Modern karate students show their degree of experience thanks to a hierarchical system based on the different colors of the belts, called obi. As students progress in levels, they drop their previous belt for one with a different color to show their progress. Each style of karate respects its own hierarchical system, within which there are other variations based on organizations and even individual dojos. However, there are general rules you can learn to get a clearer idea of what the various colors mean.
Steps
Step 1. Start with the white belt
People who practice martial arts did not adopt a hierarchical system of colored belts until the twentieth century and it is quite common for each school to respect a different one. In almost every school, however, beginners start from the white belt.
A karate student starts at the tenth kyu (student level)
Step 2. Switch to the yellow belt
If students train regularly, they can take an exam every few months and advance to the next kyu. At each specific level of the hierarchy, the karateka gets a new belt; the yellow one is usually the second and is worn by students in the eighth kyu.
Step 3. Level up towards darker and darker belts
This is the part with the greatest differences between schools. Generally speaking, students spend the first year progressing towards increasingly darker belts.
A typical order is the orange belt (around the seventh kyu), green, blue and purple (around the fourth kyu). Many schools follow a slightly different order or use one less color
Step 4. Complete the kyu progression by obtaining the brown belt
It is almost always the highest level of the kyu system; typically, a practitioner obtains it when he reaches the third kyu and continues to wear it until the first kyu.
At this stage, the karateka usually trained consistently for more than a year before getting the brown belt. Several students continue to use it for another two years, although they are advancing from the third kyu to the first
Step 5. Reach for the black belt
The famous black belt is a great achievement for the student, although it does not mean that he has become a master. A good analogy to better understand this level is the bachelor's degree: a karateka who has just obtained a black belt possesses extensive knowledge, skills and may in the future be qualified to teach others.
Karatekis continue to advance from this level, but the color of the belt does not change. From this moment on, the hierarchical system based on dan is used whose first step is the Sho Dan. Along the way you will notice that the dan system follows an increasing numbering order, unlike the kyu system
Step 6. Recognize the stripes on the belts
Some schools use striped belts in addition to plain ones; typically, the stripes indicate a student who has reached a higher level within his or her hierarchical position but is not yet ready to get the next belt. The stripes can be white or the next color.
- For example, if a student attends a dojo where the color order of the belts changes from yellow to orange, he may wear a solid yellow belt. After a few months, he might get a yellow belt with orange stripes and then switch to the all-orange belt.
- Some dojos identify the dan levels (the ranks of the black belt) with white or red stripes on the belt itself, while others add these colors on the ends.
Step 7. Ask a martial arts practitioner for more details
You should know the dojo that karateka attends to find out if the blue belt occupies a higher position than the green one or to understand the meaning of the complex stripe system. Remember that each school sets its own requirements and standards in order to advance within the hierarchy. A student might be considered a seventh kyu in a dojo and have practiced much more than a fifth kyu karateka in another school. Talk to the masters, called sensei, who teach in dojos to find out more. Many schools and organizations explain their hierarchical system and related belt color criteria on their web pages.
Advice
- To remember the order of the lightest to darkest colored belts, you can keep in mind the origins of this practice, which date back to Japan in the Second World War. In that difficult time, students dyed the same belt a darker and darker color instead of buying a new one. Another funny story states that the belts were never washed and were eventually black with dirt; however, this second hypothesis is only an urban legend.
- There are dozens of different styles in karate, each having a unique organization and their own traditions. Remember that the hierarchical criterion of belts varies widely from dojo to dojo. The instructions in this article are a general guide only.
- In official competitions of the World Karate Federation, opponents wear red or blue belts, which do not indicate their rank.
