Your school's Rank structure

[Shogun]

this is for everyone to put down the Rank structure at THEIR school. Since there is so much variation even between the same art under students of the same teacher, we should put down our individual school's rank system. This may or may not include Techniques, time-in-rank, tests, test fees, etc.
I am curious. It always gets brought up as a side conversation.

Cheers,
KE

 

[Shogun]

Here is the Aiki school's rank info:

start at 6th kyu (beginner). goes up thru the ranks (gokyu, yonkyu, sankyu, nikkyu, ikkyu, shodan, etc). Test fee is a bottle of Sake' Donation. Classes are held 5 times a week. tuition is $50 month donation. usually takes 1-3 years per rank level, depending on dojo visits, persons skill, and rank in question (obviously ikkyu is harder work than yonkyu)

Here is the first level, its techniques, and its privelages.

Gokyu - (after the gokyu test, one wears Hakama)
Ai Hamni katate tori (suwari and tachi)
omote irimi
soto kaiten
irimi ura
ushiro tenkan
Gyaku Hamni katate tori (suwari and tachi)
ikkyoundo
uchi kaiten
soto kaiten
ushiro tenkan 1, 2, and 3
Gyaku hamni kata dori (suwari and tachi)
Soto Kaiten tenkan
uchi kaiten
ushiro tenkan
tenkan gedan
Morote dori
irimi
irimi ura

 

[Andrew Green]

Adult classes - None

Kids classes - Coloured Belts, although most never actually wear them.

Come from mainly time in with a check list of techniques at some levels.

 

[mhouse]

Here it is for my school.

White
Yellow
Orange
Purple
Blue
Blue w/ Green Stripe
Green
Green w/ Brown Stripe
Brown w/ 1 black stripe (3rd degree brown)
Brown w/ 2 black stipes (2nd degree brown)
Brown w/ 3 black stripes (1st degree brown)
1st degree Black (Shodan)
2nd degree Black (Nidan)
3rd degree Black (Sandan)
and so on up to 10th degree Black

Our use of titles is somewhat dependant on rank.

A Sensei is a black belt who has been through an instructor's course (CPR, first aid, learning styles, etc), and performed a mimimun number teaching hours.

A Sempai is any rank, including black, who is working towards a Sensei title but has not passed the instructors course, not met the mimimum number of teaching hours, or both.

At 5th degree black you obtain the title of Master. This is also the last rank you truely test for. It is felt that you should not have a 5th degree unless you are a Master of the Art.

Ranks and Titles beyond that of 5th are appointed or earned depending on who awards them. The titles of Shihan, Professor and Grandmaster do not have a specific rank assosiated with them but are commonly seen around 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th degree.

 

[auxprix]

My judo dojo uses the 6 kyu, and 10 dan system (even though nobody can get a legitimate 10th degree anymore) . I can't give you the time in grade, because there is so much variance. In my experience, Shodan is earned in 6-10 years.

Rokkyu = White(Usually 6 months to a year)
Gokyu = yellow
yonkyu = green
sankyu-ikkyu= Brown
Shodan and above = Black

There are more belts added for Juniors, but I don't understand how they work. It's more of a way to keep children progressing, though they can't meet the requirements for the higher kyus. For example, they don't do armlocks, because it can cause major lifelong problems in joints that are developing.

 

[shesulsa]

White
Orange
Yellow
Green
Purple
Blue
Brown
Red
Half-red / Half-black
Black

 

[Michael Billings]

Adults typical EPAK:

White
Yellow
Yellow (w/Orange Stripe)
Orange
Orange (w/Purple Stripe)
Purple
Purple (w/Blue Stripe)
Blue
Blue (w/ Green Stripe)
Green
Green (w/ Brown Stripe)
Brown w/ 1 black stripe (3rd Class brown)
Brown w/ 2 black stipes (2nd Class brown)
Brown w/ 3 black stripes (1st Class brown)
1st degree Black
2nd degree Black
3rd degree Black
up to 10th Black

 

[MichiganTKD]

WTF-affiliated Tae Kwon Do:
White
Yellow 8thth Gup
Yellow-Green (some schools use Orange) 7th Gup
Low Green 6th Gup
High Green 5 Gup
Low Blue 4th Gup
High Blue 3rd Gup
Low Red 4 2nd Gup
Low Red 3
High Red 2 1st Gup
High Red 1
1st Dan test
Between testing at their regional test and testing at the Organizational test in the Fall, 1st Dan testers wear the red/black Poom belt. This means they have tested locally but not at the national test. They only pay for one test though. They have to test twice however.
At the national Organization test they receive their official Dan belt with their name and rank in Korean and the name of their Instructor.

 

[clfsean]

Everybody wears a red sash (school colors)...

Two groups of people in the class...

