No matter what the martial arts discipline, colored belts display at a glance a student's ranking and level of competence. Martial arts students take great pride in achieving each new rank and progressing to the next belt color, as well as the honor associated with it. The American Taekwondo Association says that earning each succeeding colored belt "reflects an inner journey that never truly ends" for the student.
History
The belt-color ranking system didn't appear until the late 1800s, when the founder of modern Judo, Dr. Jigoro Kano, came up with the first grading system involving black belts, or "obis," according to the World Martial Arts Center. A friend of Dr. Kano's and founder of the modern Karate movement, Gichin Funakoshi, also adopted the black-belt ranking system. It wasn't until the 1930s, however, that belts dyed different colors came into play, states the Judo Info website. Before the use of colored belts, martial arts students were awarded scrolls and certificates.
Belt Colors
Belt colors may vary slightly, depending on the specific discipline. Songahm Taekwondo students, for instance, progress from white to orange, then yellow. According to the World Martial Arts Center and the American Taekwondo Association, belt colors mean essentially the same for various martial arts: white for purity, innocence and knowledge sought; yellow for the dawning rays of the sun or sunlight; orange for the growing power of the sunrise; green for developing seeds of growing pine trees; blue for a growing plant or tree reaching toward the sky; purple for the changing colors of dawn or the mountains toward which the tree reaches; brown for maturity, ripening talent and harvest time; red for the setting sun, danger and the need for caution; and finally, black for the darkness beyond the sun and profound learning.
Belt Dying
The All Karate website says that belts in Japan were initially dyed by hand as the student leveled up and progressed toward the next color. The dyes became increasingly darker so that the next belt color was a natural sequence of dyes added to white, then yellow, orange, greens, blue, purple, brown and a combination of all colors, black. Like an artist's palette, primary colors mixed together formed secondary, and then tertiary colored belts.
"Dirty Belt" Myth
A long-standing theory concerning belt colors seems to have no historical basis, but has become part of an endearing bit of folklore in martial arts circles, says the Edo Machi-kata Taiho Jutsu website. White belts given to novices grew darker and dirtier with age as the student advanced from level to level and saw more martial arts action. The dirty, never-washed white belt turned yellow, then brown and finally a well-used, moldering black.
Degrees of Black
Black-belt experts achieve varying degrees, or "dan," explains Judo Info. A 10th-degree black belt is typically the highest rank a martial arts expert can achieve. Black, usually the highest attainable colored belt in martial arts, signifies the absorption of all color or light and an abundant amount of martial arts knowledge. The World Martial Arts Center website says, however, those black belts still "blossom and grow through the ranks in a never-ending process of self-growth, knowledge and enlightenment."
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