Why Do Martial Arts Have Black Belts

As most people know, most types of Martial Arts use belts and sashes to distinguish the different levels of skills and training of the students. But where did this ranking system come from? Before reading any further, you should realize that this system is in use for only 120 years, that not every martial art uses the same ranking system and that even the local martial art school can have a different system.

The most common and most accepted story of the origin of the belt ranking system is the story of Dr Jigoro Kano. He was the founder of the modern judo, as we know and practice today. Dr Kano was a teacher and a sports enthusiast and decided to let his dan students (the ones with the highest ranks) wear a black belt, so they could be easily recognized as Dan. Later on he realized that his kyu students (lower ranks) needed something to target their efforts. This became the system with the different colors to easily identify the progress that his students made over time.

When the Okinawan karate master Gichin Funakoshi, who is considered to be the “Father of Modern Karate”, gave a demonstration of his martial art style, Shotokan, at the Kodokan, he was impressed by the belt ranking system and decided to implement the system for his own students. Soon this was followed by the other Japanese martial arts as Aikido, Karate, Kendo etc.

When new students start their martial arts training, they are likely to be given a white belt. During the training tehy will progress through the different colors and earn the black belt. Although most people think that this is the highest rank one can achieve with martial arts, the black belt is actually the beginning of the real training. The black belt means that someone is no longer a Kyu but a Dan.

Dan have their own ranking system known as degrees. You are a first degree black belt when you first attain it, over time you can test for your 2nd degree black belt (or 2nd dan) and so on. Most martial arts consider a 10th degree black belt to be the highest level of mastery.

More information about various martial arts can be found on www.martialartinfo.net

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Posted in Extreme Fighting