Sifu... not sifu

We all know where we fall in that line! :wink1:

 

[Bigodinho]

Grupo Capoeira Brasil - Cord System


Adults Beginners
White (Raw Cord)
Yellow/White (1-6 Mos)
Yellow (6 mos - 1 Yr)
Orange/White (1-2 Yrs)
Orange (2-3 Yrs)

Adults Graduated
Blue and Red - Monitor (3-5 Yrs)
Blue - Instructor (5-8 Yrs)
Green - Instructor (8-10 Yrs)
Purple - Professor (10-14 Yrs)
Brown - Contra-Mestre (14-18 Yrs)
Black - Mestre (Master, 18-23 Yrs)


For a great explanation of what is required of each cord level, check out Grupo Capoeira Brasil of Arizona's website.

 

[TigerWoman]

Taekwondo WTF style
White, Yellow, Orange, Green, High Green, Blue, High Blue, Red, High Red,
Recommended Black, Black lst Dan, Black 2nd Dan, Black 3rd Dan, Black 4th Dan/Master, Black 5th Dan/Master. TW

 

[Enson]

in my system we only use 3 belts. grey, red, black.
grey=student. about mastering the technique regardless of what belt that will get you. this is equal to your white through 1rst degree black... maybe higher (depends on person).
red=instructor. means teacher and self perfecting. discovering how to make these moves your own and developing new moves that come from within. this would be your dans/degrees in other arts.
black=master/lifestylist. this is what you are, and this is how you do it.
this is just a ruff summary.

 

[Raewyn]

We are mixed martial arts based on Tae Kwon Do, belt levels are:


White
Yellow Tip
Yellow
Green Tip
Green
Blue Tip
Blue
Red Tip
Red
Black Tip
Black

It takes a minimum of six months to reach each belt level, but this can also depend on whether you are ready or not to grade. We are marked off on a tick off sheet each month. If we are not ready to grade then we dont grade. It is a excellent system.

 

[Shogun]

Thanks for all the input. I am learning a lot. keep the posting up.
what about everyone's time-in-rank? I am interested to know how fast,slow, or in between, people (on average) go thru the ranks. In Shin ryu Aiki, we normally go up thru ranks about 1 Kyu level about every 2 years(on average). there is six kyu levels, so we are looking at 8-12 years to Shodan.

 

[Zepp]

In WTA Tae Kwon Do: White, Yellow, Green, Purple, Brown, and Black belts (1st-9th dan). There are gup ranks, but not all instructors use them. Mine doesn't, so I'm not familiar with where the gup ranks stand.

Advancement through the colored ranks takes varying amounts of time depending on the instructor and the students. I think our instructor tends to promote people fast in the beginning to get them motivated, then slows it down. I was promoted to purple belt in less than a year, spent about 7 months or so as purple before I made it to brown, then I spent about 17 (18?) months as a brown belt before I tested for black with the grandmaster (the only person who can award us black belts).

I've also seen some WTA instructors issue junior black belts to students under 16. I think they do it just to keep them motivated (and maybe to make parents happy). But as far as the org is concerned, they're a brown belt until they are tested by the grandmaster.

 

[Sarah]

White, YellowTip, Yellow, GreenTip, Green, BlueTip, Blue, RedTip, Red, BlackTip, Black etc

at Our Dojo you have to stay at each level a minimum of 6 months. With the lower grades (white - Green) people tend to grade every 6 months. But after Green the criteria gets really tough so more people tend to stay at each level for more like 9 months to a year.

Also our Instructor puts us forward to grade, if we are not ready he will not let us grade.

 

[Storm]

Adults typical EPAK:

White
Yellow
Yellow (w/Orange Stripe)
Orange
Orange (w/Purple Stripe)
Purple
Purple (w/Blue Stripe)
Blue
Blue (w/ Green Stripe)
Green
Green (w/ Brown Stripe)
Brown w/ 1 black stripe (3rd Class brown)
Brown w/ 2 black stipes (2nd Class brown)
Brown w/ 3 black stripes (1st Class brown)
1st degree Black
2nd degree Black
3rd degree Black
up to 10th Black

Same for us.

 

[karatekid1975]

Our old belt ranking was white, yellow stripe, yellow, green stripe, green, blue stripe, blue, red stripe, red, black stripe, black (prov), than first dan. There were only 5 belts (ranks in between, though). I liked it that way. Everyone had the same color belt for a year.

Now there is 8 colors. Good thing I got my red before it changed. It's white, orange, yellow, green, purple, blue, brown, red (two degrees), then prov black. The time with each belt is three months till red. You have to stay red belt for a year still. Prov black is 6 months (always has been), but some people chill at that rank for a year cause they are so used to it (well us students that been there longer, that is). I prolly will too.

 

[Cryozombie]

10th Kyu -Whitebelt

9th Kyu - 5th Kyu - Green Belt

5th Kyu - 1st Kyu - Brownbelt

1st Dan - 15th Dan - Black Belt

 

[KenpoTex]

White
Yellow
Orange
Purple
Blue
Green
3rd Brown (1 black stripe)
2nd Brown (2 black stripes)
1st Brown (3 black stripes)
1st Black
2nd Black

and so on...