Centuries ago, people from the Okinowan Islands incorporated traditional Chinese Shaolin fighting techniques, along with local innovations, into a martial arts style dubbed karate. Karate, which means "empty hands" in Japanese, traditionally did not include weapons. Karate focuses on striking and kicking, and emphasizes physical and mental discipline, along with respect toward others. Karate uses belts of different colors and grades to identify the level of skills of the karateka, the person who practices karate.
Earliest History
Legend has it that karate originated more than 1,500 years ago by a Buddhist monk who traveled from India to China carrying no weapons. He defended himself using only his hands. He blended meditative, breathing and stretching techniques of Zen Buddhism, along with a system of exercises and physical techniques designed to strengthen the mind and body into a martial arts discipline that formed the basis of modern karate.
For centuries, karate was forbidden while Okinowa was under Chinese rule. There were no belts and there was no formal system of advancement. Karate was taught and practiced in secret. In the 1870's, Japan annexed Okinawa and by 1901, karate was openly practiced, but still had no system of advancement.
Development of Belts
By the early 1930s, the first system of advancement in karate was imported from judo. Judo master Jigoro Kano developed a two-tier ranking system that identified the Kyu, or student rank, and the advanced rank, called Dan. Karate, as well as other fine arts and martial arts disciplines applied this ranking system. Gichin Funakoshi, an Okinawan karate master who migrated to Japan, developed the karate uniform still in use today, called a gi, and incorporated the color belt system developed by Jigoro Kano. Karate became a part of the school curriculum in Japan, and the Ministry of Education established standards for rank and advancement based on belts that applied to all martial arts, including karate. The belt system had three levels of white belts and three levels of brown belts that constituted the kyu grade, and had 10 levels of black belt for the dan grade. Despite the efforts of the Ministry of Education, different schools of karate developed over the next several years, each utilizing its own grading system.
Attempts to Standardize
By 1938, the Ministry of Education called for all karate schools to use a standardized ranking system. Attempts to standardize the belt grading system were interrupted by World War II. Many of the karate masters died during the war, and karate was forbidden during the seven years that the U.S. occupied Japan. Varied organizations arose and established rank systems for particular schools of karate, but it was not until 1964 that the Federation for All-Japan Karatedo Organizations arose to unify the rank systems of many of the karate styles. While to this day there is variation in the use of specific belts, colors and grades, the standards established by the Federation of All-Japan Karatedo Organizations have been incorporated by the International Traditional Karate Federation and these standards are generally used around the world.
Modern Belts
The belt grading system helps students recognize the skills level of their fellow students, and provides public recognition for the accomplishments of the karateka. Most schools and training institutes have nine levels of kyu, starting with white and progressing through yellow, green and brown. Typically, there are three levels of brown belts and two levels each of the white, yellow and green belts. Levels within belts are designated by giving the student an additional black bar on the belt as he advances within the belt color. Black belts provide for six levels of skills, progressing from 1st Dan to 6th Dan.
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