Belt ranking system

[matt.m]

I have seen a ton of "If I move and go to a different school, do I keep my rank?" kind of threads. So it brings me to the question of what is your schools belt ranking system.

I have seen very many variations. My schools is the following:
white
yellow
orange
green
blue
purple
brown
red
black

I have seen schools that use stripes and tabs, etc. I am just curious. It seems that going from school to school keeping rank would be hard considering the different belt differences. Not only that but the cirriculum from school is different.

For instance, for my green belt test next week I have to do the following:
Tae Guek - Il jang, EE jang, Sam jang
Chong gi, Dan-Gun, Do-San
(9) One Step sparring, both sides
(6) basic moves, both sides.

Of course striking and kicking drills.

However for my friend who is a green belt at another school only has had to learn Tae Guek - Il and EE jang
(3) basic moves
(6) one step sparring

 

[Fluffy]

I own a TKD club, and we're a member of the Hwa-Rang Taekwondo Federation (HTF). Our belts go:

(Color Belts, Gups)
White
Low Yellow
High Yellow
Low Green
High Green
Low Blue
High Blue
Low Red
High Red

Also, color belts have 1/2 ranks (recommended - no stripe, decided - one stripe) and I give stripes for knowledge of form, one-steps, and a third stripe as an instructors propagative.

(Black Belts, Dans)
1st Recommended Red/Black
1st Degree Black Belt
2nd Degree Black Belt
3rd Degree Black Belt
4th Degree Black Belt
5th Degree Black Belt

(Master Ranks)
5th Degree Master Instructor
6th Degree Senior Master
7th Degree Chief Master
8th Degree Grand Master
9th Degree Grandmaster Instructor

 

[karatekid1975]

Our ranking system is (ITF)

white
yellow stripe
yellow
green stripe
green
blue stripe
blue
red stripe
red
black stripe
black

In my old TKD dojang (the old ranking system) was pretty much the same. But before I left they had a different system as fallows:

white
orange
yellow
green
purple
blue
brown
red
high red (red with stripe)
prob. BB
BB

My TSD dojang went like this:

white
yellow (for kids)
orange
green
blue
brown
purple
red
red with stripe
cho dan bo
cho dan (BB)

Jujitsu:

white
green
brown
black

I think it's better to go by gup/kyu grades instead of belt color. Because a green belt in one system may be a beginner, and another advanced. It can get really confusing. I was a high red belt in WTF (1st gup) getting ready to test for prob BB (beore the health issue). Then I switched to ITF. No prob BB. I'm testing for the real deal (donno when as of yet ... Jan I think). BUT I'm still a first gup.

 

[stone_dragone]

ATA

White - Orange - Yellow - Camo - Green - Purple - Blue - Red - Black rec - Black

Karate

White - Yellow - Blue - Green - Purple - Brown - Black


Kenpo

White - Orange - Purple - Blue - Green - Brown - Black

 

[IcemanSK]

The USCDKA has the following colored belt grades.

Belt color/Gup
White/10th
Yellow/9th
Gold/8th
Orange/7th
Green/6th
Purple/5th
Blue/4th
Red/3rd
Brown/2nd
Halfbrown half black/1st

 

[Gemini]

White - Kichun Il Bo
Yellow - Kichun Yi Bo
Orange - Taeguek Il Jang
Green - Taeguek Yi Jang
Blue - Taeguek Sam Jang
Brown - Taeguek Sah Jang
Brown w/stripe - Taeguek Ooh Jang
Red - Taeguek Yook Jang
Red w/stripe - Taeguek Chil Jang
Deputy1 (Blk/Red) - Taeguek Pal Jang
Deputy 2 - (Blk/Wht/Red) - Taeguek Il-Sah Jang review
Deputy 3 - (Blk/Ylw/Red) - Taeguek Ooh-Pal Jang review
Deputy 4 (Blk/Blu/Red) - All Taeguek review
Black - All Taeguek
Black 2 - Koryo, Palgwe 1-4
Black 3 - Kumgong, Palgwe 5-8

All also had increasingly difficult One steps, Kicking combinations and breaks.

 

[CTKempo Todd]

Hi Guys..

I am not a TKD er so my apologies if this thread is just meant from a TKD perspective..

I reallly feal that the stripe/tapes/tips things on belts are getting out of hand..

I am not casting stones anywhere, I am talking from my own school's/styles (Kempo) perspective.

I am contemplating just going back to solid color belts as a ranking.
We currently go: white, yellow, orange, purple, blue, blue/stripe, green, green stripe, Brown 3, brown 2, brown 1, black..etc

Thinking of just making it blue, green, brown..etc..

 

[IcemanSK]

Hi Guys..

I am not a TKD er so my apologies if this thread is just meant from a TKD perspective..

I reallly feal that the stripe/tapes/tips things on belts are getting out of hand..

I am not casting stones anywhere, I am talking from my own school's/styles (Kempo) perspective.

I am contemplating just going back to solid color belts as a ranking.
We currently go: white, yellow, orange, purple, blue, blue/stripe, green, green stripe, Brown 3, brown 2, brown 1, black..etc

Thinking of just making it blue, green, brown..etc..

