Dan levels

Very few karate students I know of would ever say that getting a black belt was the primary
reason they joined a dojo. Yet for any student, earning a black belt can indeed be the by-product
of their years of effort, all they have to do is train long enough, and hard enough.

In Shotokan karate a black belt or Dan ranking is the first truly significant plateau obtained by a
student. It is a individual achievement that they will remember for the rest of their life, and even
though karate is not a team sport, it is virtually impossible for any student to reach the black belt
level without constantly training in the company of others. Unfortunately far too many students
once having reached the rank of Sho Dan (1st degree black belt) consider this to be "the end of
their journey" and so they cease their karate training.

In fact quite the opposite is true. A black belt is only the beginning, all be it a very large first step
if you will down a truly long and wonderous path for those who have courage and the discipline
to walk it.

Upon receiving their black belt a karate student will be awarded the title of sempai (assistant
teacher). At this point in their training the new sempai will find that they will be expected to take
on a more formal leadership role within the dojo, leading by example from the front row,
constantly encouraging the junior students, while at the same time re-affirming their own
commitment, and seeking to expand the limits of their own horizon by looking for previously
unseen meaning in all of the basic techniques and katas that they have learnt so far.

This is not as simple as it sounds.

Indeed it is only through a lifetime of conscientious training that the tightly held secrets of
Shotokan's basics techniques and katas will finally be revealed to those who desire them. Getting
your "black belt" is definitely not a time for quiting or "winding down".

It has been said that life is truly a circle.

The same can be said for a student's journey down the Shotokan road.

Starting out wearing a white belt made of cotton, the student rises up through the ten kyu (colour
belt) ranks until they find themselves on the threshold of their Sho Dan (1st degree black belt)
grading. Finally upon passing their grading they are a "black belt" at last. They will now wear
this colour of belt for the remainder of their martial arts career, and when the years have passed
and their belt has been tied and untied a countless number of times, the student will look down
one day late in life and notice that all the black colouring has ultimately worn off.

Their belt is now white again.

The beginner has now become the master, who after a lifetime of training has in the end come to
see the truth, that they have in fact always been just a white belt, the colour its self was always
just an illusion, something to feed their ego until, when after many years of physical, mental and
spiritual training, the time came when ego no longer mattered.
For in the art of Shotokan karate it is not the colour of the belt around your waist that makes you
a success, what does make you a success, however, is how well and how true you pass on the
knowledge that you have come to possess to those who follow you down the Shotokan road.

If you can ever truly come to that realization then your circle will indeed be complete.

There are today ten Dan levels and three Samurai titles that can be awarded in Shotokan karate.
The ten Dan levels are awarded in the following order starting from the lowest rank, Sho
Dan (1st Dan) and going to the highest rank Ju Dan (10th Dan) :

Sho Dan or 1st Dan - at this rank no formal samurai title is awarded.

Ni Dan or 2nd Dan - at this rank no formal samurai title is awarded.

San Dan or 3rd Dan - at this rank no formal samurai title is awarded.

Yon Dan or 4th Dan - at this rank the formal samurai title of Renshi may be awarded.

Go Dan or 5th Dan - at this rank the formal samurai title of Renshi may be awarded.

Roku Dan or 6th Dan - at this rank the formal samurai title of Renshi may be awarded.

Schichi Dan or 7th Dan - at this rank the formal samurai title of Kyoshi may be awarded.

Hachi Dan or 8th Dan - at this rank the formal samurai title of Kyoshi may be awarded.

Ku Dan or 9th Dan - at this rank the formal samurai title of Hanshi may be awarded.

Ju Dan or 10th Dan - at this rank the formal samurai title of Hanshi may be awarded.

The three Samurai titles hold the following meanings :

RENSHI : "A person who has mastered oneself".

This person is considered an expert instructor. Renshi are no longer one of the many and is
usually given at Yo Dan (4th Dan) or Go Dan (5th Dan). It is not unusual for a Renshi to be over
50 years old before this title is ever conferred upon them.

KYOSHI : "Knowledgeable person".

Usually this title is conferred at Roku Dan (6th Dan) or Shichi Dan (7th Dan). It is not unusual
for a Kyoshi to be over 60 years old before this title is ever conferred upon them.

HANSHI : "Master".
A title given to the oldest and most senior black belt, usually the head of an individual karate
organization, someone who has studied the art of karate for most of their lifetime. This rank
signifies their true understanding of the art. It is not uncommon for a Hanshi to be well over 70
or 80 years of age before this title is ever conferred upon them.

REASONS FOR BELT GRADING

The Belt grading in Karate-Do is an important part because the syllabus and requirement for
Blackbelt level has been divided and organized within the 11 Kyu before Blackbelt so the
student practices and masters each and every technique properly and then has to undergo the
examination process for each and every rank. This examination process demands proficiency in
preparatory exercises, Kihon (Basic), conditioning drills, Japanese terminology, Kumite
(Sparring), Katas (technical pattern set) etc.

How the Belt Differs Across Martial Arts Disciplines

As you may already know, beginners would start with the white belt and as they continue they
practice, they would progress to yellow, orange, green/ blue to brown (red and purple in some
disciplines) before receiving the highest rank, the black belt. Gaining a color change in belts does
not come automatically – usually it takes about four years of committed practice to go from
white to black belt. In Karate (Shotokan, Goyu -ryu, Wado-ryu, Oyama- ryu and Shito-ryu), the
necessary time interval from the white to the black belt is at least four years to maximum four
and a half years. The only exception is the traditional style Uechi-ryu which requires five years'
practice. Such time is also required in some traditional Kung Fu, JiuJutsu or Brazilian Jiu-
Jitsu (along with obligatory competition). Whereas in Judo, the average length of practice to
go from the white belt to the black belt is also four years. Masters wear the black belt from 1st to
5th Dan, the white-red from 6th to 8th and the red one from 9th to 11th Dan.The red color
symbolizes the color of blood, and it is implied that a master holding such a high title in his
practice have spilled lots of sweat or even “blood“ to achieve it.

Ranking in belts was thought to be introduced in some Kung Fu schools in 1974 implying that
there is an average time span between the beginner to the master of three and a half years. The
master title Dan is called Toan (duan) in Chinese styles. In Korean styles such
as Taekwondo, Tang soo do, Hwa rang do and Hap ki do, it generally would take practitioners
four years to attain the ‘master’ black belt.

Savate (French boxing) however, is a martial arts that does not utilize the belt ranking system,
rather, it focuses on the color of the gloves. Beginners would start with blue gloves and they
would work their way to achieving the silver/ honorary platinum gloves, the highest level of
Savate practice one can attain. It usually takes about three and a half years of consistent practice
to reach the ‘master’ level of the silver glove. Before World War II, you’d be interested to know
that Savate practitioners used to wear colored belts, the same goes for boxers before World War
I. Nowadays boxers, Savate and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters, would usually compete
for the world champion's belt, somewhat a tribute to this past tradition.