The Complete Martial Arts Belt Ranking Guide

The colored-belt system most martial arts use today is barely 140 years old. Before Jigoro Kano founded judo in 1882, Japanese martial arts used scrolls (menkyo) to certify mastery, there were no belts at all. Kano introduced the white belt / black belt distinction in the 1880s so he could quickly see who needed supervision on the mat.

Mikonosuke Kawaishi, a Japanese judoka who taught in France in the 1930s, added the colored intermediate belts (yellow, orange, green, blue, brown) because Western students wanted clearer milestones between white and black. Gichin Funakoshi adopted Kano's white/black system for karate in the 1920s, and the colored intermediate belts followed. Brazilian jiu-jitsu, descended from judo via Mitsuyo Maeda and the Gracie family, kept the structure but compressed it to just 5 adult belts.

Today, every major martial art uses some variation of Kano's idea: a visible signal of rank that students, instructors, and competitors can recognize at a glance.

BJJ has the slowest and most demanding belt system in modern martial arts. The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) enforces minimum time-in-rank at every belt, and there is no formal test - promotions are based on your instructor's direct evaluation of your sparring (rolling) performance.

Adult BJJ belt order

Stripes and degrees

Between belts, students earn up to 4 stripes (electrical tape on the belt's tip) as smaller progression markers. At black belt, students earn degrees (red bars at the tip): 1st through 6th degree black belts are awarded for continued contribution; 7th degree is a coral belt (red-and-black), 8th is red-and-white, and 9th-10th degrees are reserved for the founding Gracie family.

Kids BJJ belts

The IBJJF kids system runs from white through green-and-black for students under 16. At 16, kids transition into the adult system, usually starting at blue belt if they've reached the equivalent kids rank. Adult black belts are not awarded before age 19 in any IBJJF-affiliated school.

Karate has many styles (Shotokan, Goju-ryu, Shito-ryu, Wado-ryu, Kyokushin) and the exact belt order varies between them, but most follow a 9- or 10-belt structure from white to black, governed by a kyu-then-dan system. A motivated adult typically reaches 1st-degree black belt (shodan) in 3-5 years.

Common karate belt order (Shotokan)

Promotion requirements

Karate promotions are usually testing-based. A typical kyu test includes basics (kihon), forms (kata), and sparring (kumite) appropriate to the rank. Most schools require a minimum number of classes (often 30-60 hours) and instructor approval before allowing a student to test.

• White to yellow: 3-6 months
• Each subsequent kyu: 4-9 months
• Brown to black: 12-24 months
• 1st dan to 2nd dan: minimum 2 years

Taekwondo uses two main international structures: World Taekwondo (WT, the Olympic body) and the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF). Both use 10 colored geup (kup) ranks and 9 dan ranks, but the colors differ slightly. Most schools combine geup ranks with intermediate "tip" or "stripe" belts.

World Taekwondo (Kukkiwon) belt order

Each color has a traditional meaning. White represents innocence and a beginner without knowledge. Yellow represents the earth from which a plant grows. Green is the plant itself; blue is the heavens the plant grows toward; red signals danger and the need for self-control; and black represents mastery and the opposite of white, imperviousness to fear.

ITF (International Taekwon-Do Federation) belt order

ITF schools use the same 10 geup structure but a different color sequence, and each colored belt is paired with a tul (pattern) that must be performed at testing.

• 10th geup - White (no pattern)
• 9th geup - White with yellow stripe (Chon-Ji)
• 8th geup - Yellow (Dan-Gun)
• 7th geup - Yellow with green stripe (Do-San)
• 6th geup - Green (Won-Hyo)
• 5th geup - Green with blue stripe (Yul-Gok)
• 4th geup - Blue (Joong-Gun)
• 3rd geup - Blue with red stripe (Toi-Gye)
• 2nd geup - Red (Hwa-Rang)
• 1st geup - Red with black stripe (Choong-Moo)
• 1st dan - Black (Kwang-Gae, Po-Eun, Ge-Baek)

Taekwondo rank requirements

Most schools test geup ranks every 2-4 months, with a longer wait at red and black-stripe levels. A typical grading covers four areas:

• Poomsae / tul, the forms assigned to the current and previous ranks
• Kicking and basics, line drills and rank-specific techniques
• Sparring, step sparring at lower ranks, free sparring from green or blue up
• Breaking and terminology, usually introduced at intermediate ranks and required for black belt

Schools also set an attendance minimum (commonly 20-30 classes at a rank) before a student is eligible to test. Black-belt candidates typically need 40-60 classes at 1st geup plus an essay or demonstration.

