Belt colours of Soshiki
Karate school
Karate
Myint Kywe
(Myoma
Myint Kywe)
There are about many different school and sub
clubs of Karate. Each has different requirements, period, and a
different rank structure. Some styles and schools have course period and
ranks that other styles and schools DO NOT use. It depends on the style and school. (Shihan Hirokazu Kanazawa promoted to the rank of 1st
dan black belt in Shotokan karate less than two years of training in
the art).
Depending on the art, ABILITY, competition is also a
factor.
http://www.theshotokanway.com/hirokazukanazawaprofile.html
(In 1924, Master Funakoshi adopted
the Kyu / Dan rank system and the uniform (keikogi) developed by Master Kano
Jigoro, the founder of Judo. This system uses colored belts (obi) to
indicate rank. Originally, karate had only three belt colors: white, brown, and
black (with ranks within each). The original belt system, still used by many
Shotokan schools, is:
8th rising to 4th kyu: white
3rd rising to 1st kyu: brown
1st and higher dan: black)
Dan ranks
go from 1 to 10. 1st Dan,
2nd Dan, 3rd Dan …… are usually about a higher skill
levels. Higher DANS ranks are also about teaching, leadership, service, excellent
performance, ABILITY and personal commitment to the art.
In
Karate martial arts, the BLACK BELT
(黒帯) is a way to
describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by
the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used
and denotes a degree of competence. The DAN
(段) ranking system is
used by many Japanese organizations to indicate the level of one's ability
(expertise) within a certain subject matter. It is now also used in modern fine arts and martial arts. Many Japanese karate
schools, after obtaining a black belt the student also begins to instruct, and
may be referred to as a senpai (senior student and
assistant teacher) or sensei (teacher).
DAN is often used
together with the word KYU (級) in certain ranking
systems, with dan being used for the higher ranks and kyu being used for lower
ranks. Karate students grades are called Kyu and Dan grades. Kyu means
class/step and the Kyu grades are all coloured belts. Dan means degree/grade
and the Dan grades are black belts.
The color of a Karate players belt
indicates rank and in theory, ability. Each step forward represents a further
accumulation of skills and knowledge.
Karate belts are used to indicate
when a student has been promoted to the next level.
Improved Karate technique and deeper
knowledge of the 3 elements of Kihon (basics), Kata (form) and Kumite
(sparring) needs to be shown before the next Karate level can be awarded.
To advance to a new Karate level,
the Karate belt holder takes a formal test called a Karate grading examination.
Karate grading examinations for all
higher ranks include theory, practical, oral and written requirements. These
vary depending on the Karate level being tested.
The contents of tests vary among
Karate styles but each school has set criteria around...
·
Minimum Time Elapsed from Last
Karate grading
·
Consistent Training
·
Proficient Karate Technique
·
Demonstrated Progress
·
Approval or Recommendation of
Instructor(s)
The
normal karate belt colours are white, yellow, green, brown and black etc. White
belt is always the first grade, so in most schools this would be 10th Kyu.
Everyone starts out as a white belt. White belt is always the first grade, so
in most schools this would be 10th Kyu. Everyone starts out as a white belt. It
usually takes about 6 to 12 months to move up 1 belt level in karate if
you are training thrice (three times) a week or so. If you train only
once a week, it will take longer. It may take less time at the early belt
levels and more time at the later belt levels.
In
many styles there is no way to tell what Dan a karate student is. They all wear
a black belt, it is often a sign of humility that they don't need to
show off their grade on their belt. Some karate styles will use a gold
stripe on the belt for each dan they have attained.
Usually
only the lower dan grades, up to about 5th dan are awarded on increasing karate
ability. It takes usually a minimum of 20 years training to reach 5th dan
level. After this karate belts are often awarded for service to the sport and
commitment, instead of increasing ability. It usually takes around 60 years
of training to reach 10th dan.
The
Ranking Structure in Karate
GRADE
|
BELT
|
MINIMUM
TRAINING REQUIRED
|
10th
KYU
|
White
|
3
Months
|
9th
KYU
|
Junior
White
|
3
Months
|
8thKYU
|
Senior
White
|
6
Months
|
7th
KYU
|
Junior
Yellow
|
12
Months
|
6th
KYU
|
Senior
Yellow
|
18
Months
|
5th
KYU
|
Junior
Green
|
24
Months
|
4th
KYU
|
Senior
Green
|
30
Months
|
3rd
KYU
|
Junior
Brown
|
36
Months
|
2nd
KYU
|
Assistant
Senior Brown
|
42
Months
|
1st
KYU
|
Senior
Brown
|
48
Months
|
1st
DAN
|
1st
Degree Black Belt
|
4
Years
|
2nd
DAN
|
2nd
Degree Black Belt
|
5
Years
|
3rd
DAN
|
3rd
Degree Black Belt
|
7
Years
|
4th
DAN
|
4th
Degree Black Belt
|
10
Years
|
5th
DAN
|
5th
Degree Black Belt
|
14
Years - must be 35 years or older
|
6th
DAN
|
6th
Degree Black Belt
|
20
Years - Minimum age 40
|
7th
DAN
|
7th
Degree Black Belt
|
30 Years - Minimum
age 45
|
8th
DAN
|
8th
Degree Black Belt
|
40 Years - Minimum
age 50
|
9th
DAN
|
9th
Degree Black Belt
|
50 Years - Minimum
age 60
|
10th
DAN
|
10th
Degree Black Belt
|
60 Years - Minimum
age 70
|
When
do we obtain our black belt?
