 So how many belt ranks are in karate? This is a very very common question people search for Especially those who have not trained in the martial arts or they're looking to get into one or or maybe they're currently one Martial art, but to see another school do something different and they're like why isn't my belt rank like that? So this seems to be a very common point of curiosity among the martial arts community now In my personal opinion belt ranks are both a good thing and a bad thing the good thing about them is they're a great Motivator it's something they work towards to when the person takes an art It's always good to see an achievement even though that particular belt doesn't represent You know the hard work it shouldn't be the focus of your training It is still a good motivator and psychological tool Additionally it helps instructors kind of keep track where students are in class however belt ranks are also a little bit of a curse because Unfortunately, there's a lot of people who join martial arts just to chase the rank rather than worry about the quality of the training So basically, you know, there's pros and cons to it So as long as you keep in mind that the belt is really nothing more than just a piece of fabric to keep your uniform closed This is just gonna be a fun little exercise just to see how different systems do this differently So we're gonna take a look at how many belts there are in karate Not every martial art uses a belt ranking system In fact the concept of colored belts as rank is a relatively new one in the history of martial arts But we'll get back to that many arts don't have a colored ranking system at all But sometimes especially in commercial American and European schools They will adopt similar ranks such as colored sashes shirts and sometimes chevrons Colored belt ranks are more commonly found with arts that have Okinawan, Japanese and Korean roots But before we get into the different styles, let's point out two primary classifications of belt ranks The Q and Dan ranks Q ranks are all levels before black belt and they count backwards as you progress through the system Dan ranks begin with first-degree black belt and count up as the student progresses Some arts in schools will count white belt as a Q rank others consider white as an unranked beginning level The red belt is an interesting rank in and of itself and it often means different things in different systems In some arts it marks the beginning or novice student while in others It's simply another color level throughout different curriculums However, sometimes red is the color of mastery and it might even hold a high regard even higher than that of black belt So where did the tradition of using colored belt ranks begin? There is a commonly told origin story in which back in older and more traditional days Karate practitioners simply wore white belts and never watched them It was said that as they trained these belts would get dirtier and over time sweat dirt Grass and blood with this color the belt into darker and darker levels This would hold that the darker a practitioner's belt was the more experienced that they were this was very commonly noted as the Origin of the belt system. However, it exists as a legend and is most likely untrue The historically recorded origin of the belt ranking system can be traced back to judo and its founder Jigoro Kano He is also credited for instituting the traditional karate gi as we have today prior to his influence Most students trained in traditional clothing or kimonos Kano founded judo in 1882 and in 1883 he awards two students with a black belt He felt that these students had reached a level of expertise and he wanted to recognize their skill So we turned to the sport of swimming, which was very popular in Japan Swimmers who excelled in their skill were awarded black ribbons So Kano decided to carry this tradition over to judo at this time the ranks were simply black and non-black Judo had six cue rankings and Kano later decided to add other belts to mark the progression his original colored rankings were light blue Two white belt levels and three brown belt levels before reaching black Later as judo spread and more practitioners carried the art around the world These ranks were separated into more distinct colors of white yellow green blue purple brown and then black Sometimes blue and purple swapped places It is also said that Kano took his inspiration for the cue dan designations from a popular 2,500 year old Chinese board game called go in which players are ranked by skill level with beginning cue ranks and expert down ranks And thus the colored belt system was born and was soon adopted by various martial arts systems Now before we take a look at some examples It's important to understand that there isn't always a standard ranking list even within the same art Many arts are divided into organizations that will modify their own independent curriculums and therefore employing different color schemes This can vary from school to school But we're going to take a few minutes to see how some arts utilize this ranking system Many traditional Japanese and okinawan karate systems will use the same colors But the order of those colors will be wildly different from each other shodokan Founded by Gijin Funakoshi is often white yellow Orange blue green two purples and three levels of brown Now not every shodokan school follows this and there is some degree of variation But this is one of the common cue sets dan ranks are often recognized as one through ten However, Funakoshi himself never personally awarded anyone hired in fifth dan Shiitou Ryu commonly has nine cue ranks and ten dan ranks This is an art that often excludes white belt as a cue and considers it no rank What the ranks proceeding as white with a yellow stripe yellow Orange purple blue green three brown belts and then ten dan ranks Now while Shiitou Ryu colors can change from school to school We see far more variation in Watu Ryu and Goju Ryu Watu Ryu usually has ten cue ranks and eight dans But there are many different color schemes employed by different schools Goju Ryu is an art that is governed by many different organizations And each affiliation uses their own schemes as well Typically with ten cue and ten dan ranks Kiyokushin a powerful full contact karate system is a bit more standardized With most curriculums falling under white orange orange with stripe Blue blue with stripe yellow yellow with stripe green green with stripe brown Brown with stripe and then dan levels of black belt Sometimes red will take the place of orange Now my art of American Kempo is one of those arts that has divided into a thousand different directions And is splintered among many different organizations each as different as the next Kempo may perhaps be one of the most