Budo Belts and Ranks:
The Forgotten Symbolism
By Christopher Caile
In the martial disciplines we all tie belts around our waists, but few
of us understand what they represent. The meaning of our belts and the
grading system they represent seems to have been lost. Some think they
indicate skill level or expertise. Others think they are misleading, at
best, only imported figments of oriental culture, or at worst, inflated
symbols of ego. So what do they represent? Are they worthless, or are
they meaningful symbols charged with the energy of years of dedication
and hard work?
One of the biggest misconceptions held by new students, as well as the
public, is that obtaining a black belt represents being an expert. Nothing
could be further from the truth. While training at the brown belt level
is very demanding and the attainment of a black belt is seen as significant,
black belt status really only indicates a graduation to a new beginning.
For this reason first level black belts are known as shodans, rather than
ichi (first) dans, "sho" meaning beginning, the same character as in sho
shin, meaning beginner's mind. Reaching this first, beginning rank means
you have achieved some proficiency in basics and are prepared to really
start learning, and learning means a lot more than techniques. Thus a
new shodan becomes a beginner again.
Actually the use of ranks and belts is a fairly new phenomenon. They weren't
used during the feudal period when warriors studied various fighting methods
for battlefield purposes, nor were they used in Okinawa as karate was
developing. The kyu/dan system associated with colored belts is really
a late 19th century invention pioneered by Jigoro Kano, the father of
judo. He created the kyu/dan system in 1883 and awarded his two top students
with a dan (rank) rating. Three years later he began to award black sashes
to be worn with a practice top kimono or Japanese robe. Pants were then
not in use, instead many wore loin cloths, or more commonly shorts cut
off above the knee. Kano's organization, the Kodokan, later adopted the
full uniform with pants (keikogi) we know today. In approximately 1907
the sash was replaced by the kuri obi (black belt).
Kano saw the need to distinguish between beginning and advanced students.
Beginners wore white belts and were considered unranked, but within this
classification there were different levels known as kyu. New students
started at the highest kyu (usually ten), the level decreasing with experience
to first kyu, the last level before promotion to dan, the rank level symbolized
by the black belt. Sometimes first or second kyus wore brown belts signifying
that they were completing their basics and soon would become ranked. It
was understood that kyu levels were only an introduction to more advanced
training on a dan level. Over time various system have adopted six to
ten kyu levels for their promotion curriculum and dan steps progressing
upwards from first dan. In many budo arts dan status was achieved quite
easily once serious studies began. In other systems, however, attaining
a dan ranking was stretched out taking five to seven years of serious
study, or more. Because beginners were unranked they were known as mudansha,
"mu" being a Zen term meaning nothingness, an expression of negation.
"Dan" is rank and "sha" is a person. Advanced students, ones who had mastered
basics (awarded a dan rank) are called yudansha, "yu," meaning possession.
Thus the term means, "A person in possession of rank."
The contrasting color of black (ranked) and white (unranked, colored kyu
were not then in use) belts are laden with deeper symbolism. They reflect
a yin, yang nature (in Japan in/yo) reflecting budo's roots in Taoist
tradition represented by the term "do," or path, and represent the basic
polarity of opposites. This concept of dualism was also expressed in the
Chi Hsi school of Confucism (that had an important impact on budo's formation)
with its concept of form (or yukei, representing rank in budo) and non-form
(mukei, representing non-rank). The white belt, along with the white uniform,
also reflect budo values - purity, avoidance of ego and simplicity. There
is also no visual, or outward indication of class or level of expertise.
Thus everyone begins as an equal (without class) - a former noble could
be standing next to a farmer. This was significant because earlier times
(pre-1868) were characterized by a rigid class structure, within which
classes were strictly separated and most were prohibited from martial
The kyu/dan system and associated belts was given a big boost by Japan's
first martial arts association formed to promote the revival of the martial
teaching tradition in the modern era. In 1895 the government had sanctioned
the formation of the Dai Nippon Butokukai (Japan Great Martial Virtues
Association) to oversee, standardize and promote the various martial traditions
(ryuha). A committee was commissioned (adopting kano's innovations) to
grant budo/bujitsu martial rank certification (budo/bujitsu menjo) based
on the kyu/dan system and to grant teaching licenses (Shihan menjo).
Under butokukai leadership budo and bujitsu became revolutionized in Japan.
A common system of uniforms, ranking, belts and promotion was adopted.
Even practice methods became somewhat standardized. The Butokukai also
promoted the adoption of budo training (including judo, kendo, kyudo and
naginata-do) within the general education system and the teaching of bushido
(the warriors code of ethics). Judo and kendo were promoted as sports.
The kyu/dan system was never designed merely to indicate a level of technical
achievement. It also represents budo's goal of spiritual and ethical attainment
towards perfection of the self. Thus dan rankings, and even kyu levels,
should reflect a level of moral and spiritual development or attainment.
For this reason children have always been classified differently with
their own kyu and dan status and with their own distinct belts, the black
belt often having a white stripe down the middle. This is because children
are judged to be not fully mature and too young to have developed those
aspects of character that budo represents. For this reason many schools
retest their students at an age of 14 or 15 to qualify them for adult
standing. Thus the kyu/dan system reflects evaluation of a person's spiritual
progress towards perfection (attainment of discipline, values, ethics,
manners, deportment, etc.) within a martial discipline.
In the early 20th century karate had just been introduced into Japan from
Okinawa where it had been practiced in secrecy for centuries. In Suri,
Okinawa's capital, karate been introduced publicly as part of the physical
education curriculum of the middle school starting around 1905. But there
was no ranking, belts or uniforms at that time. The kyu/dan ranking and
belt/uniform system was first adopted by karate in Japan (the first dans
awarded by Gichin Funakoshi to seven students in 1924) as a means of gaining
acceptance by the Butokukai. Okinawa karate later followed the Japanese
Only within the last 30 years have some martial disciplines or organizations
begun to use colored belts to signify different levels of kyu. This was
done to give students a sense of accomplishment. They were adopted in
response to the desire voiced by many, mostly foreign students in Japan
and students abroad, who sought some outward manifestation of their progress.
There is no agreement, however, on color, or order of color, except that
in many systems a brown belt precedes attainment of a back belt (dan status).
As to ranking of black belts, technically there are 10 progressive dan
levels, first through tenth, but realistically, promotion within each
system is limited to a level below that of the system's founder, chief
instructor or inheritor. Thus within Shotokan karate, whose founder, Gichen
Funikoshi, was ranked as a fifth dan (godan), no one within the system
had an equal or higher rank until his death.
All dan levels wear blacks, except for various combinations of red, white
and black used on ceremonial occasions usually for fifth degree black
belt and above. Some systems now signify dan ranking by stripes on one
belt tip, the number of stripes indicating the grade. Some systems, however,
symbolize various teaching titles with black belt stripes. But achieving
a dan level today in Japan is not restricted merely to the marital arts.
Dan ranking has been extended to a wide variety of activities. There are
even dans awarded for skill in sake (rice wine) tasting.