Budo Belts and Ranks:
The Forgotten Symbolism
By Christopher Caile
In the martial disciplines we all tie belts around
our waists, but few of us understand what they represent.
The meaning of our belts and the grading system they
represent seems to have been lost. Some think they
indicate skill level or expertise. Others think they
are misleading, at best, only imported figments of
oriental culture, or at worst, inflated symbols of
ego. So what do they represent? Are they worthless,
or are they meaningful symbols charged with the energy
of years of dedication and hard work?
One of the biggest misconceptions held by new students,
as well as the public, is that obtaining a black belt
represents being an expert. Nothing could be further
from the truth. While training at the brown belt level
is very demanding and the attainment of a black belt
is seen as significant, black belt status really only
indicates a graduation to a new beginning. For this
reason first level black belts are known as shodans,
rather than ichi (first) dans, "sho" meaning beginning,
the same character as in sho shin, meaning beginner's
mind. Reaching this first, beginning rank means you
have achieved some proficiency in basics and are prepared
to really start learning, and learning means a lot
more than techniques. Thus a new shodan becomes a
beginner again.
Actually the use of ranks and belts is a fairly new
phenomenon. They weren't used during the feudal period
when warriors studied various fighting methods for
battlefield purposes, nor were they used in Okinawa
as karate was developing. The kyu/dan system associated
with colored belts is really a late 19th century invention
pioneered by Jigoro Kano, the father of judo. He created
the kyu/dan system in 1883 and awarded his two top
students with a dan (rank) rating. Three years later
he began to award black sashes to be worn with a practice
top kimono or Japanese robe. Pants were then not in
use, instead many wore loin cloths, or more commonly
shorts cut off above the knee. Kano's organization,
the Kodokan, later adopted the full uniform with pants
(keikogi) we know today. In approximately 1907 the
sash was replaced by the kuri obi (black belt).
Kano saw the need to distinguish between beginning
and advanced students. Beginners wore white belts
and were considered unranked, but within this classification
there were different levels known as kyu. New students
started at the highest kyu (usually ten), the level
decreasing with experience to first kyu, the last
level before promotion to dan, the rank level symbolized
by the black belt. Sometimes first or second kyus
wore brown belts signifying that they were completing
their basics and soon would become ranked. It was
understood that kyu levels were only an introduction
to more advanced training on a dan level. Over time
various system have adopted six to ten kyu levels
for their promotion curriculum and dan steps progressing
upwards from first dan. In many budo arts dan status
was achieved quite easily once serious studies began.
In other systems, however, attaining a dan ranking
was stretched out taking five to seven years of serious
study, or more. Because beginners were unranked they
were known as mudansha, "mu" being a Zen term meaning
nothingness, an expression of negation. "Dan" is rank
and "sha" is a person. Advanced students, ones who
had mastered basics (awarded a dan rank) are called
yudansha, "yu," meaning possession. Thus the term
means, "A person in possession of rank."
The contrasting color of black (ranked) and white
(unranked, colored kyu were not then in use) belts
are laden with deeper symbolism. They reflect a yin,
yang nature (in Japan in/yo) reflecting budo's roots
in Taoist tradition represented by the term "do,"
or path, and represent the basic polarity of opposites.
This concept of dualism was also expressed in the
Chi Hsi school of Confucism (that had an important
impact on budo's formation) with its concept of form
(or yukei, representing rank in budo) and non-form
(mukei, representing non-rank). The white belt, along
with the white uniform, also reflect budo values -
purity, avoidance of ego and simplicity. There is
also no visual, or outward indication of class or
level of expertise. Thus everyone begins as an equal
(without class) - a former noble could be standing
next to a farmer. This was significant because earlier
times (pre-1868) were characterized by a rigid class
structure, within which classes were strictly separated
and most were prohibited from martial study.
The kyu/dan system and associated belts was given
a big boost by Japan's first martial arts association
formed to promote the revival of the martial teaching
tradition in the modern era. In 1895 the government
had sanctioned the formation of the Dai Nippon Butokukai
(Japan Great Martial Virtues Association) to oversee,
standardize and promote the various martial traditions
(ryuha). A committee was commissioned (adopting kano's
innovations) to grant budo/bujitsu martial rank certification
(budo/bujitsu menjo) based on the kyu/dan system and
to grant teaching licenses (Shihan menjo).
Under butokukai leadership budo and bujitsu became
revolutionized in Japan. A common system of uniforms,
ranking, belts and promotion was adopted. Even practice
methods became somewhat standardized. The Butokukai
also promoted the adoption of budo training (including
judo, kendo, kyudo and naginata-do) within the general
education system and the teaching of bushido (the
warriors code of ethics). Judo and kendo were promoted
as sports.
The kyu/dan system was never designed merely to indicate
a level of technical achievement. It also represents
budo's goal of spiritual and ethical attainment towards
perfection of the self. Thus dan rankings, and even
kyu levels, should reflect a level of moral and spiritual
development or attainment. For this reason children
have always been classified differently with their
own kyu and dan status and with their own distinct
belts, the black belt often having a white stripe
down the middle. This is because children are judged
to be not fully mature and too young to have developed
those aspects of character that budo represents. For
this reason many schools retest their students at
an age of 14 or 15 to qualify them for adult standing.
Thus the kyu/dan system reflects evaluation of a person's
spiritual progress towards perfection (attainment
of discipline, values, ethics, manners, deportment,
etc.) within a martial discipline.
In the early 20th century karate had just been introduced
into Japan from Okinawa where it had been practiced
in secrecy for centuries. In Suri, Okinawa's capital,
karate been introduced publicly as part of the physical
education curriculum of the middle school starting
around 1905. But there was no ranking, belts or uniforms
at that time. The kyu/dan ranking and belt/uniform
system was first adopted by karate in Japan (the first
dans awarded by Gichin Funakoshi to seven students
in 1924) as a means of gaining acceptance by the Butokukai.
Okinawa karate later followed the Japanese karate
lead.
Only within the last 30 years have some martial disciplines
or organizations begun to use colored belts to signify
different levels of kyu. This was done to give students
a sense of accomplishment. They were adopted in response
to the desire voiced by many, mostly foreign students
in Japan and students abroad, who sought some outward
manifestation of their progress. There is no agreement,
however, on color, or order of color, except that
in many systems a brown belt precedes attainment of
a back belt (dan status).
As to ranking of black belts, technically there are
10 progressive dan levels, first through tenth, but
realistically, promotion within each system is limited
to a level below that of the system's founder, chief
instructor or inheritor. Thus within Shotokan karate,
whose founder, Gichen Funikoshi, was ranked as a fifth
dan (godan), no one within the system had an equal
or higher rank until his death.
All dan levels wear blacks, except for various combinations
of red, white and black used on ceremonial occasions
usually for fifth degree black belt and above. Some
systems now signify dan ranking by stripes on one
belt tip, the number of stripes indicating the grade.
Some systems, however, symbolize various teaching
titles with black belt stripes. But achieving a dan
level today in Japan is not restricted merely to the
marital arts. Dan ranking has been extended to a wide
variety of activities. There are even dans awarded
for skill in sake (rice wine) tasting.
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