Karate is a traditional martial art that, like many others, uses an official ranking system based on belt colors. The colors range from white to black, and each color represents a different level of skill. The colors are also symbolic of characteristics a person of that level possesses. The red belt in karate is not one of the traditional belt colors used in the ranking system, but some styles incorporate it.
History
The first martial art to introducing a ranking system and use colored belts to denote each rank was Japanese judo. After judo began using a belt system, other martial arts, such as karate and tae kwon do began doing the same. Before then, belts were simply used as an accessory to the gi.
Dirty Belt Theory
No one is certain why masters chose to use different colored belts for ranking. One theory is that belts and gis would naturally change color after many years of use without being washed. A gi would start out white but eventually fade to yellow, then orange and so on, until it was so dirty it was almost black. Therefore, a black belt was indicative of someone who had been practicing martial arts for many years.
Symbolism
There is a symbolism attached to each color. The symbolism is intended to further meaning to each belt color so it represents more than just skill and experience. For example, white represents freshness and purity, whereas black is said to represent the blending of all colors. The symbolism of the color red in karate is ambiguous because it is an unconventional color in the belt system.
Red Belt
A red belt can mean a variety of things in karate. The traditional colors are white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and black. The red belt sometimes is interchanged with the orange or brown belt. In this case, a red belt could be indicative of an amateur or an expert, depending on which belt it is substituted for, because orange and brown are far apart in ranking. In some styles of karate, the red belt actually comes after the black belt and is reserved exclusively for grand masters.
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