Martial Art Grades are a Modern Phenomenon!

June 18, 2008

Martial Art Grades, Ranks and Coloured Belts

Many martial arts have a ranking system and those within it are familiar with beginner to most experienced master.10th kyu, 9th kyu, …, 2nd kyu, 1st kyu, 1st dan, 2nd dan, …, 10th dan. Where “kyu” and “dan” are Japanese words; Korean systems use the word “gup” instead of “kyu”. 1st dan and above normally wear black belts.

However, nowadays I do not put too much stock only in rankings and belt colour as they are VERY dependent on the art, the school, and the instructor. Some martial and related arts don’t have any belts. Some have only white and black. Some have white, brown, and black. Some have a rainbow! Some instructors hand out rank/belts like candy, others make the students work extremely hard to gain their grade. Also, a colour may represent a different kyu grade or rank across the martial arts.

Look beyond the rank or belt colour and see how long and how intensely an individual has studied, the quality of instruction they have received, and how they demonstrate their abilities.

Strangely enough, this system of kyu/dan ranking systems and belts is not steeped in history or tradition through the centuries - it is a relatively modern!

Before Jigoro Kano invented Judo, there was NO kyu/dan ranking system.

Kano invented it when he awarded “shodan” to two of his senior students (Saito and Tomita) in 1883. Even then, there was no external differentiation between yudansha (dan ranks) and mudansha (those who hadn’t yet attained dan ranking). Kano apparently began the custom of having his yudansha wear black obis in 1886. These obis weren’t the belts karateka and judoka wear today - Kano hadn’t invented the judogi (uniform) yet, and his students were still practicing in kimono. They were the wide obi still worn with formal kimono.

In 1907, Kano introduced the modern gi and its modern obi, but he still only used white and black.

Karateka in Okinawa didn’t use any sort of special uniform at all in the old days. The kyu/dan ranking system, and the modern karategi (modified judogi) were first adopted by Funakoshi in an effort to encourage karate’s acceptance by the Japanese. He awarded the first “shodan” ranks given in karate to Tokuda, Otsuka, Akiba, Shimizu, Hirose, Gima, and Kasuya on April 10, 1924.

The adoption of the kyu/dan system and the adoption of a standard uniform based on the judogi were 2 of the 4 conditions which the Dai-Nippon Butokukai required before recognizing karate as a “real” martial art. If you can find and look at old photographs of Okinawan karateka training in the early part of the 20th century, you’ll see that they were training in their everyday clothes, or even what appears to be their underwear!

Most other arts that have ranking/belt color systems adopted them from the Japanese. So inside only 100 years from conception - the world has already become awash with 8th, 9th and 10th Dans!

Malcolm
Yoshiki Goshin Jutsu