In
Karate, improvement and
understanding of the art is denoted by a system of ranks split into kyu
and dan grades. These are indicated with various systems of coloured
belts, with the black belt indicating a practitioner who has attained a certain
level of competence. Practitioners of Karate are ranked according to skill and
knowledge of the art. Their rank is indicated by the colour of belt that they
wear.
(After
your last brown belt, you'll achieve your first black belt, or dan belt. Your first
dan (degree) black belt earns you the title of "senpai"(senior
student) or assistant teacher. While this may seem like the end of the journey,
it's the beginning of a new one. There 10 dan levels or black belt degrees to
achieve. All 10 dan levels require continuous training).
There
are two broad categories of rank: those who have attained a level of competency
at which they are considered worthy of a black belt (黒帯 kuro obi) and who
hold dan
(段) grades and those
who are yet to attain that level and who hold kyu (級) grades. Those who
hold dan grades are collectively termed Yudansha (有段者) (literally
"person who has dan") and those with kyu grades are Mudansha (無段者), literally
"person without dan".
The
ninth ("kudan") and tenth degree black belt (judan) and, highest practical
with theoretically, those higher have no formal requirements. Some karate clubs
will only have black and white, others will include a brown belt for advanced
kyu grades and at the elementary school level it is common to see a green belt
for intermediate levels.
White
belt- yellow (10th kyu, 9th kyu, 8th kyu) = 1st
year
Yellow
belt- green (7th
kyu, 6th kyu,) = 2nd year
Green
belt- brown (5th
kyu, 4th kyu,) = 3rd year
Brown
belt- black (3rd
kyu, 2nd kyu, 1st kyu) =
4th year
(Every club and style of karate has a
different belt ranking system).
Four year course
White
belt to yellow belt (1st
year)
Everyone
starts out as a karate white belt. Even your instructor was a white belt once.
It's
the first and most important step of your karate journey. This is the beginning
of your journey of self-discovery that will test the limits of your mind, body,
and spirit. Your belt is white because you are a blank slate, ready to be
molded into a lean, mean fighting machine.
Yellow
belt to green belt (2nd
year)
In
most schools your next karate belt is yellow belt.
Green
belt to brown belt (3rd
year)
The
next of the karate belt colors is usually green belt.
Brown
belt to black belt (4th
year)
Next
step is 1st
Dan black
belt. And finally there's karate black belt. Getting a black belt is learning
the basics. Begin for next DAN GRADE LEVELS in karate journey. 1st DAN (Degree)
level necessitates a further development of abilities.
The requirements for ranks are much different
from one school to another. In some schools you are taught the entire schools
by the time you reach DAN degree black belt. In other schools that is NOT the
case.
There ten DAN levels of black belt. The highest is the 10th degree and is
reserved for the head of a system only so there is only one 10th degree black
belt.
The
“not-so-complicated” JKA Dan Ranking System. Courtesy the JKA Website:
jka.or.jp
Everyone
begins wearing a white belt. From white they progress through the respective
levels of yellow, orange, green, purple, brown and black. The Japanese term
"KYU" to refer to the coloured belts and "DAN" to refer to
black belts.
Karate-ka
(a practitioner of karate) shall wear a clean, white, unmarked karate Gi
(karate training uniform), and the belt representing his/her present rank at
the time of grading. Many martial arts use between one and ten DAN ranks.
It
takes great skill to assess a student for promotion to an advanced Karate
Level. A
physical and practical test displays physical ability which is fine up to a point. A written and spoken test goes further and taps into the underlying knowledge of the
advanced Karate black belt.