politically divided arts However, ironically it seems to have one of the more standard colored ranking systems Most Kempo schools even those with completely different curriculums will follow this belt color system White yellow orange purple blue green three browns and ten degrees of black belt Now even though sometimes you'll see the three levels of brown belt separated into red and red black Kempo is a system that traditionally treats red as a color of mastery And that is evidence in the black belt ranks Each degree of black belt receives a half inch red stripe Half an inch apart to show that we slowly master our art in increments When a student reaches fifth degree the belt receives a five inch red block And then stripes are added until reaching tenth degree marked by two solid blocks Originally, however, the founder of American Kempo Ed Parker used the white brown and black color scheme that Connell used in the beginning Only adding more colored ranks later as the curriculum grew and advanced Now when it comes to jujitsu We are definitely talking about a classification of martial art that is divided into many many different systems And we could spend all day covering each and every one of them like many karate styles Jujitsu will use standard colored belts in different orders However, you'll often see red belt here marking the beginning or early rank in the world jujitsu federation Ranks are typically red white yellow orange green blue with a white center stripe blue purple Brown with a white center stripe brown black with a white center stripe and then black In the art of jujitsu that i am currently training in sanyama bushiro The belt orders are white orange yellow green three browns and then 10 levels of black This brings us to brazilian jujitsu one of the more popular and widespread arts today When it comes to belt ranking brazilian jujitsu holds one of the stricter standards of belt rankings across different schools Each belt takes a significant amount of time and practice to achieve And practitioners take each rank and the respect that comes with it very very seriously In most bjj schools you will find ranks set as white blue purple brown and then black belt This is pretty standard and interchangeable between schools However, once in a while you'll come across a school that might add a green belt rank Usually as a novice or a youth rank there are 10 don levels and the belts are marked distinctively with belts that are black And then they go into coral patterns and ultimately to red belt Which signifies a grandmaster title of ninth or tenth don the red belt is a highly respected rank And it takes a lifetime to achieve and it is held by few As i mentioned earlier not every art utilizes colored belts for ranks aikido is typically one of those arts While some schools may support colored belts many only allow students to wear white or black belts In many aikido schools don students will wear a hakama when they have achieved that level Swinging now over to the korean arts. We see much more variation again Hapkido may have different versions of their colored ranks But generally you can expect to see white yellow green blue red and 10 don levels or at least some close variation of this Hapkido is also one of the arts that reserves the rank of tenth don for their grandmaster Taekwondo is split into a couple of different organizations But you will also see very different color gradings from school to school with nine don ranks available for living students The standard belt ranking for the international taekwondo federation is white white with yellow tip yellow Yellow with green tip green green with blue tip blue blue with red tip red red with black tip and in black belt Tongsudo is similarly split between different organizations and like most of the other arts You'll find a myriad of different color schemes Hwang Ki the founder of mudukwan originally established white green and red as the colored belt ranks before going into the don levels However, what is really interesting about mudukwan is a custom that is followed by select schools Traditionally don ranks are not represented by black belts But rather belts that sport a midnight blue color This falls into the philosophy of black representing perfection and no one can be perfect It is commonly said that Ki believed that black is a color to which nothing else can be added So the don holder wears midnight blue to show that he has always learned And finally we're going to take a look at ninjutsu or specifically bujinkan ninjutsu That is an international organization that incorporates various ninjutsu lineages They have a little bit of a different approach to the colored belt rankings In bujinkan there are nine cues, but they don't traditionally follow the same belt color ranking Beginning students are unranked and they wear a white belt upon achieving your ninth cue They will then wear a green belt if they are male or a red belt if they are female These students will wear these same belts from ninth to first cue and when they achieve their first don They will wear a black belt Sometimes schools will use stars or other insignias to denote which rank they are at Additionally, there are 10 don ranks, but 10th don has five sub-level ranks to it These additional five ranks are certifications that signify a master has learned everything there is to learn about that particular lineage Very few achieve these ranks and they're typically more discreet So that was just a fun look to see how bujinkan offers a bit of unique spin on the colored belt ranking system In any case belt color is just a measuring system and a syllabus guide and in no way Actually determines your skill in any art. The belt should not be the goal But rather you should focus on the skills that the system teaches you So there we go That's just a brief look at all the different belt ranks and the different karate and martial arts systems In the end it really doesn't matter what color you are It's just a piece of fabric. It doesn't represent your actual skill or the hard work you put into it It's just a milestone. It's a tool of measurement whether you use it for a psychological encouragement Or you're one of those people who want to just chase belt levels So in the end all that's really important is the quality of training you're getting regardless of whatever belt rank you are Here's to keeping your pants up Thank you so much for watching this video. As always, I like to hear feedback from our viewers I'm actually curious for those of you who train and maybe some kung fu systems or other systems that don't have belts What do you how do you guys rank do you have rank just kind of what are some of the ways you differentiate your different levels? I would love to hear from you. Please subscribe and share. Thank you so much for watching