Karate's practice of using colored belts to denote rank comes via judo. Professor Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo, borrowed the idea from Japanese schools, which used colors to rank athletes. Originally, karate had only three belt colors: white, brown and black. Today, most schools have between five and 10 colors, sometimes with stripes or insignias on belts to further differentiate the ranks. The order of colors differs from system to system. A few general principles, however, hold true for most karate schools.
New Students
When new students come into a karate school, sometimes they are given a white belt with their uniform, and sometimes they need to earn the white belt by learning the first basic skills. White belts spend time learning and practicing basic punches, kicks and blocks. Their forms and combinations are designed for the student with no prior training.
Beginner Students
The beginning ranks are represented by light colors. Yellow, gold and orange are typical beginning colors. The beginner continues to learn basic technique. Forms and combinations become somewhat more complex and use techniques mastered in the white belt rank. Beginning students learn to fall without hurting themselves and begin to practice free sparring with other students. Beginning students still spend most of their time building a foundation for more complex techniques to follow.
Advanced Beginner Students
Advanced beginners wear darker-colored belts. Blue, green and purple are typical colors. These students have one to two years of experience in the art, and they are beginning to produce effective technique. Advanced beginners start to learn to produce force, control their force and take force coming into their bodies. Because they can fall without getting hurt, they can begin to practice sweeps and takedowns. Their forms and combinations demand a solid foundation in the basics and involve more complex body coordination.
Intermediate Students
Intermediate students are students with two to four years in the art. They typically wear brown belts, though some styles use red as well as brown at this stage of training. Brown belts are preparing for the black belt. They spend time making all their beginning moves a part of their body. They start learning some of the more dangerous moves of the art and work on advanced body control. And they begin to take their place as part of the leadership of a school. They assist in classes and help bring their fellow students through the beginning ranks.
Advanced Students
Advanced students wear black belts. Black belts typically have at least four to six years of training. Black belt students are still students, or at least they should continue to learn and grow in their art. Most arts have 10 to 12 black belt ranks, which can take 50 or more years to move through. Black belts have made all the basic movements of their style automatic. They can do them without thinking and under pressure. Black belts are also responsible for passing the art to the next generation of martial artist. They are teachers, leaders, administrators and mentors. Some of them eventually become masters, martial artists who help the art grow and develop.
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