Grades and Belt Colors

Introduction
By Julian Forbes
CEO Karate Athlete, Inc.

I thought it would be interesting to see how different styles awarded belts. In my research I found that not only do different styles have slightly different belt systems, but that they also varied within the styles depending on the organization, and indeed, the individual clubs. The following is a compilation of a few to give you an idea.

As a rule of thumb 10th Kyu is what you start at, i.e. no test is required to obtain 10th Kyu. This however, can vary. The JKA, Japan Karate Association, starts at 9th.

An interesting note - When Karate started, only white, brown and black were awarded. Some schools still do it this way. The colored belt system is, as far as I have been able to determine, a marketing tool created by club owners wishing to give their students something to strive for that can be seen and worn with pride. I think it was a great idea whoever came up with it! Probably those smart Judo folks!

JKA
Shotokan

ASKA
Shotokan

Marutani
Gensei Ryu

Other Variations

Juniors - These are generally individuals under 16 years of age. Many styles and clubs have special grading systems for their junior athletes. For example, the ASKA (American Shotokan Karate Alliance) have the same belts for juniors but have a black line down the center of the colored belts and a white line down the center of the junior black belts. Juniors can only, in this organization, go up as far as 3 rd Dan. Upon turning 16, a junior 3rd Dan is transfered into a regular (or adult) 1st Dan. Again, this is just one organization's way of doing it. Other organizations may have different systems.

Higher Dans - Many styles award different colored belts for some of the higher degree black belts. Very common in France, for example, is to see 5th Dan black belts wearing a belt all of red and white bars, and a 6th Dan black belt wearing a "Master's" solid red belt. Some organizations, like the IKA, have black belts with a red stripe running down the center of the belt for 5th Dan (Shihan's in the IKA) and above.

There doesn't seem to be any set official criteria about the higher belts in karate although it is probably borrowed, and modified, from Kudokan Judo which does have such a set of elevated belt color rules.