Walking into a dojang (school), you will notice that the students are usually wearing white uniforms and belts of various colors. What you may not know is the significance of the different color belts. The belt colors represent the approximate Tae Kwon Do skill levels of the wearers.

There is no age, gender, cultural, or racial barriers; all students begin their training at the lowest skill level, the white belt in the dojang. Each student trains and progresses at his or her own rate in accordance to his or her own desire and ability. During this training process, students develop proficiency at performing Taekwondo techniques, while also developing the physical characteristics of strength, stamina, quickness, flexibility, coordination, and balance. They develop the important mental characteristics of patience, humility, self-control, perseverance, concentration, and respect. They also gain knowledge about Taekwondo and its origin. As students develop these skills, physical and mental characteristics, and knowledge, they are awarded colored belts to signify their level of knowledge and proficiency. 

A specific colored belt is awarded to a student based upon his or her meeting the minimum requirements for the belt and for his or her demonstration of skills during a test that are substantially improved from his or her last belt test. Belts are awarded to students based on improvement of their own personal skills. For this reason, belts give only a rough estimate of a student's Taekwondo skills.  One red belt student may display extraordinary skills in comparison to another red belt student. It may appear that the lesser skilled red belt does not deserve the red belt, when in actuality, he or she trained an extraordinary number of hours and showed great progress to earn the belt in comparison to the more skilled red belt who was able to easily learn the skills in short time. 

The final goal of Taekwondo is supposed to be the "perfection of human character." However, many times this goal is forgotten. If you listen to Taekwondo students talk to each other, you would think the goal to Taekwondo is to make everyone a superb fighter. If a student goes to every tournament and loses every match, some feel the student do not deserve his or her present rank and should not be promoted. However, a student who persists and continues to improve his or her skills, is always congratulatory to the winners, and cheers for teammates, is more deserving of promotion than a superb fighter who is self-congratulatory and neglects others. Rank is determined by many factors, having a true "Taekwondo spirit" is foremost among them.

Anyone who is willing to make the commitment of time and effort may learn Taekwondo and advance through the belt system. For some, advancement may take longer than for others due time conflicts with other phases of life, money problems, physical differences, physical or mental disabilities, or injuries. However, since belt advancement is awarded on personal improvement, anyone who perservers may reach the black belt level. The secret to earning a Taekwondo black belt is simple-commitment.

Colored belts signify the position/rank of each student in the dojang hierarchy. The higher the belt/rank, the higher the position, and the more respect deserved. After years of studying and training, a student may reach the top of the belt/rank hierarchy, the black belt level. Since rank is awarded based on tenure, performing certain minimum skills, and on making substantial personal improvement, it is a more a social and psychological status than it is an indicator of fighting ability. A higher rank many times indicates the person has higher tenure in the dojang/organization, not necessarily that the person has a higher skill level than persons of lower rank. Skill level does not always equate to rank. Just because a young red belt may be able to consistently beat an older 6th degree, it does not demean the 6th degree nor raise the red belt's esteem.

The practice of Taekwondo requires strict order and discipline, which comes from respect of the seniority of the belt system. The more respect a student has for the significance of the belt system, the more serious he or she may become in his or her Taekwondo training.

Endless Cycle of Learning

"If you seek the answers long enough, you will find that they were always present at the beginning." Such is the Taekwondo belt system. As students near the end of their journey to black belt, they find the answers they were seeking were always present at the white belt level, they just were not aware of the answers at that point.

Belt Ranks

In the Taekwondo belt/rank system, each student begins training as a 9th gup (class) white belt, progresses through the color gup belts, earns a 1st dan (degree) black belt, and may conceivably eventually progress to the highest rank, 9th degree black belt. There are three distinct groups of Taekwondo belts: white (beginner), the colors (amateur), and black (expert).

