Ranks & Grading
The colored belt (obi) is the map of a karateka’s journey. Here is the full ranking system — white to black — how the kyū and dan grades work, how the order changes between styles, and what each belt actually means.
Most karate schools run white → yellow → orange → green → blue → purple → brown → black. Colored belts are kyū grades that count down (≈9th kyū at white to 1st kyū at brown); black belts are dan grades that count up (1st to 10th dan). The exact colors and their order vary by style and even by dōjō — Kyokushin, for example, reorders them entirely (see below).
The common path
The most widely used colored-belt progression (typical of Shotokan and many mixed schools). Kyū numbers are a common guide — some dōjō start at 10th kyū or add stripes between grades.
Belt requirements and kyū numbering differ between associations — always follow your own dōjō’s syllabus.
How ranking works
Kyū (級, “class”) are the student grades, worn as colored belts. They count down toward black: a beginner is a high kyū number (9th or 10th), and each grading moves you lower — 8th, 7th, 6th — until 1st kyū, the last brown belt before black. Gradings test basics (kihon), forms (kata) and sparring (kumite).
Dan (段, “step/level”) are the black-belt ranks, and they count up. First-degree black belt (Shodan) is not the end — it marks the point where real study begins. There are ten degrees; the higher dan are earned over decades of teaching and contribution, not tested by sparring alone.
The part most guides skip
“Karate” is really five major styles, and they don’t share one belt order. The sequence below is the common form for each — schools within a style still vary.
| Style | Belt order (white → black) |
|---|
Symbolism
A common reading follows the life cycle of a plant — from seed in dark soil to a black seed that begins the cycle again. It’s tradition and metaphor, not doctrine, but it captures the arc.
The long road
With consistent training, first-degree black belt (Shodan) typically takes 3–5 years — longer in styles like Kyokushin. It is less a finish line than a licence to truly begin.
A point of history: colored belts aren’t ancient. They came from judo in the 1880s and were adopted by karate around the 1930s–40s. Early Okinawan karate simply went white → brown → black.
Belt × kata
Each grade unlocks its own required form. This is the Shotokan sequence; open any kata for a move-by-move illustrated walkthrough.
Requirements vary by association — this is a common Shotokan (JKA-style) guide. Advanced (dan) grades draw from Bassai, Kanku, Jion, Empi and the rest of the syllabus.
Common questions