The origins of the black belt process system in Japanese martial arts date back to the early 1880s, when Jigoro Kano, founder of Judo, introduced a structured method for recognizing student progress. Kano, who had a background in education, sought to make martial arts more systematic and accessible. He introduced the dan (black belt) ranks […]
Karate Testing Procedures at Practical Karate: Creating Independent Learners Students, not parents, may ask to test for stripes before or after class after sufficiently practicing the skills required for their next stripe. Because asking for help, clarification and listening to feedback are valuable life skills, we aim to remove the parents from this process to […]
How the Belt System Works at Practical Karate Students 3-5 years old – for the karate belt system 3-5 year old students receive stripes on the first five white belt ranks for appropriate conduct and effort. For the last white belt rank (white belt with a yellow stripe), students receive stripes and the next belt […]
Step 1: Testing Procedure for Ranks and Asking for feedback Testing Procedure for Ranks is as follows; Students, not parents, may ask a Senpai (i.e., student assistant instructor) or black belt instructor for permission to test after receiving the fourth stripe on their belt and sufficiently practicing the techniques required for the next belt rank. […]
