The traditional story of a martial arts belt is that one begins with a plain white belt and that over the years through wearing and training, the belt would darken due to sweat, blood, tears, dirt, etc. until it became black.
The darker the belt color, the more time the person wearing it had put into the art.
This is one reason why martial artists wash their uniforms, but never their belts.
Whether this is a true story or not, it does express the progressive nature of training over time and the improvement of one’s skills.
The modern ranking system of colored belts was developed by Jigoro Kano, who created modern judo.
This system was a way to classify the level of a student’s training both for the benefit of the student and teachers.
Gichin Funakoshi, the originator of Shotokan karate, was a friend of Kano and adopted this belt system for karate.
Each karate style has a slightly different way of structuring the progression, but they all move through the lower “kyu” ranks (a word that implies “boy”) and progress to the “dan” ranks, (a word that implies “man” or maturity.)
The order of the karate belt is different in each karate style.
Even in the same style, belt systems can vary as schools, and organizations have splintered over the years.
Also, remember that belt order varies among age grades. For example, the belt system for adults is different from kids.
Note: kids have a special belt system but I won’t be covering them in this article as that would make this article even more complicated.
However, we will be considering the belt order of major karate styles as provided by international governing bodies and founders of individual karate styles.
This should be enough to give you a clear general idea of how karate belts are structured.
What Are the Belts in Karate in Order?
Some of the karate styles to be considered in this article include:
- Shotokan
- Kyokushin
- Shorin Ryu
- Wado Ryu
- Goju Ryu
- Uechi Ryu
- Chito Ryu
Shotokan Karate Belt Order
International Shotokan Karate Federation Belt order (ISKF) is as follows:
- 9th Kyu – White Belt
- 8th Kyu – Yellow Belt
- 7th Kyu – Orange Belt
- 6th Kyu – Green Belt
- 5th Kyu – Purple Belt
- 4th Kyu – Purple Belt
- 3rd Kyu – Brown Belt
- 2nd Kyu – Brown Belt
- 1st Kyu – Brown Belt
Black Belt Levels
- 1st Dan Black Belt – Shodan
- 2nd Dan Black Belt – Nidan
- 3rd Dan Black Belt – Sandan
- 4th Dan Black Belt – Yondan
- 5th Dan Black Belt – Godan
- 6th Dan Black Belt – Rokudan
- 7th Dan Black Belt – Shichidan
- 8th Dan Black Belt – Hachidan
- 9th Dan Black Belt – Kudan
- 10th Dan Black Belt – Judan
Kyokushin Karate Belt Order
Kyokushin Karate belt order as provided on Masutatsu Ōyama’s (Kyokushin Karate founder) website is as follows:
- MuKyu – White Belt
- 10th Kyu – Orange Belt
- 9th Kyu – Orange Belt with Black Stripe
- 8th Kyu – Blue Belt
- 7th Kyu – Blue Belt with Black Stripe
- 6th Kyu – Yellow Belt
- 5th Kyu – Yellow Belt with Black Stripe
- 4th Kyu – Green Belt
- 3rd Kyu – Green Belt with Black Stripe
- 2nd Kyu – Brown Belt
- 1st Kyu – Brown Belt with Black Stripe
Black Belt Levels
- Shodan – Black Belt 1st Dan
- Nidan – Black Belt 2nd Dan
- Sandan – Black Belt 3rd Dan
- Yondan – Black Belt 4th Dan
- Godan – Black Belt 5th Dan
- Rokudan – Black Belt 6th Dan
- Shichidan – Black Belt 7th Dan
- Hachidan – Black Belt 8th Dan
- Kyudan – Black Belt 9th Dan
- Jyudan – Black Belt 10th Dan
Shorin Ryu Karate Belt Order
Shorin Ryu belt order according to the International Shorin Ryu Karate Kobudo Federation is as follows:
- Mukyu -White Belt
- 10th Kyu- White w/one black stripe
- 9th Kyu- Yellow Belt
- 8th Kyu- Orange Belt
- 7th Kyu- Purple Belt
- 6th Kyu- Green Belt
- 5th Kyu- Green w/one black stripe
- 4th Kyu-Green w/two black stripes
- 3rd Kyu- Brown Belt
- 2nd Kyu- Brown w/one black stripe
- 1st Kyu- Brown w/two black stripes
Black Belt Levels
- Shodan – 1st Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Nidan – 2nd Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Sandan – 3rd Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Yondan – 4th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Godan – 5th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Rokudan – 6th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Nanadan– 7th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Hachidan – 8th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Kyudan – 9th Degree (Dan) Red Belt
- Judan – 10th Degree (Dan) Red Belt
Wado Ryu Karate Belt Order
Wadō-ryū uses a typical karate belt order to denote rank. The beginner commences at 9th or 10th kyū (depending on the organization and school) and progresses to 1st kyū, then from 1st–5th dan for technical grades. The ranks of 6th–10th dan are honorary.
Although some other karate styles add stripes to their belt for the dan ranks, Wado-ryū practitioners tend not to follow that practice.
However, schools that use the same belt color for multiple kyu ranks typically, although not necessarily, use stripes to indicate progress within that belt color.
