The Belt System of Martial Arts

The colored belt grading system is an integral part of almost any popular martial arts training regimen. Some dojos and schools may use a more complicated version incorporating more gradations or colors, but at its heart the belt system is a simple way to visibly track a student’s progress and expertise. Compared to many of the ancient martial arts traditions that have been around for hundreds of years, the belt ranking system was only invented in 1883.

Opinions on the exact origins of the belt system differ. The legend goes that the belt colour scheme came about as a result of a practitioner's belt gradually changing colour naturally as a result of the sweat and grime of his training. For a belt to turn from white to black would take years and years of work, thus black became the colour to symbolise the highest echelons of achievement.

For the most part this a somewhat romanticized version. A dirty belt would not have been likely to show the bright greens, blues, and oranges used today. When looking at the order of colours - white, yellow, green, brown and black - a likelier explanation presents itself. Instead of simply buying a new belt every time a new rank was achieved, the practitioners of the past would dye their belts to the colour of their newly achieved rank. Many modern students simply purchase a new one, since most people do not often perform their own textile production. Busy dojos go through martial arts belts surprisingly fast, and often will hang onto old ones as keepsakes, which can then be displayed in their homes.

Modern dojos now use a much expanded array of dojos. It is now common for students to proceed from white, through yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, red, and then to black. The exact order may differ slightly, and certain schools also denote additional ranks with a stripe or other decoration before the student progresses to the next color. There are many ranks, or Dans, both before and after the black belt, something that is not very well known. Many believe the black belt signifies the end of a practitioner's training; in fact the opposite is true, as he/she must now begin the ten Dans. Higher Dans are usually shown with bars or other insignias added to the basic Black Belt, or with different color combinations.

Is Karate an Aggressive Sport?

Karate is a martial art that was developed in Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands. Because it generally involves the studying and the training of fight methods, some branches including the training of weapons, some people may have concerns about how aggressive this sport can actually be. This is an understandable concern as well because, as the Chief Instructor of Shotokan Dojo once opined, media depicts individuals who learn this art to use to kill.

This concern has no true merit, however; in reality, many a karateka study this martial art for the purposes of self defense and it typically only trained by the people who possess the greatest of self discipline. The martial art exists in many forms.

Taekwondo is the national sport of South Korea. This martial art will give you many benefits including a great work out, plenty of stretching, and an opportunity to learn to defend yourself. Mixed martial arts is a full contact sport which includes techniques of striking and grappling. Judo is another variation, originating in Japan – a modern martial art that is commonly performed.

Learning a martial art such as taekwondo, karate, judo or mixed martial arts can be a very beneficial thing to do rather than taking on some other sport, such as baseball. learning a martial art is also a great social tool, as much of it involves sparring with a partner. Not only that, but learning martial arts can build up a person’s self esteem, as well as respect, concentration and courtesy.

Because of their highly controlled nature, enrolling your child in a martial arts class is very often much safer than for example football or rugby. Additionally, in the instances of children who have special needs, such has suffering from attention deficit disorder, or any other instances of difficulty with learning or suffering hyperactivity, it is highly recommended for them to learn martial arts.

If still concerned about the aggressiveness of the sport, consider finding a class that does not exactly center around sparring, which is full on kicking and punching training, though well protected.