Kenpo karate as practiced in the United States was originally developed by Ed Parker during the years after he came to the U.S. mainland from Hawaii. Like most martial arts practiced in the West, defined rank belts are a major part of the training experience.
History of Belt Ranking
Belt ranking as practiced today is a relatively recent phenomenon. Although there are legends and apocryphal stories dating back centuries, the use of colored belts was first adopted in Japanese Judo during the early 20th century. Shotokan founder Gichin Funakoshi adapted the practice to his system shortly thereafter. As kenpo developed in the '50s and '60s, using colored belts was a fully ingrained part of martial arts practice.
Techniques, Kata and Freestyle
As Parker codified the belt system for his American Kenpo, he composed each rank of a list including self-defense techniques, kata and freestyle sequences. The self-defense techniques are specific responses to a particular attack, often with descriptive -- even poetic -- names. Thundering Hammers, for example, responds to a punch with multiple closed-fist body blows. Kata are formal exercises intended to improve awareness, grace and balance. Freestyle sequences are short flurries of strikes primarily intended to improve performance while sparring.
Variants
In the early 1960s, the Tracy brothers broke away from Parker's organization, founding a style with only cosmetic differences from Parker's system. When Parker died in 1990, with no named successor, many of his senior students left the core organization to found their own kenpo systems. In most cases, these systems follow the same general structure of rank requirements and nearly all retain the core sequence of katas.
The Yellow Belt
The original belt sequence for kenpo karate began with a white belt, then moved to orange belt. As martial arts became more popular among children -- a demographic that requires more frequent reinforcement -- the yellow belt was added in between white and orange. The current progression for most kenpo systems is white, yellow, orange, purple, blue, green, third brown, second brown, first brown, black.
References
- "Inifinite Insights Into Kenpo, Vol 1 - V"; Ed Parker; 1985
- All Karate: History of Belt Rankings
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