Black belt degrees are also divided into three distinct groups. The first group consists of first through third degree black belts, which are the novice degrees where students are still considered beginners in comparison to the higher degrees. At the fourth degree black belt level, students enter the next group, the expert group (4th and 5th degrees). They are considered Taekwondo experts who know everything there is to know about the technical aspects of Taekwondo. Sixth through ninth degree black belts are considered the masters, the elite who fully understand all the mental and physical elements of Taekwondo and have devoted their entire lives to its practice. Basically, first through fifth degree black belts are awarded based on what the person can do, and sixth through ninth degree are awarded on what the person has done for Taekwondo and the certifying organization.

Ranks below black belt range from 9th gup (lowest) to 1st gup (highest). In contrast, black belts range from 1st dan (lowest) to 9th dan (highest). Therefore, gups descend from 9 to 1, whereas dans ascend from 1 to 9. This inverted progression stems from the eastern belief that all life develops in, and descends from, heaven, lives on the earth, and then returns to heaven. Nine is the highest single integer in the decimal system and, in some eastern cultures, it represents the highest attainable goal, or heaven.

In the Orient, three is the most esteemed of all the numbers. The Chinese character for 3 contains three lines: the upper line symbolizes heaven; the middle line symbolizes mortals; and the bottom line symbolizes earth. Eastern belief was that a King was one who could link these three things (God, mankind, and country) so the Chinese character for three and the one for King are nearly synonymous. As mentioned above, there are three groups of Taekwondo belts and three groups of back belts. When the number three is multiplied by itself, the product is nine, the highest integer. So, the numbers three and nine are important in the Taekwondo belt system.

The number nine is interesting in another way. When it is multiplied by any of the integers, and the individual integers of the product are added together, the answer is always nine, i.e. 9 times 1 equals 9, 9 times 2 equals 18 and 1 plus 8 equals 9. etc. Nine is the only integer having this property. 

Purpose of Belts

In Korea, the ordinary belt is addressed as "horitti" or "yodae" (meaning waist belt). The belt used in Taekwondo is called "tti." In Taekwondo, the belt serves the utilitarian purpose of holding the uniform together, but its main purpose is to document a student's progression through Taekwondo. Just as the "The sapling is hidden amongst the taller oak trees and must fight its way upward," students must struggle to achieve Taekwondo proficiency. The belt system rewards them for their struggle and perseverance, and encourages them to develop their skills, discipline, and self-control so they may progress to even higher belt levels. Belt color denotes the proficiency level of the wearer and it is the outward expression of the wearer's inner level of confidence and wisdom.

Belts also help an instructor properly manage a training class. From the front of a class, an instructor may quickly evaluate the training levels of the entire class by viewing the belts the students are wearing. An instructor may determine the following from the belts the students are wearing:

• Overall skill level of the class, using the number of yellow belts, green belts, blue belts, etc.
• Approximate skill level of each student.
• Approximate physical fitness level of each student.
• Approximate number of months/years each student has been training.
• Approximate level of commitment of each student.
• What patterns, step-sparring sequences, and techniques each student knows.
• What patterns, step-sparring sequences, and techniques each student needs to learn.
• Whether a student is allowed to free spar.
• Approximate sparring ability of each student.

An instructor may glean all this information from the belts students are wearing, whether it be in the instructor's own class or in a class with which the instructor is unfamiliar. Therefore, a visiting instructor knows how to manage a class of students he or she has never seen before.

Criticism of Belt System

Some criticize the belt rank system for a variety of reasons, most of which relate to the critic's lack of rank achievement or of any other status in society. Those who cannot reach the level others have reached by their own personal achievement tend to criticize and berate achievers in an effort to belittle their achievements in an effort to increase their own status. Rank is used and has been used for millenniums throughout all societies of the world. When you need law enforcement advice, you know that a police sergeant has more knowledge and experience than a police corporal. When a soldier enters a room, he or she may immediately know the status of others in the room by their rank. When you enter a large corporation, you now the ones with the highest rank are those in offices on the highest floors. High rank is difficult to achieve in any endeavor. It takes a lot of hard work, time, and perseverance. You may have to do things you do not like or want to do, and act as if you enjoy it. Some would like to have rank, but they do not have what it takes to achieve it, so they criticize the ones who do.