Wado Ryu belt order is as follows:
Hachikyu – 8th Kyu (Yellow Belt)
Sichikyu -7th Kyu (Orange Belt)
Rokyu – 6th Kyu (Green Belt)
Gokyu – 5th Kyu (Blue Belt)
Yonkyu – 4th Kyu Purple Belt)
Sankyu -3rd Kyu (Brown Belt- 1 stripe)
Ni Kyu-2nd Kyu (Brown White Belt- 2 stripes)
Ik Kyu-1st Kyu (Brown Black Belt-3 stripes)
Black Belt Levels
- Shodan – 1st Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Nidan – 2nd Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Sandan – 3rd Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Yondan – 4th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Godan – 5th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Rokudan – 6th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Nanadan– 7th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Hachidan – 8th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Kyudan – 9th Degree (Dan) Red Belt
- Judan – 10th Degree (Dan) Red Belt
Goju Ryu Karate Belt Order
The Okinawa Goju-Ryu Karate-Do Mudansha (unranked) belt is as follows:
- Ju (10th) Kyu – White belt
- Kyu (9th) Kyu – White belt with one stripe
- Hachi (8th) Kyu – White belt with two stripes
- Shichi (7th) Kyu – Yellow belt
- Rok (6th) Kyu – Orange belt
- Go (5th) Kyu – Green belt
- Yon (4th) Kyu – Blue belt
- San (3rd) Kyu – Brown belt
- Ni (2nd) Kyu – Brown belt with one stripe
- Ichi (1st) Kyu – Brown belt with two stripes
Black belt Levels
Goju Ryu black belt Levels are:
- Shodan – 1st Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Nidan – 2nd Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Sandan – 3rd Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Yondan – 4th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Godan – 5th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Rokudan – 6th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Nanadan– 7th Degree (Dan) Black Belt (0r white + red)
- Hachidan – 8th Degree (Dan) Black Belt (0r white + red)
- Kyudan – 9th Degree (Dan) Red Belt(0r white +red)
- Judan – 10th Degree (Dan) Red Belt(0r red)
Uechi Ryu Karate Belt Order
Uechi Ryu Belt Order is as follows:
- 10 Kyū- Jukyū (White Belt)
- 9 Kyū- Kyukyū (White Belt with 1 Green Stripe)
- 8 Kyū- Hachikyū (White Belt with 2 Green Stripes)
- 7 Kyū- Shichikyū (White Belt with 3 Green Stripes)
- 6 Kyū- Rokkyū (White Belt with Solid Green Bar)
- 5 Kyū- Gokyū (Green Belt with no stripe)
- 4 Kyū- Yonkyū (Green Belt with 1 Brown Stripe)
- 3 Kyū- Sankyū (Brown Belt with 1 Black Stripe)
- 2 Kyū- Nikyū (Brown Belt with 2 Black Stripes)
- 1 Kyū- Ikkyū (Brown Belt with 3 Black Stripes)
Black belt Levels
These are the ten black belts or Dan grades:
These are the ten black belts or Dan grades:
- Shodan – 1st Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Nidan – 2nd Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Sandan – 3rd Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Yondan – 4th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Godan – 5th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Rokudan (6th degree) (Master’s title: Renshi; Black belt w/1 Gold stripe)
- Nanadan (7th degree) (Master’s title: Kyōshi; Black belt w/2 Gold stripes)
- Hachidan (8th degree) (Master’s title: Kyōshi; Black belt w/3 Gold stripes)
- Kyūdan (9th degree) (Master’s title: Hanshi; Black belt w/4 Gold stripes)
- Jūdan (10th degree) (Master’s title: Hanshi; Black belt w/5 Gold stripes)
Originally, Okinawan styles use the gold bars on black belts to denote the various master’s titles rather than ranks after the fifth dan.
Thus one gold stripe designated Renshi, two designated Kyōshi, and three designated Hanshi.
In the early 2000s, different Okinawan styles started using stripes to designate dan grades above godan.
Others, including many Uechi organizations, have followed suit, while others have not.
Chito Ryu Karate Belt Order
Chito-Ryu Karate belt order is as follows:
- 10th Kyu (White)
- 9th (Yellow)
- 8th Kyu (Yellow + White tip)
- 7th Kyu (Orange)
- 6th Kyu (Orange + White tip)
- 5th Kyu (Green)
- 4th Kyu (Green+ White tip)
- 3rd Kyu Seisan (Brown)
- 2nd Kyu (Brown+1 stripe)
- 1st Kyu (Brown+2 stripes)
Black belt Levels
- Shodan – 1st Degree (Dan) Black Belt Nidan –
- 2nd Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Sandan – 3rd Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Yondan – 4th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Godan – 5th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Rokudan – 6th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Nanadan – 7th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Hachidan – 8th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
- Kyūdan – 9th Degree (Dan) Black Belt
Conclusion
As you can see, the only color order that you can routinely count on is that white will be first and black will be last, usually a brown before black and green before that somewhere.
Everything else is a chaotic miasma of rainbow sprinkles that is completely at the whim of organizations, schools, and instructors.
Hi, my name is Godwin. I am a passionate martial artist with black belts in Taekwondo and Karate. I have over 15 years of martial art experience. I created this platform to enable me to help you learn martial art the right way.
