Did you know that many years ago most Martial arts were taught is secrecy? Schools like this one did not even exist. Most students trained solely for self-defense and meditation. At that time the other benefits of Martial Arts training were unknown. Many of these students wore white uniforms that allowed freedom of movement for practice, and a white belt was worn around the waist to complete the ensemble.

These first martial artist, trained hard, sometimes for hours on end, learning to fight with their hands and feet. After months and years of training the student’s belt, which was never washed, became soiled and noticeably darker in color. This became a visual sign of the training and experience the student had and is now why black belt signifies an expert in the arts.

Most modern schools now use some progressive belt ranking system to indicate the student’s level of experience. Beginners still typically wear a white belt and the expert students a black belt. However since students now train indoors in clean facilities that don’t expose them the elements that would darken their belts, many modern schools have adopted a consistent belt system to gage the students progress, such as white through gold for beginner, orange through blue for intermediate, and brown through black for advanced. Thus each belt represents the culmination of knowledge that each student has learned. How cool is that?!