# belt system



## AMP-RYU

just curious to your belt systems in your schools?


mine goes:

White             to white 3 yellow stripes
Yellow            to yellow 2 orange stripes
Orange           to Orange 1 green stripe
Green             to green 2 blue stripes
Blue               to blue 2 purple stripes
Purple             to purple 1 red stripe
Red                to red 1 brown stripe
Brown             to brown  1 black stripe
Black              to black 9 white stripes


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## Twin Fist

white
gold
orange
purple
green
blue
4th brown
3rd brown
2nd brown
1st brown
Black
1st black -red stripe

etc


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## zeeberex

Twin Fist said:


> white
> gold
> orange
> purple
> green
> blue
> 4th brown
> 3rd brown
> 2nd brown
> 1st brown
> Black
> 1st black -red stripe
> 
> etc



Belts are often not an accurate expression of levels of skill, gold? orange, blue, no tartan? oyyyyyyyyy...


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## tellner

The guy up teaching the class is the teacher.
Everyone else is students.


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## IcemanSK

We use a 10 gup system. The color belts we use are:
White
Yellow
Gold
Orange
Green
Purple
Blue
Red
Brown
Brown w/ black stripe

Then Black


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## Korppi76

We have:
white 
black 
Total 6 whites and  6-8 blacks now, no stripes.

And in other arts, also with no stripes:
white,
yellow,
orange,
green,
blue,
brown,
black


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## jarrod

white
green
blue
3 browns, but they are unmarked
black

jf


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## setboy

White
yellow
Blue
Blue with one stripe on cheap tip
green
green with one stripes on each tip
Purple
Brown
Brown with two stripes on each tip 
brown with only one on each tip
black.


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## sjansen

jarrod said:


> white
> green
> blue
> 3 browns, but they are unmarked
> black
> 
> jf


 
You don't have enough to make money. Throw some stripes and extra belt in there.


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## seasoned

sjansen said:


> You don't have enough to make money. Throw some stripes and extra belt in there.


 






Exactly, the more tests, the more fees. Just what the doctor ordered.


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## terryl965

sjansen said:


> You don't have enough to make money. Throw some stripes and extra belt in there.


 
Spoken like a true businessman


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## Jimi

Depends on what I am teaching. 
Bando, that's a simple belt rank set.
No-Belt
White Belt
Green Belt
Brown Belt
Black Belt = 1st Level Instructor (That's 5 years)
TKD, it's a rainbow, Think Romper Room. LOL. All except Black get up to 3 (Electrical tape, I know) stripes per color to progress = testing fees.
No-Belt
White Belt
Yellow Belt
Green Belt
Blue Belt
Purple Belt
Red Belt
Brown Belt
Brown Senior W/ Black stripe along belt, not across tip
Black Belt 1st Dan


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## JWLuiza

10 Gup/7 Dan (and Growing)

No stops except full gup promotions (no stripes or anything except 3rd and 1st Gup)

10. White
9. Orange
8. Yellow
7. Red
6. Green
5. Purple
4. Blue
3. Blue, Brown Stripe
2. Brown
1. Brown, Black Stripe
Black

Most adults Test 10th to 8th gup to 6th to 4th to 2nd to 1st Gup then dan rank.


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## Makalakumu

White
Green
Red
Brown
Black


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## foggymorning162

10 gup system going by half gup increments belt colors are:

White
Orange
Blue
Purple
Green 
Red
Black

Although I would agree that, more belts = more tests which = more money you have to understand that if you teach kids they need incentives and new belts make a great incentive. Our adult and teen students never hit all the ranks and can skip entire belt colors.


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## Balrog

White
Orange
Yellow
Camo
Green
Purple
Blue
Brown
Red
Black


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## Aikicomp

9th kyu White
8th kyu White w/blue stripe
7th kyu Blue
6th kyu Blue w/green stripe
5th kyu Green
4th kyu Green w/brown stripe
3rd kyu Brown
2nd kyu Brown w/silver stripe
1st kyu Brown w/black stripe

All Dan ranks have the stripes embroidered on the tips of both sides of belt along with their name and Gen Lee Ju-Jitsu in Kanji.