How to Tie Belt

Hold the belt at the middle of its length, in front of the body, with the ends even and hanging downward. Place the middle of the belt on the front of the body just below the naval and pass the ends of the belt around each side of the body, bringing them together in front of the body, holding one end in each hand. Ensure the ends of the belt are even and hold the section of the belt that is in the left hand along the front of the section of the belt that is wrapped around the body. Pass the end of the belt in the right hand under the two sections of the belt on the body and pull it snuggly upwards. Now pass the same section (now on the left side) over, under, and up through the section that is hanging downward, forming a square knot, the strongest of knots. Pull the two ends snuggly to tighten the knot. The ends of the belt should hang evenly, signifying balance and harmony of spirit and body. When tying the belt, remember, right end over the left and under both layers, left end over right end. To view graphic and video descriptions of methods to tie the belt, click here.

Care of Belt

Do not wash the belt, clean stains individually. To relax a new belt so it will hang freely, continuously crush it into a ball with the hands and store it this shape. A belt may be stretched by hanging it over the top of a door and pulling down on the ends of the belt.

History of Belts

Before Jigero Kano invented Judo in Japan in 1882, there was no kyu (kyu is the Japanese equivalent of gup)/dan ranking system. Prior to this most traditional Japanese arts of the period used the complicated menkyo ranking system as a form of licensing students to particular technical skill levels.

Generally, students of these early Japanese martial arts were first licensed as Shoden. Their rankings then progressed through Chuden, Okuden, Mokuroku, Menkyo, and ultimately, Menkyo Kaiden, the last rank meaning "license of total transmission." However, each individual art followed its own criteria for licensing students. The rank sequence and the rank titles were often completely different from each other.

The ranks were usually designated by specially created certificates or handwritten letters from the licensing teacher or founder. Often, the higher ranks were also accompanied with the presentation of a densho, manuscript scrolls of instructions or records of secrets by the founders of the various schools. Some densho provided detailed instructions and graphic illustrations of particular techniques. Others used descriptive words or characters which served as mnemonics or memory aids for advanced techniques. Some of these documents were meaningless to outsiders unfamiliar with the specific language of the particular art.

Due to the secretive nature of the arts and their instructors, the menkyo ranking system had some disadvantages. First, there was no way to evaluate or compare equivalent skill levels of graduates from different schools. Second, the steps between separate licenses could take anywhere from a few months to several years, depending on the particular school issuing the licenses.

As a youth, Jigero Kano first learned the basics of Jujutsu from Teinosuke Yagi. Later, he studied Tenshin Shinyo Ryu Jujutsu under Hachinosuke Fukuda and Masatomo Iso, as well as Kito Ryu Jujutsu under Tsunetoshi Iikubo. He was initiated into the secrets of both schools.

After founding Judo in 1882, Kano made academic studies of many other styles of Jujutsu, including examining their densho. From his findings, Kano revised the ranking system for Judo, creating ten steps with relatively short intervals to keep students interested in progressing through the technical levels.

In 1883, Kano further divided students into two groups, the non-graded "mudansha" (kyu ranks) and the graded 'yudansha" (dan ranks). The first yudansha, or shodan (first grade), were two of his best students, Tsunejiro Tomita and Shiro Saigo. They were also the first ones promoted to nidan (second grade) a year later. Black belts were not worn as symbols of dan grade in the Kodokan until about 1886. However, these belts  were not the belts Judo and Karate students wear today. Since Kano had not invented the Judo uniform yet, his students practiced in a "kimono" (the traditional Japanese robe). The belt they wore was the wide belt that is still worn with the formal kimono. In 1907, Kano introduced the modern Judo uniform and belt, but he still only used white and black belts.  Grade certificates  were not issued by the Kodokan until 1894.

Gradually, colored belts were used to differentiate the kyu ranks. In Japan, white belts are generally worn through all kyu grades, although some schools also use the brown belt to indicate the higher kyu ranks. The blue, yellow, orange, green, and purple colored belts used by intermediate kyu grades originated in Europe and were imported into the U.S. system during the early 1950s. 