「私は1978年以来の空手先生です。
私が経験空手で37年を教えています。
私は1970年から空手を練習してきた。
私は経験の空手で45年を持っていた。
すべての私の生徒は常に「"マスター".." 師範"... "先生"」と呼んで。
しかし、私はいつも「シニア(先輩) 学生」と空手の「ジュニア先生」です。
Combative (close combat) is a
term for hand-to-hand combat training and
techniques. While the term hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as
HTH or H2H) originally referred principally to engagements by military personnel on the battlefield, it can also refer to any personal physical
engagement by two or more combatants, including police officers and civilians. There are several
reasons that the combative course is taught:
·
To
educate soldiers on how to protect themselves against threats without using
their firearms
·
To
provide a non-lethal response to situations on the battlefield
·
To
instill the 'warrior instinct' to provide the necessary aggression to meet the
enemy unflinchingly
Combative
courses have been taught by the United States Military Academy for its entire
history. Military martial arts systems are fighting martial arts styles developed for real-life combat. They focus
on areas such as self-defense, grappling and weapons training.
Most
of these specialized martial arts programs been developed by countries with
large militaries such as the United States, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, and
Israel. Military organizations have
always taught some sort of unarmed combat for conditioning and as a supplement
to armed combat.
Close
combat using firearms or other distance weapons by military combatants at the tactical level is modernly referred
to as close quarter battle. The U.S. Army uses the term combative to describe various
military fighting systems used in hand-to-hand combat training, systems which
may incorporate eclectic techniques from
several different martial arts and combat sports.
Close
Quarter Combat
(CQC) training involves using basic, natural movement to overcome larger and
better armed adversaries. This course allows for a minimal amount of training
with maximum results. CQC training begins with rifles, pistols, knives,
ropes, and carabineers, and then moves to the most advanced fighting--unarmed
fighting. The objective is to insure that the student can survive zero-sum
(life or death) conflicts using improvised weapons.
Soldiers of China
were trained in unarmed combat as early as the Yellow Emperor (2600 BCE). Chinese
martial arts is the most
oldest of all martial arts and it is possible to trace its roots back more than
4,600 years. The earliest
form of Chinese martial arts is those practised by soldiers for direct use in
battlefield combat.
Ancient legend states that weapons
and hand-to-hand martial arts’ techniques were propagated by China’s
Yellow Emperor. Before he rose to the imperial throne in 2698 BC, the Yellow
Emperor had been a notable general and had already written at length on
elevated subjects such as astrology, Chinese medicine and the Martial Arts.
Most
militaries teach some form of unarmed combat but often it is a form of mixed martial arts where military personnel might learn a
combination of martial arts techniques such as Karate kicks, Jujitsu techniques, basic
self-defense against weapons, etc.
Just
over 10 years ago, the military made it mandatory for every soldier to learn Karate (Asian
martial arts).
As the military tends to be more active in peacekeeping missions than
traditional warfare, soldiers are told to learn martial arts so they will
have the skills to restrain civilians and build confidence in the army. To
enhance the army’s reputation among civilians, it is necessary for soldiers not
to overreact when faced with a hostile situation.
COMBAT
Karate
(Unarmed martial arts) is a popular Japanese martial arts style that was originally
developed on the islands of Okinawa. It focuses on punches, elbow strikes, knee strikes, kicks and weapons training that focus
on joint locks, holds, takedown (grappling), and throws. It tries to redirect
or manipulate the force of an attack in order to defeat the attacker.
In
martial arts and combat sports, a takedown
is a technique that involves off-balancing an opponent and bringing him or her
to the ground, typically with the attacker landing on top.
Martial
arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practices, which are practiced for a variety of reasons:
self-defense, competition, physical health and
fitness, entertainment, as well as mental, physical, and spiritual development.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“I am a founder and chief instructor
of SOSHIKI Karate since 1978.
I have teaching experience 37 years
in karate.
I have been practicing karate since
1970.
I have had experience 45 years in
karate.
All my pupils always call me
“Master”, “Sensei”.
However, I am always a “senior
student” and “Teacher”in karate.
Because Karate martial art is very wide and deep.
Because Karate martial art is very wide and deep.
Karate will always be an important
part of my life.”
彼は言った：
「私は1978年以来の空手先生です。
私が経験空手で37年を教えています。
私は1970年から空手を練習してきた。
私は経験の空手で45年を持っていた。
すべての私の生徒は常に「"マスター".." 師範"... "先生"」と呼んで。
しかし、私はいつも「シニア(先輩) 学生」と空手の「ジュニア先生」です。
空手武道は非常に広く、深い。
空手はいつも私の人生」の重要な一部となります
空手はいつも私の人生」の重要な一部となります
"Karate martial art
is like ocean. Ocean is very deep and very widespread".
空手の芸術、オーシャンのようなものです。オーシャンは非常に深く、非常に広く普及している。
"Karate has been a
part of my life since I was 10 years old since 1970".
私は1970年以来、10歳の頃から空手は私の人生の一部となっています。
- Karate Myint Kywe 