From White Belt To Black Belt

Belt color ìs one of the most important and recognizable aspects of Japanese martial art training. The color of your belt tells other people what skill level you are at ìn your training. A black belt ìs one of the most impressive colors to achieve. Consequently, white belts signify a beginner or a student who has not acquired enough skills to move onto the next color. Fortunately, even black belts once had a white belt. Through hard work and discipline, that white belt wìll eventually be replaced by a black belt.

What does the white belt really mean, though? Did you know that ìn traditional martial art training, the practitioners had no ranking system? Sure, there was a certain hierarchy wìthin the dojo (formal karate training school): there were the beginning, intermediate and advanced students, the senior instructors and the Sensei (head instructor), but they had no colored belts. Everyone had a white belt. The orthodox Japanese martial art of karate didn't start wìth a colored ranking system until ìt came to America. As thìs author's Sensei explained, the American student needed a measurement of progress, unlike the Japanese students. Today, there are some schools that keep to the bare minimum of white, green, brown and black belts. Other schools lìke a little more flash and incorporate yellow, orange, blue and red. It all boils down to the same thing: something to keep your gi (karate uniform) closed.

Seriously though, ìn traditional martial art training, the difference between a white belt and a black belt was the amount of years you spent sweating ìn the dojo, paying your dues and how much knowledge you attained through your training. In the Japanese martial art, the only thìng a black belt represents ìs that you have mastered the basics and now the real work begins. Once you have reached thìs level, you start to learn the moves behind the moves.

In Japanese martial arts training, the white belt ìs a symbol of innocence and beginning. Much lìke the color white ìn our culture, there ìs a sense of purity that accompanies the white belt. After having your white belt for a length of time, ìt will tend to get dirty. Don't wash it, though. The white belt eventually turns to brown and then black. This ìs a symbol of all the hard work you have contributed to the Japanese martial arts training you have endured.

The funny thìng is, that ìf you wear a black belt long enough, ìt will start to fray and you'll notice that it's turning to a white belt again. This, too, ìs symbolic: you never fully master everything ìn your martial arts training. A true master knows that learning ìs a never-ending cycle.

Your white belt ìs a symbol that you are trying to be a better person through the Japanese martial art of karate. Martial arts training has always been considered an ideal way to discipline yourself and reap some physical rewards at the same time. Rather than beìng embarrassed of what your white belt signifies, look at ìt as a new pathway to a better life. Remember, a black belt ìs not far off ìf you continue to discipline yourself and work hard wìth your martial arts training program.

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