What Does a Black Belt Really Mean?
– By Neil Ohlenkamp Parents should read this! There are two divisions of grades, the student grades (Kyu), and the master grades (Dan). In the west, the kyu colors run from white (a rank beginner) then through yellow, orange, green, blue, purple for juniors under 17. The colors change slightly for seniors of 18 years old or older, in that blue and purple are replaced by brown. In Japan, all kyu grades wear white for ranks 6 to 4 and brown for 3 to 1st kyu. So in Japan, there are only 2 colors of student rank, white and brown! Student ranks go backwards from 6th kyu to 1st kyu; black bells of course go forward from 1st dan to 10th dan. Jigaro Kano (founder of Judo) was the inventor of the kyu – dan grading system, that soon got adapted by other martial arts such as karate. At Pottstown Judo, you are eligible (but not guaranteed) to receive your White Belt + Yellow Stripe after completing our beginners class and after being in judo for about 3 months. To receive your Yellow Belt, we requ