Dan ranks and "poom" for kids

Adults earn dan ranks 1 through 9. Students under 15 who reach black-belt level are awarded "poom" ranks (poom 1, 2, 3) with a half-red/half-black belt; these convert to dan ranks at age 15. Time-in-rank between dan promotions doubles with each degree (2 years for 2nd dan, 3 years for 3rd dan, and so on).

Judo, the originator of the colored-belt system, uses 6 kyu ranks (white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown) and 10 dan ranks. The Kodokan (judo's founding institution in Tokyo) sets the global standard, though the USJA, USJF, and IJF have minor regional variations, some national bodies insert additional colors (such as purple) between green and brown.

Adult judo belt order

Judo junior belt order

Juniors (usually under 17) progress through an expanded set of ranks so that younger students grade more often. A common junior order is white, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, with stripes or tabs added to the belt between full-color promotions.

Judo rank requirements

• Technique (nage-waza and katame-waza), throws and groundwork from the Gokyo list assigned to each kyu
• Kata - Nage-no-Kata is generally required from 1st kyu and for shodan
• Shiai points, competition wins accumulate toward promotion, especially at dan level
• Time in rank and mat hours, federations set minimum months and practice hours per grade
• Minimum age, most federations require 16-17 years for shodan; younger students hold junior black belts

A motivated adult judoka typically reaches 1st dan (shodan) in 4-6 years. Promotions combine technical demonstration, kata performance, and competition results (shiai-points), competitive wins can accelerate time-in-rank.

Traditional Chinese kung fu (kung fu / wushu) did not historically use belts at all. Students wore plain clothing, and rank was conveyed through the teacher-student relationship and lineage. Many traditional schools still operate this way.

Modern kung fu schools, especially in the West and in modern wushu, have adopted sash systems to compete with the visible progression of karate and taekwondo. A common sash order is:

• White sash (beginner)
• Yellow sash
• Orange sash
• Green sash
• Blue sash
• Purple sash
• Brown sash
• Red sash (advanced)
• Black sash (instructor level)
• Gold sash (master, in some schools)

How sash promotions work

Because there is no single international kung fu federation, each style and school sets its own requirements. A typical sash test covers empty-hand forms (taolu), stance and conditioning work, partner drills or applications, and, at higher ranks, weapons forms. Most schools test every 3-6 months at the lower sashes, stretching to a year or more between brown, red, and black.

• Forms (taolu), each sash is usually tied to one or more mandatory forms
• Basics and conditioning, stances, strikes, kicks, and flexibility benchmarks
• Applications, self-defense techniques or sparring appropriate to the rank
• Weapons, staff, broadsword, or straight sword typically introduced at intermediate sashes

Modern wushu duan ranks

The Chinese Wushu Association formalized a duanwei (段位) system with 9 duan levels for modern wushu. Lower duan (1-3) are earned through standardized technical examinations; middle duan (4-6) add teaching and theoretical requirements; high duan (7-9) are honorary and recognize lifetime contribution to the art. Some schools pair duan levels with colored sashes so students have a visible marker.

The Shaolin Temple and many traditional lineages do not use sashes at all. If you train at a traditional school, expect rank to be communicated through form sets learned, ceremonial discipleship, and the teacher's verbal acknowledgement rather than a belt.

Most Japanese and Korean-derived martial arts (karate, judo, aikido, taekwondo) use a two-stage rank system that confuses new students: numbered ranks count down on the way to black belt, then count up after black belt.

The Korean equivalent terms are geup (or kup) for student ranks and dan for master ranks. Chinese arts that have adopted a similar system use duan.

Belt promotions are one of the highest-leverage retention events in a martial arts school. Students who feel they are progressing visibly stay 2-3x longer than students who feel stuck. The mid-sized schools that grow fastest typically systemize three things:

• Time-in-rank tracking. Automatically flag every student who has hit the minimum number of classes or days at their current belt, these are your testing candidates.
• Curriculum checklists. Each rank should have a written list of techniques, forms, and sparring requirements. Instructors mark them off as students demonstrate them in class.
• Parent communication. Send a short progress update each month, even one line ("Sam is 4 classes away from yellow-belt eligibility") drives renewal conversations and reduces churn.

Manual tracking works up to about 50 students. Past that, school management software pays for itself within a quarter just by surfacing the students who are eligible to test but haven't been invited. Start a free Dojo Champ trial or see flat-rate pricing : unlimited students for $199/month.