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A Close Look at Taekwondo Belts

In this article we well discus the taekwondo belts history and the meaning of belts colours. The colour of the belt a student has will signify their rank within their style of taekwondo. There are many style of taekwondo and they have no universal means or ranking within the taekwondo world.  More or less, a rank tells others how much you know about your specific style of taekwondo.

The use of taekwondo belts is an old practice, dating back hundreds of years.  Belts and their use in martial arts all started by a man known as Jigoro Kano, who created the style known as Kodokan Judo.  Kano started out by using only white and black belts to signify rank within his style of martial arts. 

Shortly after Kano introduced his idea of using belts, other belt colours were introduced to the world of martial arts.  Over the years, it became a great way of telling what experience a student had in their style, just by the look of their belt.  Other styles began to use this system as well over the years, including Karate, Taekwondo, and several others.

Taekwondo belts colour meaning

The colour belts below black belt are known as Kup in Korean and the levels of black belt are known as Dan in Korean.

White:

The lack of colour signifies purity and innocence. The beginner student has no knowledge of tae kwon do.

Yellow:

Yellow represent the colour of the rising sun.

Green:

Green represent growth, the student power begins to develop.

Blue:

Blue represent the colour of the sky which growing things reach for. Physical and mental power starts to stabilize.

Red:

Red represents the colour of blood, the essential life force, so it is associated with energy.

Black:

Black Belt represents the next major step in the student Taekwondo journey. It is the combination of all lower taekwondo belts knowledge and the beginning of understanding the depth of Taekwondo.

Some taekwondo belts are solid and some have a stripe of another colour down the center. These differences are merely variations of school.

Taekwondo belts are an innovation for martial arts schools.  They give students something to aim for, and a reason to keep practicing.  Most students that study martial arts aim for getting the black belt, which is the most prestige belt in taekwondo.  A black belt takes years of practice to obtain, as the student will move through many lower ranked belts before getting the opportunity to try and earn the black belt.

Healthy Regards
Anthony Elliott