Chapter 7 (Ranking and its Significane)

Ranking System In KARATE

* Kyu:   for students in the early stages of practice. All coloured belts are categorized under Kyu ranks.

*Dan:   for practitioners with higher experience up to mastery. Black belts are categorized under Dan ranks.

1.    White Belt: White color signifies the birth, or beginning. A white belt student is a beginner looking for knowledge of the Art. The white belt is the beginning of life's cycle, and symbolically represents the new born seed exposed to the new environment.

2.    Yellow Belt: Yellow color represents the first beam of sunlight which shines upon the seed giving it new strength marking beginning of the actual training, with the beginning of new life. A yellow belt student is given his first ray of knowledge, opening his mind, from his instructors.

3.    Orange Belt: Orange color represents the growing power or intensity of the sun as it warms the earth preparing for new growth in the spring. The orange belt is starting to feel the body and mind open and develop.

4.    Green Belt: Green color signifies the growth of the seed , symbolically as it sprouts from the earth reaching toward the sun and begins to grow into a plant. A green belt student learns to strengthen and refine his techniques.

5.    Blue Belt: Blue color signifies the blue sky as the plant continues to grow toward it. A blue belt student moves up higher in rank just as the plant grows taller. The light feeds the plant so it can continue to grow. The student is fed additional knowledge of the Art in order for his body and mind to develop.

6.    Purple Belt: Purple color represents the changing sky of dawn, as once again the student undergoes a new change and prepares for the transition to advanced student. A purple belt begins to understand the meaning of the black belt.

7.    Brown Belt: Brown color represents the ripening of the seed, a maturing and harvesting process. A brown belt is an advanced student whose techniques are beginning to mature, and he is beginning to understand the fruits of his hard work as a beginner.

8 . Black Belt: Black color signifies the darkness beyond the sun. A black belt seeks new, more profound knowledge of the Art. As he begins to teach others, he plants new seeds and helps them grow and mature. His students, many whom will form roots deep into the Art, blossom and grow through the ranks in a never-ending process of self-growth, knowledge, and enlightenment.

* Kyu Belts colours and their order can vary from one Karate style to another.