The Ranking Structure
GRADE BELT MINIMUM TRAINING REQUIRED 9 KYU White Less than 3 Months 8KYU Yellow 3 Months 7 KYU Orange 6 Months 6 KYU Green 9 Months 5 KYU 1st Purple 12 Months 4 KYU 2nd Purple 15 Months 3 KYU 1st Brown 18 Months 2 KYU 2nd Brown 21 Months 1 KYU 3rd Brown 24 Months SHODAN 1st Degree Black Belt 3 Years NIDAN 2nd Degree Black Belt 4 Years SANDAN 3rd Degree Black Belt 6 Years YONDAN 4th Degree Black Belt 9 Years GODAN 5th Degree Black Belt 13 Years - must be 35 years or older ROKUDAN 6th Degree Black Belt 18 Years - Minimum age 40 SHICHIDAN 7th Degree Black Belt Minimum age 45 HACHIDAN 8th Degree Black Belt Minimum age 50 KUDAN 9th Degree Black Belt Minimum age 60 JUDAN 10th Degree Black Belt Minimum age 70 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 shall wear a clean, white, unmarked karate gi, and the belt representing his/her present rank at the time of grading.
Children & Junior Karate-ka
The grading requirement and waiting period between each grading is the same as for adults & with the expressed approval of his or her instructor.
