do hope you just >have one version of it in a file somewhere, that you can just cut and >paste routinely for a response. If you don't, post just one more time and >I'll save it for you and do you the favour in the future. How's that? So, you want me to chime in on the Thread That Will Not "Dye", eh? Your wish is my command, O Redheaded One...but I'm afraid most of my saved posts evaporated when my former employer (Cray Computer) went down the tubes. Bill Rankin was kind enough to send the following from a couple of years ago - I'm flattered to know he thinks my drivel is worth saving. The original was in response to the following from Danial Travers: >Danial E. Travers writes > > >> In tradtional days before Jigoro invented Judo, the martial artist of >> okinawa only used white belts. When the belt turned black, you were a >> black belt. To which I responded: >Ahem. I didn't know you were on a first-name basis with Kano. Anyway, >"in the traditional days before Kano invented Judo", there *was* no >kyu/dan ranking system. Kano invented it when he awarded "shodan" to >two of his senior students (Saito and Tomita) in 1883. Even then, there >was no external differentiation between yudansha (dan ranks) and mudansha >(those who hadn't yet attained dan ranking). Kano apparently began the >custom >of having his yudansha wear black obis in 1886. These obis weren't the >belts karateka and judoka wear today - Kano hadn't invented the judogi >yet, and his students were still practicing in kimono. They were the wide >obi still worn with formal kimono. In 1907, Kano introduced the modern >gi and its modern obi, but he still only used white and black. > >Karateka in Okinawa didn't use any sort of special uniform at all in the >old days. The kyu/dan ranking system, and the modern karategi (modified >judogi) were first adopted by Funakoshi in an effort to encourage >karate's acceptance by the Japanese. He awarded the first "shodan" ranks >given in karate to Tokuda, Otsuka, Akiba, Shimizu, Hirose, Gima, and >Kasuya on April 10, 1924. The adoption of the kyu/dan system and the >adoption of a standard uniform based on the judogi were 2 of the 4 >conditions which the Dai-Nippon Butokukai required before recognizing >karate as a "real" martial art. If you look at photographs of Okinawan >karateka training in the early part of this century, you'll see that they >were training in their everyday clothes, or (!) in their underwear. The Korean dobok is, of course, a (slightly) modified karategi. I'll be happy to let Dakin expound on the events that led to its adoption in Korea, since he's the author of the definitive scholarly history of TKD and related arts (when is it gonna be *published*, Dakin???). As far as Mike's Shuai Chiao statement is concerned, I have read other authors who claim that the Chinese adopted the convention during the Japanese occupation. I have a lot of respect for Mike's opinions, but I've never seen any real evidence one way or the other. There certainly isn't any evidence that Kano got either the belt convention or the uniform itself from the Mainland - especially since the uniform can be traced to traditional Japanese undergarments. Steve ------------------------------------------- .... and... to further clarify: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: sog@rmi.net (Stephen O Gombosi) Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts Subject: Re: Belt colors -- why black? Date: 22 May 1996 16:12:43 GMT Rick Shank <ricks@lagrange.amd.com> wrote: >Stephen O Gombosi <sog@rmi.net> wrote: >>Neil Brydges <Neil.Brydges@dpb.co.nz> wrote: >>>One reason I heard for belts being black was that you started off as a >>>white belt. As you trained the belt gathered dirt and eventually after >>>many years became black. This was then modified in more recent times >>... The kyu/dan ranking system, and the white/black belt >>distinction that goes with it, is a recent (post-1880) invention. >But your accounting does not deny that the motivation for the chosen >colors was consistant with Neil's version does it? Well, let's examine this fable in a little more detail. First: the rank system predates the practice uniform itself (although only by a few years). The obi distinction is a bit later than the rank system and a bit earlier than the modern uniform and its (modified) obi. Kano originally had his students practice in formal kimono, as some traditional jujutsu systems *still* do, complete with a wide, traditional obi (really closer to a sash than the modern "belt"). Let's just say that Kano's students were as likely to show up with a dirty kimono and obi as you are to show up for a job interview in a mud-caked suit. Second: the notion that there would be a certain cachet associated with filth in a culture as obsessed with cleanliness and ritual purity as Japan is pretty absurd to begin with. Third: very high ranks in Japanese and Okinawan arts are often indicated by red and/or red&white belts. It's hard to see how this is consistent with the idea that colors result from progressive staining or overdyeing. To clarify: such systems tend to reserve red obis for 9th or 10th dan. If the staining theory is correct, why is this the case? Note that this accounts for the unease many practitioners of such systems feel around 14 year-old TKD red belts . Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorin Ryuu Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 Yeah, I have a lot of the same info with just a little extra random facts at this post: http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=2964&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=50 Martial Arts Blog:http://bujutsublogger.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cross Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 Interesting reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaratekaAikidoist Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telsun Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 Well that answers a few questions that I raised myself about the evolvement of the karate Gi in another thread. Thanks for sharing it with us I keep asking God what I'm for and he tells me........."gee I'm not sure!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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