ED PARKER'S AMERICAN KENPO BELTS

Note: A Red Belt, or Red Belt with a black stipe running the length of the belt, can also be used as an Instructor's Belt. In some Korean styles the Red belt is used in place of a Brown Belt.

Japanese martial arts use a two-tier ranking system that includes kyu ranks (steps below black belt) and dan ranks (levels of black belt).  In most arts, students wear a belt to signify rank, though there is no overt symbol of rank in iaido.  The belt worn by a beginner is white.  The amount of training required for each rank varies greatly depending on the student's innate talent, his time in daily practice, and the art he studies.  Usually, a minimum of one year is required to reach green belt, two and one half years to brown and four to six to reach the first level of black belt.  Traditional martial arts is a lifetime's study, and the very highest ranks are reserved for those with exceptional talent who have contributed greatly to the development and preservation of their chosen art.

Achievement in Judo is recognized by a series of ranks. The student ranks are called kyu and are usually differentiated by colored belts. Different colors may be used around the world and in some countries there are more than 6 kyu ranks. The ten black belt, or expert, ranks are called dan. The traditional Judo ranks are:

In the days before Kano created Judo, there was no kyu/dan ranking system in the martial arts. A more traditional method of recognizing achievement was the presentation of scrolls, often with the secrets of the school inscribed. Kano started the modern rank system when he awarded shodan (first degree black belt) to
two of his    senior students (Saito and Tomita) in 1883. Even then, there was no external differentiation between yudansha (black belt ranks) and mudansha (those who hadn't yet attained black belt ranking).  Kano apparently began the custom of having his yudansha wear black obi (belts) in 1886. These obi weren't the belts karateka and judoka wear today -- Kano hadn't invented the judogi (Judo 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 judogi and its modern obi, but he still only used  white and black belt ranks. The other colored belts originated later when Judo began being practiced outside of Japan.   Sensei Mikonosuke Kaiwashi introduced various colored belts in Europe in 1935 when he started to teach judo in Paris.

The Judo practice uniform and belt system eventually spread to many of the other modern martial arts such as aikido and karate which adapted them for their purpose. 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 look at photographs of Okinawan karateka training in the early part of this century, you'll see that they were training in their everyday clothes.

A brief history of Geup/kyu/dan (kyu is the Japanese equivalent of Geup) ranking systems and belts, contributed by Steve Gombosi follows:

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 it's
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.
 

NOTE:
*      For Olympic competition purposes the number of belts was reduced or combined.
**    There is no purple belt reflected in some Associations.
***   In some Korean Systems the Purple replaces the Blue Belt (Chung Do.)
**** In some Korean styles the Red belt is used in place of a Brown Belt.

---

CHINA

There are numerous styles or systems of martial arts originating in mainland China.  They typically are somewhat less formally structured in the ranking of proficiency, than the Japanese or Korean Arts.  Often a disciple of a particular style continues training throughout their lifetime.  The landmarks along the way may be denoted by sash colors, or just by knowing who in the school has seniority or greater time in grade than you.

CHINESE HONORIFICS - (CANTONESE)

. SIBAK (or SIBOK) .	Teacher-elder uncle	A senior teacher in the same generation as your teacher.
. SIDAI .	Younger brother	A fellow student who started studying after someone in the same generation of students.
. SIFU .	Is the Cantonese for Shifu	Teacher-father.
. SIGUNG .	Teacher-grandfather	The teacher's teacher.
. SIGUNGBAK .	Grand-teacher's older brother	A senior individual in the same student generation as a teacher's teacher.
. SIGUNGSUK .	Grand-teacher's younger brother	A junior individual in the same student generation as a teacher's teacher.
SIHING	Elder brother	A fellow student who started studying previously to an individual.
SIJO	Teacher-ancestor	Used to mean the teacher of the teacher's teacher. Sometimes used to mean the founder of a Chinese martial art style. Sometimes used as Tai sijo meaning great teacher-ancestor.
. SIJUK .	Teacher-nephew	A student of a junior or senior teacher of one's teacher's generation.
. SIMO .	Teacher-mother	It is sometimes used as sifu's wife.
. SISUK (or SISOOK) .	Teacher-younger uncle	Used to refer to a teacher who is junior in status to one's teacher.