Shodan Black w/1 red stripe
Nidan Black w/2 red stripes
Sandan Black w/3 red stripes
Yondan Black w/4 red stripes

Godan Black on one side w/ 1/2 white and 1/2 red on other (Renshi Belt)


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## HeisaaReborn

For the bujutsu training it is done as a hybrid of the "darkening of the belt with experience" and the poon belt at the end:

No belt- 10th kyu
White belt- 9th kyu
Yellow belt- 8th kyu
Green belt- 7th kyu
Purple belt- 6th kyu
Blue belt- 5th kyu
Senior blue (one black stripe across belt)- 4th kyu
Brown- 3rd kyu
Senior brown- 2nd kyu
Red - 1st kyu
Poon - Recommended (Under Traditional Korean)

Black

For Tae Kwon Do which is taught to the kids from 7-12 it is the same except they are called gups which I am now not sure I spelled right looking at it

Budo,


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## shihansmurf

I use the following.

White
Yellow
Yellow/1 Tip
Yellow/2 Tips
Green
Green/1 Tip
Green/2 Tips
Brown
Brown/1 Tip
Brown/2 Tips
Shodanho
Shodan

As for the test = money concept. I only charge for Yellow, Green, Brown, and Shodanho. Those tests are $5. That covers the belt. The tips are not charged.  The actual Dan gradings happen so rarely that I absorbe the cost of the the nice Tokaido belt out of pocket.

Mark


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## matt_mcg

In savate we have colour 'gloves', not belts. The system goes:

blue
green
red
white
yellow
silver

In most national federations, I think white is the level required to teach, but in our federation the minimum standard required is red (although I think commonly that would be as an assistant instructor rather than running your own club). Most of the senior club instructors are white or yellow gloves. Silver is rare.

Grading isn't a particularly big deal, some people practice for years without really bothering with gradings at all, and training is very non-hierarchical. The person running the club will have a high glove ranking, but within the club there's no sense that glove ranking reflects 'seniority'. The fee for grading is small, and is the same for all glove rankings, whether a beginner or more experienced. Gradings also don't happen particularly often, so people don't really seem to focus on them as much as they do on competitions [or at least that's the sense I get from my own club].


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## Hudson69

For DT it is:
Student (during the training)
Operator/User (normal level of experience)
Instructor (requires a 40-80 hour instructor cert course)

For Kenpo Taijutsu it is:
nothing
Blue
Blue with 1 green stripe
Blue with 2 green stripes
Green
Green with 1 brown stripe
Green with 2 brown stripes
Brown
Brown with 1 black stripe
Brown with 2 black stripes
Black
Black with 1 blue stripe
Black with 1 green stripe
Black with 1 brown stripe (and that is it)


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## IcemanSK

matt_mcg said:


> In savate we have colour 'gloves', not belts. The system goes:
> 
> blue
> green
> red
> white
> yellow
> silver
> 
> In most national federations, I think white is the level required to teach, but in our federation the minimum standard required is red (although I think commonly that would be as an assistant instructor rather than running your own club). Most of the senior club instructors are white or yellow gloves. Silver is rare.
> 
> Grading isn't a particularly big deal, some people practice for years without really bothering with gradings at all, and training is very non-hierarchical. The person running the club will have a high glove ranking, but within the club there's no sense that glove ranking reflects 'seniority'. The fee for grading is small, and is the same for all glove rankings, whether a beginner or more experienced. Gradings also don't happen particularly often, so people don't really seem to focus on them as much as they do on competitions [or at least that's the sense I get from my own club].


 
I've got what may seem to be an obvious question. But perhaps not. Does one get an actual pair of gloves in that color when they test? Can you tell all the newer student because they have say, blue gloves, on? Or the instructor because they have white or silver gloves?

I'm not trying to be funny. My only frame of referrence is traditional Asian MA with belts.

Thanks for sharing!


