Did you know that many many ears ago some martial arts were taught in secrecy? Schools like Strickland’sMartial Arts did not 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 artiest trained hard, sometimes for hours on end, learning to fight with their bare hands and feet. After months and years of training the students belt, which was never washed, became soiled and noticeably darker in color. This became the visual sign of the training and experience the student had and is now why the black belt signifies an expert in the arts.

Most modern school like Strickland’s martial arts now use a progressive belt ranking system to indicate the student’s level of experience. Beginners still typically wear a white belt and expert students a black belt. However since students now train indoors in a clean facility that doesn’t expose them to the elements that would darken their belts, many modern school have adopted a consistent belt system to gage the students progress, such as white through orange belts for beginners, green though blue belts for intermediate ranks, and brown through black belt for advanced students. Thus each belt represents the culmination of knowledge that each student has learned.