Shotokan Karate Brown Belt Requirements

Shotokan was the first style of karate to adopt the use of colored belts to indicate rank and expertise, during the early 20th century with Gichin Funakoshi organized it into a coherent system of training. Although different shotokan clubs may have varying requirements, the leadership and centralization of shotokan leads most brown belts to have very similar requirements.

History

Judo was the first martial art to use a colored rank belt system, but Funakoshi incorporated the idea into shotokan less than 20 years later. The brown belt is one of the original colored belts used in shotokan, predating all belts other than white and black by decades.

Kata Requirements

A kata is a formal exercise, a defined sequence of moves designed to help a student practice. Each kata has a name, with katas required for brown belt often including bassai dai, jion, jekki shodan and empi. Some schools require a student to demonstrate more than one for brown belt, while other require the student to learn only a single kata.

Technique

At brown belt level, most shotokan students have learned all of the basic strikes, blocks, punches as stances. To earn this level, they must now perform them in combination, with force, and against a live and resisting opponent. Practice and testing include practice on static target, and in live competition called "kumite," or sparring.

Breaking

Breaking boards is part of karate culture, and although some shotokan school don't require the practice -- many do. A brown belt candidate has to break boards, often stacks of multiple boards, under pressure and on demand. Some may be asked to break concrete blocks, but this is more common as a black belt requirement.

Multiple Brown Belts

Although traditional shotokan ranking has only one brown belt rank, some modern academies send students through two or three levels of brown belt. This subdivides the training and gives the student more opportunities to celebrate his progress. In such cases, the brown belt requirements are usually divided between the ranks -- the student doesn't have to learn two to three times as much.