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## matt_mcg

No, there's no visible insignia. You train with your normal gloves. Sometimes you see yellow glove fighters with a little patch stitched on to their 'integral' [the stretchy unitard suit thing], but other than that, if you walked into a club you'd have no idea who was who in terms of ranking.

Most people would be wearing normal shorts/t-shirts or sweatpants, and there's no visible mark of 'rank'.


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## Draven

Omoto Ryu Ninjutsu
Previous Ranking system (no belts)
Deshi
Sempai/Sensei
Shihan

My Modernized Bekts;
Deshi:
White
Yellow
Orange
Green
Brown

Sempai/Sensei:
Black (1st to 4th Dan)

Shihan
Black w/ Red Stripe (5th Dan)

Anything above 5th Dan is honorary and 10th Dan (Soke) is solid a Red Belt.

Street Focus Jujitsu:
No Belts, Combatives-ish ranking, training phase only...
Beginner
Novice
Intermediate
Advanced
Expert
Assist Instructor
Instructor

Neither systenms have testing fees...


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## Blade96

white
yellow
orange
green
blue
brown
black (shodan, nidan, sandan.....etc etc...)


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## TheArtofDave

most people would prefer a universal system but its whatever works for your school. I know some schools offer patches for respect,etc, along with the belts but its not something that's exclusive.


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## RTKDCMB

In Rhee Tae Kwon Do it is:

white
white with yellow tip
yellow
yellow with green tip
green
green with blue tip
blue
blue with brown tip
brown 
brown with black tip
junior black belt
1st Dan
instructor
higher Dans


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## Azulx

Our system uses

White
White/Yellow
Yellow
Yellow/Green
Green
Green/Blue
Blue
Blue/Red
Red
Red/Black
First Dan


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## Gerry Seymour

Since you resurrected this thread, I'll add mine.

Traditionally in NGA:

White
Yellow
Blue
Green
Purple
Brown
Black (5, 6, or 10 dan system, depending which group you ask - 6-dan system is the largest)
My curriculum (as of this writing):

White
Yellow
Orange
Brown
Black (not really any dan ranks, add a red stripe when certified as an Instructor, and a second when Senior Instructor)


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## JR 137

RTKDCMB said:


> In Rhee Tae Kwon Do it is:
> 
> white
> white with yellow tip
> yellow
> yellow with green tip
> green
> green with blue tip
> blue
> blue with brown tip
> brown
> brown with black tip
> junior black belt
> 1st Dan
> instructor
> higher Dans


I've always wondered - what is a "tip?"

A strip of tape, a patch sewn on, etc?


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## JR 137

Seido Juku does the order of colors differently from everyone else I've seen.  We're the only ones I know of who do blue before yellow.  Trivial knowledge for anyone interested... according to his autobiography, Tadashi Nakamura introduced the colored belt system to Kyokushinkai.  It was originally white, brown, and black.  There was a 10 kyu system in place, but belts weren't issued; students only got a certificate.  When he was teaching a lot of Americans at Camp Zama, he he approached Mas Oyama about adding colored belts to keep the Americans motivated.  Oyama allowed it, much to the opposition by Oyama's senior students.  Nakamura kept the same color system he brought to Kyokushin when he left and formed Seido Juku.  Kyokushin added orange for 10th kyu, and used white belt as mu kyu (no rank).

Seido Juku belt order...

10th kyu - White
9th kyu - Advanced white
8th kyu - Blue
7th kyu - Advanced blue
6th kyu - Yellow 
5th kyu - Advanced yellow 
4th kyu - Green 
3rd kyu - Advanced green
2nd kyu - Brown 
1st kyu - Advanced brown 

1st dan & up - black with stripes corresponding to rank.  

Advanced colored belts (ie advanced blue belt) keep the solid belt, and sew a patch on it once promoted.  The patch has the same kanji the black belts have - organization name.  So if you're a 2nd kyu brown belt and are promoted to 1st kyu, you're given a patch to sew onto your current belt.