Black belts are traditionally worn by the technical ranks, first dan (shodan) through fifth dan (godan). A red-and-white belt is worn by the ranks awarded for service to judo, sixth dan (ryokudan) through eight dan (hachidan) with solid red belts reserved for ninth dan (kudan) and tenth dan (judan).

Karate came to Japan from Okinawa in the 1920's. Until that time, Okinawa karate students did not have special uniforms, they trained in their everyday clothes. When Funakoshi introduced Karate into Japan from Okinawa in 1922, he adopted  the Judo kyu/dan ranking system and a modified Judo uniform in an effort to encourage Japanese acceptance of Karate. He awarded his first shodan ranks in 1924. Most martial art styles that have ranking/belt color systems adopted them from Japanese Karate.

The belt encircles its wearer. The circle is a universal symbol of wholeness and harmony, and symbolizes the totality of the universe. The circularity of the belt reinforces the circular cycle of Taekwondo training; the fact that, after years of training, one realizes that the true essence of Taekwondo existed at the beginning.

As a practical matter, the Taekwondo belt holds the uniform closed, but its real significance is far greater than merely being a clasp or even a signifier of rank. The belt has symbolic meanings, both in eastern philosophy and in its color.

Belt Colors

The origin of the colored belts, as well as the significance of the particular colors, is still shrouded in mystery and may be permanently lost to history. While Kano left no documented reason for the various colors used, he did believe that, if someone achieved a stage higher than tenth dan, then "one transcends such things as colours [sic] and grades and therefore returns to a white belt, thereby completing the full circle of Judo, as of life." The Kodokan decided the belt worn by such a person should be about twice as wide as the ordinary belt to prevent any novices from mistaking the significance. Kano is the only person the Kotokan ever awarded twelfth dan, or shihan. Therefore, Kano's belt would be a double wide white belt.

As to the white belt being selected as the first belt, the Japanese people have considered white as symbolic of cleanliness and sacredness since ancient times. Therefore, it symbolizes the innocence and virtue of beginners. The white belt may also be related cotton being used to make the Judo uniform. After frequent washing, the natural cotton material tends to turn white. 

As to the color belts, the adoption of court ranks in earliest records of the Japanese imperial sovereignty, as well as the colored caps denoting rank, and strong regulations regarding rank relationships during these periods may have influenced Kano to adopt colored belts.

As to the black belt being selected as the high rank belt, some think Kano borrowed the concept from Japanese high school sports where advanced competitors were separated from beginners in swimming tournaments by a black ribbon worn around their waist.

As to the selection of the red-and-white belt, the Japanese usually divide groups into red and white sides. This preference come from the Genpei War, which was a dispute between two rival clans, the Genji and Heike. The Genji used white flags to identify their troops on the battlefield, while the Heike used red flags. In our modern day competitions, we still differentiate the competitors using white and red ribbons.

Kano also studied the I Ching, Book of Changes. The I Ching is basically a collection of moral and political wisdom based on the concept of mutual opposites, referred to as Yin and Yang. Kano's selection of red-and-white colored belts may have been a symbolic representation of the principle of harmony suggested by the balance of Yin and Yang.

Other theories for the origin of the color belts include:

Dyeing Theory

In the old days, as the student progressed in rank, the belt was simply dyed to a new color. This repeated dyeing process determined the colors and the order of colors. Due to the dyeing process, it was practical to increasingly use darker colors so the usual color order is white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, and black.

White-Belt-Getting-Dirtier Theory

Traditionally, when a person began the study of Taekwondo, he or she received a white belt to hold the uniform together. After many months of training, the white would begin to discolor and become yellowish and possibly orange. After many months of rigorous practice, many times in grassy fields, the belt would take on a green appearance as it discolored further. After several years of practice, the belt would further darken, assuming a dark blue or purple hue. After numerous sparring sessions, the belt might develop a red or brown hue from the accumulation of bloodstains. After several decades of Taekwondo training, the belt would gradually turn black. If the student devoted his or her life to Taekwondo training, the belt would continue to darken, but it would also begin to fray and begin to show spots of white from its inner core. Gradually, most of the black would wear away and the belt would become white again, signifying that the student had come full circle and reached the final stage of enlightenment.

