Rank Structure

Everyone begins wearing a white belt. From white they progress through the respective levels of yellow, orange, green, purple, brown and black. The Japanese term Kyu refers to the coloured belts and Dan refers to black belts.

Karate-ka shall wear a clean, white, unmarked karate gi, and the belt representing his/her present rank at the time of grading.

Children & Junior Karate-ka

The grading requirement and waiting period between each grading is the same as for adults & with the expressed approval of his or her instructor.

GRADE	BELT	MINIMUM TRAINING REQUIRED
9 Kyu	White	Less than 3 Months
8Kyu	Yellow	3 Months
7 Kyu	Orange	6 Months
6 Kyu	Green	9 Months
5 Kyu	1st Purple	12 Months
4 Kyu	2nd Purple	15 Months
3 Kyu	1st Brown	18 Months
2 Kyu	2nd Brown	21 Months
1 Kyu	3rd Brown	24 Months
Shodan	1st Degree Black Belt	3 Years
Nidan	2nd Degree Black Belt	4 Years
Sandan	3rd Degree Black Belt	6 Years
Yondan	4th Degree Black Belt	9 Years
Godan	5th Degree Black Belt	13 Years - Must Be 35 Years or Older
Rokudan	6th Degree Black Belt	18 Years - Must be 40 Years or Older