The progression of colored belts: symbolic or simply practical?

I see no reason it can't be both. However, I don't subscribe to either philosophy. It's plain that each school has it's own line of colors, if they use belts and colors at all. In my Aikido school, colored belts are used only for children; white/black are used only for adults. I haven't asked, but I'm guessing their reasoning would be the same as any other school: as a means of providing short-term (easily) achievable goals. It suppose the can also be revenue generators for schools, making it practical for the school.

I own my school, and I use colored belts. My reasons are to keep students interested, and to help me more quickly divide classes and group students. Since I don't charge students, the financial practicality doesn't apply to me. (in fact, it's more expensive for me, because each grading I must purchase them all.) Students ask me what the differences are; my answer is always the same: experience. They ask me what the colors mean; the answers are all the same: nothing at all. They are arbitrarily chosen by me.

As to the theorists who subscribe to the blood, sweat, dirt, and mold I simply ask, where in the world does one find yellow, orange, blue, green, red, or black blood, sweat, dirt, or mold? Why would gi (or dobok) be absolutely required to be clean and white, while the belts would be allowed to ferment? To do this would be contrary to culture - any culture. Even shoes - the very things that are expected to get dirty - are expected to be kept away from a training mat. Why would a belt be allowed to deteriorate where gi and dobok could not, and to go where shoes must not?

Perhaps by this odd logic, then, "brown" would be the ultimate. But I have yet to see anyone with so much blood on their belts as to have their belts classified as "brown". Or so much sweat as to classify it as "yellow". Or so much "mold" as to qualify it as "blue". Asian cuisine is generally devoid of cheese - and more so of blue cheese, so I suspect the "blue cheese" color applied to blue belts was observed by a westerner. Besides, active molds can be of any color; dead ones are generally brown.

No, I'm sure the original inventors, or copiers of the inventors, saw no connection to colors and blood, sweat, dirt, or mold. Light-to-dark as to more progression... I'll buy that. But to attribute a color to a source? Nonsense.

I was taught it was practical. Going from light to dark made dyeing easy.

Edit:

Ed Parker did not in fact begin the use of the orange belt. Orange belt as a rank was commonly used in judo since the early 50's. Ed didn't even have his shodan until later. The orange belt wasn't being used in kempo originally. It was added later because of the "mix up".

I mentioned that I was taught it was practical, but I have done some research on this on several occasions. I have not been able to determine any historical data or facts as to why or reasons behind the choosing colored belts. From what I can tell depending on the region, country that you lived they used a different set of colors. Judo has been credited with the first use of a colored belt system. Others later adopted the system. Before then Dan ranks wore black belts. Kyu ranks wore a white belt. In some places a brown belt was worn to show an advanced kyu rank student.

In my conclusion is was neither symbolic nor practical.

I come from a dojo that dyed their belts. Your black belt was the only new belt you received other than your white belt.

There was never any truth to the belt getting darker in color as time went on because of dirt, sweat, and blood. Wearing a dirty belt or gi would not be acceptable in the culture. They were very clean people as a culture. I remember questioning this in 9th grade World Cultures seeing that they had a limited fresh water supply. But even though the fresh water supply was limited and that they used public baths and bath houses. They were very meticulous with cleanliness and thing being in order.

Anyone that has been around those that train in martial arts and have run across a few that are so clean can tell you the belt never goes from white to yellow to blue, green, or orange. Now a black belt over time will begin to lose its color. Many black belt liked this. They consider it a sign of many years of training. I've heard of some trying to do things to fade their belts in order to achieve this look.

Originally you were either a white belt or a black belt, according to the first rank systems.

So all colored ranks (kyu or gup) are "really" white.

Colored belts became a way to organize curricula and also a way to provide students with motivation. Most of the arts I studied had no belts, but I have nothing against their use, especially for kids. However, I do object to using endless junior and half-ranks as a pretext for making money through unnecessary promotion tests.

Interesting story- the orange belt is an invention of Ed Parker. He ordered a bunch of red belts from a supplier, but a dyeing error made them orange! Hence the orange belt was born. Now it is usually above yellow but below green or blue.

