belts

[e_speedygonzales]

i am in Tae Kwon Do, and for some reason every school i research has a different belt system, with different colors resembling different stages, why is that? i thought they were supposed to be the same?

 

[arnisador]

There are many different organizations, each with its own standards.

 

[bignick]

As your experience grows and you come into contact with more systems you'll realize that there is no standardization in any art, from school to school, that I've come across for rank colors. Your rank usually corresponds to a numbered level, gup in Korean arts, Kyu in Japanese...(sorry, inexperienced with arts outside these realms). What color your organization chooses to represent that is usually up to them. I think a French judo assocation has a pink belt, and some others have blue and purple, while my organization only has yellow, orange, green, and brown...same number of ranks...just different colors....

Some taekwondo schools put yellow before orange, others flip it around, some have purple low in the ranks, for some it's higher...

But really, in the end......don't worry about it...

 

[Gemini]

They're pretty much the same, but yes, with some variation from school to school. Generally speaking, you'll usually find something like: White, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue/Purple, Brown, Red, Black. Some add a stripe to the color before advancing to the next color, but variations are usually limited to that. There are of course, some exceptions.

 

[FearlessFreep]

Here's a fun example

I came from a school that went
White, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Red, Brown, Black

I am not at a school that goes
White, Yellow, Orange, Green, Purple, Blue, Brown, Red, Red/Black, Black

Now, here's where it gets fun. I switched schools as a Blue Belt. When I came to the new school, I simply said "I'm fourth gup" thinking it as the simplest thibg to do, which they let me stay at, which *just happened to be Blue, which is the *only* belt color that would've worked at (other than white)

It gets more fun. If you count belts, in the second system, there are more belts from white to blue...so that would throw off your forms...*but* The instructor at the second school teaches white belts a special, simple form I guess he created. You don't learn Il-Jang until yellow belt. So, in spite of the different number of belts, at Blue Belt the proper form is "Oh-Jang". So when I started at the new school, I already knew the form that I was expected to know for my current belt, in spite of the differences in the number of belts before it between the two schools

 

[terryl965]

I have always used to system from my teacher White Yellow Orange Green blue Red Red/black stripe, halfred/half black, and finally black.
Terry

 

[FearlessFreep]

I was just wondering about the idea of a belt system where the belts are all the same color, but you used different types of knots to denote rank. The knots would have to be vsually distinguishable, and yet you wouldn't learn to tie the new knot until it had been taught to you once you had the skill for the new rank. I wonder if this would cut down people buying rank and mcdojangs and such?

 

[terryl965]

I was just wondering about the idea of a belt system where the belts are all the same color, but you used different types of knots to denote rank. The knots would have to be vsually distinguishable, and yet you wouldn't learn to tie the new knot until it had been taught to you once you had the skill for the new rank. I wonder if this would cut down people buying rank and mcdojangs and such?

Feerless I do not believe anything in todays money hungry world could stop Mc DOjo's, But if it could I would be right there with yea.
Terry

 

[arnisador]

Knots? Well, Capoeira uses cords. But they are different colors.

 

[IcemanSK]

I think it's "safer" to follow the gup system. That way you can follow the same rank regardless of belt color. Although, different schools require different forms for different gup ranks- so it may not be a smooth transition from school to school.

my 2 cents.