Philosophy of Belts

In eastern philosophy, the concept of trinity (heaven, earth, and people) signifies the harmony of the universe. The parts of the Taekwondo uniform (jacket, pants, and belt) form a trinity. The jacket symbolizes heaven; the pants symbolize earth, and the belt symbolizes the "person" that ties it all together. As stated above, the colors of the Taekwondo belt also form a trinity. If you think of a human being as a trinity (consisting of a head, the body, and the extremities) then the body is at the center of a human being, and the waist is at the center of the body. Tying the Taekwondo belt around the waist signifies the desire to organize ones self and to unite the human trinity.

The belt helps students develop their ki/chi (inner energy) through the process of collecting and dispersing energy within their bodies. As the student puts on the belt, it encircles the waist two times and then the two ends meet at the center of the waist (tanjon) where they are tied in a triangular shaped (trinity) knot that denotes the oneness of a person. The tanjon, considered the source of ki/life force/vital energy, is a point about three inches below the navel and deep inside the body and is thought to be the center of the self. As a practical matter, it the approximate center of balance of the body. Part of the knot usually touches the body in front of the tanjon, reminding the wearer of his or her personal source of ki or power. Thus, while putting on the belt, the student encircles and collects all energy from without and within into the tanjon and locks it there with a knot so he or she can disperse the energy freely throughout the body to achieve power, harmony, order, and enlightenment while practicing Taekwondo.

Symbolism of Belt Colors

Another symbolic aspect of the belt is its color. The color indicates the rank of the wearer but it is also symbolizes other aspects of eastern philosophy. Belt colors are steeped in tradition. The colors of black, red, and blue denoted the various levels of Korean hierarchy during the Koguryo and Silla Dynasties. Red represents the highest ranks and positions of officials in politics, government, military, and religion. It is the "king's" color and the color of Popes and Cardinals. Diplomats wear red bands across their shoulders and red is used on flags of different nations and on ribbons used for military awards. Some martial art styles consider the red belt as the highest color of achievement.

The color white also had great significance in Korean history. When Tangun, the son of Hwanung, founded Korea under the name of Choson, the name was based on the spirit of worshiping the sun (symbolizing brightness/whiteness). In some religions, a white garment signifies a sinless life. The color white symbolizes birth or beginning, whereas, the color black symbolizes the end. The colors white and black are are also linked to the philosophy of Yin (Um)-Yang: the theory of opposites opposing each other while still working in harmony, such as the sun and moon, day and night, and beginning and end. Um-Yang is the ultimate explanation of cosmic order. It explains how everything in the universe both acts and reacts to everything else. White belt students are the opposite of black belt students in Taekwondo knowledge and ability but they work in concert to increase each other's knowledge and ability: they symbolize Um-Yang. In the Taekwondo belt system, the colored belts between white and black belts attempt to link the two together in a meaningful way

Belt/Rank Structure

There are numerous Taekwondo organizations, each with a different system of belt ranks, colors, and color symbolism that may or may not conform to the traditional Taekwondo belt structure. Some organizations have less or more gups and degrees than the traditional nine. Different organizations use different belt colors (some even use a camouflage color). Some use a stripe that runs the length of the belt or use various colored horizontal stripes at the ends of the belt (similar to black belt stripes) to differentiate between ranks of the same color. 

The following belt structure is used by Taekwondo America (TA). TA uses 11 gups rather than the traditional 9 gups. Some TA belts have a longitudinal black stripe to indicate the next gup of the same color. A TA belt with a longitudinal stripe is called a senior belt, such as senior blue belt. Short black stripes at the tips of white, yellow, and orange belts signify completion of specific skill level tests within the rank. Short gold stripes at the tips of black belts signify the degree levels.