Karate belts facts for kids

Karate belts of different colors/ranks

Karate belts are a measure of a student/teacher ability. For example, a Brown belt is higher than a Blue Belt.

Usual rank

All styles of karate range from white to black. There are some theories about how belts came to be.

The "dying" theory

Some believe when a student graduated a kyu, he/she would dye their current belt the new, desired color. This was often done in Japan during WWII when it was a very poor country.

The "dirty belt" theory

This is a theory that demonstrates how a student would, as they trained, dirty their belt overtime. More of a myth than a theory, a student started with a white belt. As sweat, dirt, and other debris occupied not only the belt, but the karate gi, his/her color appeared to get darker and closer to black.

Images for kids

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  Obis for budō. The colours range from yellow to brown corresponding to judo kyū levels from 9th to 1st.

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  One way of tying the obi used in judo, aikido and karate.

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  In some Japanese martial arts the obi is hidden underneath the hakama. Pictured is a kyūdōka.