No offense taken Todd. I think that it helps the students feel they accomplished more if there is an actual belt given after testing (rather than a stripe). I also think it makes more sense if they pay for the test to give them an actual new belt. So, I'm with ya there. As far as what belts to go with, maybe seek what's done in Kempo schools. For what its worth, I think its a good idea.

 

[CTKempo Todd]

No offense taken Todd. I think that it helps the students feel they accomplished more if there is an actual belt given after testing (rather than a stripe). I also think it makes more sense if they pay for the test to give them an actual new belt. So, I'm with ya there. As far as what belts to go with, maybe seek what's done in Kempo schools. For what its worth, I think its a good idea.

Thanks Ice..

your point about the stripes is actually my point about it getting out of hand..My guess is that historically you had solid colors, and then you had people NOT being able to pass to the next rank SOOO then, let me give you a stripe in between ranks to make you 'feel' better and then of course the madness persisted to us all..

The current belt configuration that I do from what I know is standard..But as my education in my art continues to 'evolve', it is moving in the direction of its more simplistic beginnings..less complicated, more effective etc..
I am thinking about doing the same thing with the ranks..

PS..as far as charging for belts..I charge a 5 dollar fee when testing..truely for the cost of the belt and the certificate..

Peace my Brothers...

 

[matt.m]

Thanks Ice..

your point about the stripes is actually my point about it getting out of hand..My guess is that historically you had solid colors, and then you had people NOT being able to pass to the next rank SOOO then, let me give you a stripe in between ranks to make you 'feel' better and then of course the madness persisted to us all..

The current belt configuration that I do from what I know is standard..But as my education in my art continues to 'evolve', it is moving in the direction of its more simplistic beginnings..less complicated, more effective etc..
I am thinking about doing the same thing with the ranks..

PS..as far as charging for belts..I charge a 5 dollar fee when testing..truely for the cost of the belt and the certificate..

Peace my Brothers...

Yeah you know that I have asked a lot of people from other schools why the tab stuff. They said "One tab for learning the form whatever." So, three tabs per belt and then the belt test.

I think it is ridiculous. At my school, either you pass or you dont. Solid color for solid knowledge.

 

[Gemini]

The addition of stripes (I'll speak for my school only here) doesn't have anything to do with 1/2 knowledge, it has to do with allowing young students promoting more for the sake of interest. White to Black, regardless of how many belts are in between, is still the same whether you have 5 belt levels or 20. Though personally, I think less is more when it comes to belts, I don't have a school to run or creditors to answer to. Whichever way works to keep students training, I'm all for.

 

[IcemanSK]

Yeah you know that I have asked a lot of people from other schools why the tab stuff. They said "One tab for learning the form whatever." So, three tabs per belt and then the belt test.

I think it is ridiculous. At my school, either you pass or you dont. Solid color for solid knowledge.

Part of it might also be (originally) that, even tho there were 10 gups, they didn't have that many colors of actual belts to choose from back in the day. My instructor tested us for gup rank & just used stripes to delineate those ranks. Back in the early 80's I don't recall seeing all the colors they have now. Some instructors do use stripes for things like forms AND charge students for them, too. Do I wish my belt system was different back then? In hindsight, yes. But it was still a solid MA education.

I like your quote, Matt And Gemini's point about half knowledge is important, too. It shouldn't be about that.

 

[jfarnsworth]

Ours was listed as

white
yellow
blue
green
purple
brown
black
Then obviously varying degrees of black.
We didn't use the half ranks.

 

[karatekid1975]

Hi Guys..

I am not a TKD er so my apologies if this thread is just meant from a TKD perspective..

I reallly feal that the stripe/tapes/tips things on belts are getting out of hand..

I am not casting stones anywhere, I am talking from my own school's/styles (Kempo) perspective.

I am contemplating just going back to solid color belts as a ranking.
We currently go: white, yellow, orange, purple, blue, blue/stripe, green, green stripe, Brown 3, brown 2, brown 1, black..etc

Thinking of just making it blue, green, brown..etc..

No problem. As you can see by my above post, my Jujitsu instructor uses three color belts, no stripes. I like it, actually. But the problem with that is, one might be a white belt for two years (as I will be. I have a year left as white). Some people may not like that, but to each their own, I guess.

 

[IcemanSK]

No problem. As you can see by my above post, my Jujitsu instructor uses three color belts, no stripes. I like it, actually. But the problem with that is, one might be a white belt for two years (as I will be. I have a year left as white). Some people may not like that, but to each their own, I guess.

I think it would be hard for American kids to have a belt system that only had 3-4 belts & for them to wait years for a change. (We Americans have a short attention span & need constant stmulation...yes, I'm generalizing & overstating it.) But then again, the Karate instructor I work with has had the same students for years & only tested them to green. They don't seem to complain.

 

[cali_tkdbruin]

Please remember that it's very hard to quantify color belts and their number in the TKD gup ranks because generally there really are no set standards for a color belt and its corresponding gup rank. Every school/dojang is different in terms of their own color belt schemes and gup ranks, at least this is what I've observed here in the States. Real uniformity only comes at the BB dan ranks, where dan rank and the poomse practiced at that level is a little better defined.