What’s New By Kyū
| Kyū | 級 | rank |
Kyū
The levels of karate training before black belt are called kyū. While everyone starts with a white belt, the number of levels before earning that coveted black belt can vary. Like many many karate organizations. we have ten levels below black belt.
What is required at each of the ten levels can be explored by selecting a particular level at right.
Belt Colors
Since Funakoshi Gichin’s effort to have karate taught in the schools of Japanin the early 1900s, the level of the karate student has been indicated by belts of different colors. Often stripes are added to the belt to identify some levels. There is no standardization of the colors. Interestingly, our sequence of colors is quite different from that of Sōke Kaichō Kinjō’s dojo in Okinawa.
| Kyū | US Koburyu | Okinawa Koburyu |
| White | White | |
| 10 | Yellow | Orange |
| 9 | Orange | Purple |
| 8 | Blue | Yellow |
| 7 | Blue Plus One Stripe | Yellow |
| 6 | Green | Blue |
| 7 | Green Plus One Stripe | Blue |
| 4 | Purple | Green |
| 3 | Purple Plus One Stripe | Green |
| 2 | Brown | Brown |
| 1 | Brown Plus One Stripe | Brown |
The Black Belt
| dan | 段 | step or level |
| shodan | 初段 | beginner dan level |
It comes as a surprise to many beginners in the martial arts that there are also levels of black belt, called dan (pronounced like the common man’s name Don). Just as there are ten levels below black belt, there are 10 levels of black belt.
Many students of karate believe that the black belt is the ultimate goal of their martial arts training. Sadly, it often becomes the end of such a person’s karate training. It should not be so. Keep in mind that the first level of black belt, shodan, means beginning dan level. Determine now to continue long after shodan to truly reap the rewards of karate.