A popular story appeared in a book called "The Karate Dojo" by Peter Urban. Mr. Urban told a story of how colored belts came to be used. He wrote how martial arts belts were white when they were issued. Then overtime, because training was outside the belts of the more experienced students picked up green and brown colors from rolling on the ground. Then, after training for a long time, the belts would turn black from age and all the dirt that was accumulated. It has also been said that some color was added to the belt from blood stains accumulating on the belt. Mr. Urban wrote that modern schools adopted the use of belts dyed to match these assorted colors. Other colors were added for different colors, like ";yellow"; for enlightenment, ";blue"; for the sky, etc. This is a very fascinating story and certainly adds a bit of Zen mystique to the arts. The problem is that it is just not true. The story actually came about after the first use of colored belts.

Long before there was any standardization of rankings or teaching qualifications, there was a system known as the menkyo system. Menkyo essentially means license. Upon reaching certain levels of knowledge or skills, a student would be awarded some level of license to teach. There were various terms used to describe the level of the license with the standards for each level set by the head of art.

In general, the highest level of license was ";Menkyo Kaiden";, which indicated that the student had learned the complete system and was granted permission to teach on his own. The menkyo system was common practice until 1895.

In 1882 the modern martial art and sport of Judo was established by Jigaro Kano. By 1890 Dr. Kano had established a new ranking system for his Judo students. There were 10 grades called Kyu, which is often translated to English as meaning ";lower step";. The lowest grade was 10^th Kyu and the highest was 1^st Kyu. After demonstrating proficiency in the basic skills of Judo, students were passed on to their first rank, or Dan grade. Dan is generally translated to English as ";upper step";. The first rank or upper step was Shodan – Sho meaning Beginner. There were 10 ranks or Dan grades – starting from Shodan and going up to 10^th or Judan.

The idea of the Kyu/Dan grading system was nothing new. Dr. Kano took the idea from the Chinese board game called GO which was very popular in Japan. GO is a game of strategy that uses black and white pieces that resemble checkers. They are white on one side and black on the other. In this two player game, one player is assigned to the ";white"; and the other to the ";black";. The basic idea is to surround the other players pieces with the pieces of your own color.

The game used a ranking system in order to compare players and categorize them according to skill level. This was done using grades called PIN and ranks called DAN.

In the game, the ";white"; player always makes the first move, giving the ";black"; player an advantage. Because of this advantage, the "black" is seen as superior to the "white".

Dr. Kano copied not only the grading and ranking system from the game of GO, but also used the colors of white and black for the belts assigned. New students, who held the kyu grades wore white belts. The seniors and instructors who held the DAN ranks wore black belts.

In 1895, the Emperor of Japan issued a decree to move towards standardization of martial arts teaching and instructor certification. Part of that decree created the Dai Nippon Butokukai or Great Japan Hall of Martial Virtue (DNBK). The DNBK was charged with implementing standard practices among all the arts. One of the standards adopted by the DNBK was Jigaro Kano's ranking system.

As martial arts schools were registered with the DNBK, menkyo (licenses) were ";exchanged"; for Dan grades. Those teachers having the most basic teaching license (often Kyoju Dairi"; were awarded a rank of 4^th Dan (yondan). More senior teachers were awarded higher rankings based on advanced their advanced knowledge, skills and other factors. Grades below 4^th Dan were awarded by the teachers.

The Kyu/Dan system of grading was instrumental in the later development of competition by making it more fair. By the mid 1900's Judo became very popular internationally, as did the Okinawan art of Karatedo which was also recognized by the DNBK.

As Karatedo spread around the world, western instructors (primarily in Europe) began using colored belts to indicate Kyu grades. As an example, a school may have used a yellow belt to indicate 9^th kyu, a green belt for 5^th kyu, etc. As competition became more popular and spread internationally, the use of colored belts became more widespread, eventually catching on even in Japan and Okinawa.

Today, some old or ";ancient"; schools (called koryu) still use the menkyo system. Many traditional schools use the Kyu/Dan system but still do not use colored belts. These schools that do not use the colored belts generally do not participate in competitions.

Although the Kyu/Dan ranking system is widely used, it is hardly standard any more. Many schools still use 10^th thru 1^st Kyu, but many start at 7^th or even 5^th kyu. Ranks for teachers are also not standard. Many schools let ";black belts"; start to teach at Shodan, which is a beginner's rank, while many do not allow anyone to teach until they have earned the traditional ";teacher's rank"; of 4^th Dan.

To put the intentions of the ranking system into some perspective, keep these facts in mind:

When Karatedo was accepted by the DNBK, Gichin Funakoshi (";the father of modern Karatedo";) was awarded the rank of 5^th Dan. Miyagi Chojun, the founder of Goju Ryu Karatedo was awarded the rank of 7^th Dan.

The rank of 10^th Dan was reserved for those who perfected not only the techniques of their art, but their character as well. Jigaro Kano, the Judo Founder, was awarded the 10^th Dan by the DNBK. His reaction was to add 2 more Dan grades, making 12 grades. He said that if the DNBK ever awarded him another Dan grade, he would add more. He did go on to award the 10^th Dan to 6 of his students while they were still alive. Until very recent times, there were only 6 living Karate masters awarded the 10^th Dan. Today, 10^th Dan is generally reserved for 9^th Dans who have passed away. Dan grades came from the Emperor through the DNBK. No one promoted themselves, not even founders of a martial art style.

So, why was a ranking system even developed? Likely for several reasons in addition to organizing competitions and judging teachers. Japanese society has always been hierarchical. There were peasants and royalty and then everyone in between. One's station in life was very important and everyone knew and was constantly reminded of theirs. A person's office or position in society granted them certain rights and privileges. It dictated to them not only what clothing they would wear, but what clothing they were allowed or not allowed to wear. It dictated the types of foods they ate and how much they were allowed to have. Weapons could be possessed only by Samurai but even lower ranking Samurai may not have had swords. Some people liked to play instruments, but probably the most well known Japanese instrument, the Shakuhachi (bamboo flute) could only be played by Ronin Samurai who became Priests. Then suddenly, the son of a farmer who may never have been able to hold any rank in society could now have a respectable rank. He could now get to wear a hakama or some other status symbol that he otherwise would never have been allowed to wear. So ranks in martial arts became just as important as traditional roles in old society. After the Samurai class was abolished the new ranking system gave former Samurai a way to hold on to their status well, especially in the case of very high ranks..

After World War II, during the American occupation of Japan, General MacArthur issued a ban on the practice of Martial Arts and ordered the closing of the DNBK. This was in order to suppress any form of militarism in the country. Ten years later the ban was lifted and the arts changed for ever, as did the meaning of ranks. Today, in general, the methods of receiving ranks and their meanings have has become so diverse and non-standard as to make them essentially meaningless outside of the school that issued them. New ";ranking organizations"; were formed, often for specific styles. Organizations competed for members and status in an attempt to become ";the new DNBK";. Later, organizations in foreign countries split off from their Japanese parent organizations and began issuing ranks and even titles,having little to no knowledge of the history or meanings behind them.

The ranking system has become very far removed from it's original intent. Issuance of rank is not standardized at all and in more cases than not, a rank is meaningless outside of the school that issued it.

So now you ask: How do I know if my rank is ";legitimate";? That can be a difficult question to answer, but the best answer is probably this: lineage. That is, does your teacher trace his training through a line of teachers directly back to either the founder of his style or some other instructor certified by one of the governing bodies.