The systematic use of belt color to denote rank was first used by Kano Jigoro, the founder of judo, who first devised the colored belt system using obi, and awarded the first black belts to denote a Dan rank in the 1880s. Initially the wide obi was used; as practitioners trained in kimono, only white and black obi were used. It was not until the early 1900s, after the introduction of the judogi, that an expanded colored belt system of awarding rank was created. Other martial arts later adopted the custom or variation on it (e.g. using colored sashes) to denote rank including in arts that traditionally did not have a formalized rank structure.

It is also a relatively recent invention, dating from the 19th century, rather than an ancient custom

MISCONCEPTIONS:

One common idea concerning the tradition of belts claims that the belt ranking system is an ancient aspect of traditional martial arts and that early martial artists began their training with a white belt, which eventually became stained black from years of sweat, dirt, and blood.[citation needed] In fact, Japanese Koryu instructors tended to provide certificates.[citation needed]

In some arts and schools there is the (often only half-serious, though equally often rigorous) opinion that the belt should not be washed; the idea that by doing that one would "wash away the knowledge" or "wash one's Qi away" might be related to this myth. Apart from risk of the dye running, there is the problem that as most modern belts are made with a cotton or nylon outer shell, but polyester batting and stitching to fill out the belt, the different shrinkage of cotton and polyester in hot water could cause the belt to come apart.

PERSONAL ANSWER:

Rank and belts are not equivalent between arts, styles, or even within some organizations. There is no set standard. Ergo, whether the progression of colored belts is to be seen as symbolic or practical depends upon the individual who issues them. In other words, it depends on what he or she perceives in the belt itself. In fact, it may be seen as neither, and could simply be a way to keep students paying for classes (in order to get the the "esteemed" blackbelt). All in all, it depends on the perspective of the person handing out the belts.

To the person receiving the belt, it also depends on his or her perspective.

To find the answer you seek, you would have to ask each martial arts organization individually to ascertain the reasoning behind issuing colored belts for their particular organization.

Very good question. When I began training in 1967, we were told the stories of the belt getting dirty over time, eventually becoming black. While that is a nice story, I don't buy it. Sure, traditionally you are not supposed to wash your belt. And it does become dirty over time. but I still don't buy the story.

When I began my training in 1967, martial arts supplies were not as easy to get. There were not a lot of companies selling them. Certainly there were few if any places the average martial artist could go to to buy a Gi or Obi (belt). We had to order our Gi and belts through the mail. We were responsible for getting our own GI, and belt. When we were promoted, we had to dye our belt. When promoted to the next rank, we had to bleach out the color before dying it the new color. If not you would usually get some horrible result.

For what it is worth, I find the belt practices I hear about strange. That is because I hear of students being awarded their belts by their instructor. Often there is a belt tying ceremony in class. Even though I studied with many different instructors and several different styles, it was not done in any of my classes. I bought every belt I've ever owned. I even had to buy my own black belt. When I was awarded a Shihan title, I had to buy the Hanshi belt (Red and white panels sewn end to end). In the classes I studied in, rank test were done with little ceremony. Students did not have their belts tied on by their instructor. You simply bought your new belt, and wore it to class. no one ever talked about getting to the next belt. no one talked about what was required for the next belt. We knew that if we did that we would be yelled at. If someone kept asking when they could test for the next belt, they were kicked out of class for good.

I opened my first dojo in 1973 as a branch dojo of the Seishinkai under Shogo Kuniba. I taught students 5-6 days a week from 1973 until 1986, before promoting my first student to Black belt. I did have a brief belt tying ceremony for him then. It has never been a big deal. to me a person is only worth what they can do when their skills are needed. nothing else matters. how many times have we seen others talk about how they are this or that rank. Yet they will also admit that they have not trained in X number of years. If i hear someone say that they are a black belt, but have not trained in 10 years, I know that they are not functioning at anywhere close to black belt level. It is almost disrespectful of them to claim that they are a black belt, when they are totally out of shape.

Just my thoughts.

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i do not know for sure which is truly the most accurate, but i can say that in my opinion it is both.

from what i was taught martial artist trained in very peculiar places, especially when it was banned by the government to practice. the sweat and blood stains, mixed in with the elemental surroundings (in my opinion) drew infinite possibilities.

i dont think it was practical to change belt colors, but i do believe it was practical to change gi colors to signify rank. i was once told a story about a dojo of old years that kept the White-Black obi scheme but switched gi colors. from what i understand, it helped create a different ranking status and it allowed poor workers to go straight from the training hall to work, keeping certain training as discreet as possible.

I was under the impression that it was symbolic (1)