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## Gerry Seymour

JR 137 said:


> I've always wondered - what is a "tip?"
> 
> A strip of tape, a patch sewn on, etc?


20%, if you're nice.


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## JR 137

gpseymour said:


> 20%, if you're nice.


I knew I'd get that response.  I just never thought it would be you, Gerry.


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## Dirty Dog

JR 137 said:


> I've always wondered - what is a "tip?"
> 
> A strip of tape, a patch sewn on, etc?



In most schools, it's a 'half way' mark between colored belts. We use tape, but there are probably places that do other things, such as embroidered stripes.

Our belt system goes
No belt or dobak till you learn basic form 1.
10th geup - white
9th geup - yellow
8th geup - yellow with a green stripe
7th geup - green
6th geup - green with a blue stripe
5th geup - blue
4th geup - blue with a red stripe
3rd geup - red
2nd geup - red with a black stripe
1st geup - red with two black stripes
Chodanbo - red and black belt


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## Gerry Seymour

JR 137 said:


> I knew I'd get that response.  I just never thought it would be you, Gerry.


Can't trust those Aikidoka - just when you think you know us...


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## RTKDCMB

JR 137 said:


> I've always wondered - what is a "tip?"
> 
> A strip of tape, a patch sewn on, etc?


It is a strip of electrical tape on one end of a belt to signify the next solid color because we spare no expense.


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## JR 137

gpseymour said:


> Can't trust those Aikidoka - just when you think you know us...


...you go all Steven Seagal on us.


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## JR 137

Dirty Dog said:


> In most schools, it's a 'half way' mark between colored belts. We use tape, but there are probably places that do other things, such as embroidered stripes.
> 
> Our belt system goes
> No belt or dobak till you learn basic form 1.
> 10th geup - white
> 9th geup - yellow
> 8th geup - yellow with a green stripe
> 7th geup - green
> 6th geup - green with a blue stripe
> 5th geup - blue
> 4th geup - blue with a red stripe
> 3rd geup - red
> 2nd geup - red with a black stripe
> 1st geup - red with two black stripes
> Chodanbo - red and black belt





RTKDCMB said:


> It is a strip of electrical tape on one end of a belt to signify the next solid color because we spare no expense.


I get it.  It's the same thing we do, only we're high class and sew on a patch on the belt instead of getting a strip of electrical tape 

My previous school came from Seido.  Instead of a patch, we'd get a new belt - it had a line down the middle of the belt with the next belt's color.  So an advanced yellow belt would be a yellow belt with a green stripe, kind of like the junior black belt that has a white stripe on it.


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## TheArtofDave

JR 137 said:


> I get it.  It's the same thing we do, only we're high class and sew on a patch on the belt instead of getting a strip of electrical tape
> 
> My previous school came from Seido.  Instead of a patch, we'd get a new belt - it had a line down the middle of the belt with the next belt's color.  So an advanced yellow belt would be a yellow belt with a green stripe, kind of like the junior black belt that has a white stripe on it.



In Pasaryu our belt system is as follows:

White
Yellow
Green
Blue
Purple
Brown 
Black

Also our Black belt degree goes to 9th. You get there and you're a korean master. Also once you hit black you get to pick an animal name and your name and animal name are printed in korean on the black belt. At 9th degree you have a red stripe on each side of your black belt. Or you can opt to keep your black belt without the stripes.


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## Kababayan

Level 1: White
Level 2: Purple
Level 3: Blue
Level 4: Green
Level 5: Brown
Level 6: Black


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## Gerry Seymour

EDIT: REplied ot the wrong thread.


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## J. Pickard

We use the old Kukki TKD belt system, but we haven't taught a strictly TKD curriculum in decades. Over the summer we were shut down do to COVID but our school has a courtyard behind the back parking area so we were able to run classes outside. We ran classes for about 3-4 months wearing normal clothes with no belts or rank and honestly it was some of the best classes we had. If so many people didn't put so much stock in belt rank we would probably just get rid of them. It's actually very common for us to just wear normal gym clothes in our black belt classes.


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