Clothing, Belts and Ranks

Source: www.google.com

1.0 Karate uniform, black and colored belts 

A karate practitioner wears in general a white uniform, called `karategi’ or `dōgi`.

It is sometimes erroneously referred to as a `kimono`, which actually is a traditional Japanese piece of clothing item. The white uniform consists out of long sleeved pants and a long sleeved jacket. The jacket is closed with a black, white or colored belt. The color of the belt shows the rank of the wearer. The order in which the colors of the belts are given depends on the style, and even differs sometimes between karate clubs. This order can mostly be divided into two categories: the `traditional` styles and the `full contact` styles. The most common order of the colored belts from beginner to higher level for the `traditional` styles is: white, yellow, orange, green, blue and brown. 

The most common order for the `full contact` styles is: white, blue, yellow, green and brown. Each color equals a rank or kyū. These karateka are referred to as `mudansha`, meaning `those without a dan`. The white belt indicates thay the practitioner is still a beginner. The colored belts show that the person already has had some training but still has a lot to learn. The highest rank, right before the shodan or black belt, is called the first kyū or ikkyū. Although the dan levels count up as the karateka advances from first till tenth dan, the kyū count down. So an eight kyū or hachikyū would be lower than a seventh kyū or nanakyū. The reason that there are more kyū than belt colors is that sometimes the same belt is used for two or three different kyū.

The first black belt, or shodan, shows that the wearer has a very good understanding of the basics. He is called a `yūdansha`, a holder of rank. The black belt may stand for a first dan, but it may be even a tenth dan in some karate styles.  In some schools, high ranking dan is not shown by a black belt but rather by a belt with the combination of red and/or white.

But when were these uniforms, belts and ranks seen for the first time in history?  What ranks did the old masters hold? Where did the first uniforms and ranks come from?

1.1 Karategi: from casual wear to a uniform

Before a karate uniform became generally accepted, a karateka would wear whatever clothes they found suitable for their training. Few clothes were worn during practice, as the small islands of Okinawa are very hot and humid. They often trained with bare chest and comfortable pants. The first time a karateka wore a white uniform for karate was on the 17^th of May, 1922 in Tōkyō. Funakoshi Gichin was invited by Kanō Jigorō, the creator of jūdō, to give a karate demonstration.  Kanō Jigorō had shown interest in karate at a previous demonstration and therefore invited Funakoshi to give a demonstration at the Kōdōkan, Kanō`s jūdō dōjō.

Funakoshi bought white textile and made himself the first karategi for the demonstration. He made one for him and one for Gima Shinkin, an Okinawan karate practitioner who would assist him in the demonstration. These first white karategi were based on the Japanese jūdōgi. The karategi became more and more popular in Japan. We can find an advertisement, dating from 1934, for `karategi` being made in Tōkyō. On October 25, 1936 a group consisting out of mainly Okinawan karateka, had a meeting to discuss several items concerning the future of karate. One of the topics they agreed on was that karate had to “adopt a standard uniform”. Karate uniforms, although not standardized yet, were increasingly used by students in Okinawa from 1938. 

When karate spread to the four corners of the world after the Second World War, so did the karategi. The white karategi in general has been accepted as the standard training and competition uniform for karate all over the world.

Miyagi Chojun left
Source: The Evolution of Karate by Swennen

 1.2 Ranks and belts

Before 1924, belts and ranks in karate were non-existent. No karate master or student had a black belt, dan or kyū rank before this date. You just had a teacher and his students. The existence of a belt that showed the outside world your rank was something unheard of.

Kanō Jigorō had introduced the dan/kyū system to jūdō to motivate the students and to systemize his teachings. Around 1907 the black belt was used in jūdō for dan holders. The belt and ranking system of Karate was inspired by the belt system of jūdō.

The first time a black belt was worn for karate was by Funakoshi Gichin and Gima Shinkin in the demonstration of 1922 at Kanō`s jūdō dōjō. Funakoshi did at first not wanted to wear the jūdō black belt in front of the jūdō practitioners. Eventually they strapped on a black belt according to the advice of Kanō to wear whatever belt there was available. After the demonstration, Funakoshi changed back to his regular sash. Funakoshi did not have a dan rank for karate at that time, nor did anybody else.  The first official dan rank for karate was awarded by Funakoshi Gichin.

He awarded the rank of Shodan on the twelfth of April in 1924 to several students, and Nidan to a few others. The Dai Nippon Butokukai demanded in the 1930`s that karate would adapt Kanō`s dan/kyū system and a system for evaluating the grade of proficiency. Karate also started using black belts for dan holders. As such, karate became closer to the ideal of a Japanese `traditional` martial art. The Okinawan Karate-do Federation only gave its first dan ranks after the Second World War. On the thirtieth of December 1960 it awarded forty Shodan, twenty three Nidan and twenty five Sandan.

We have seen that the adoption of Kano`s dan/kyū system, together with the black belt, came from jūdō into karate under the pressure of the Dai Nippon Butokukai. However, the colored belts are not credited to Kanō.   

The first time colored belts showed up in jūdō was in Europe. Kawaishi Mikonosuke was a jūdō teacher and introduced the colored belts in 1935 in Europe while he was teaching in Paris. He felt that this system was more suitable for the West. The order of the colors was white, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown and black. Karate adapted this system for its own mudansha.

The dan/kyū system, together with the colored and black belts, were adopted from jūdō to karate during a period when jūdō was seen as the example for `Japanese` martial arts.  

1.3 Conclusion

The white uniform, ranks and belts of karate only appeared for the first time in history less than a century ago. They were derived from those of jūdō. The first white clothing for karate was made by Funakoshi in 1922 for a demonstration. In 1924 the first dan ranks were awarded to karateka by the same man. It all became a part of the image of karate.

Source: www.mightygoods.com/martial-arts-
belts

Source:

1. Mads. 2017. Top 15 Martial Arts Styles (with all 182 Belt Colors and Grades). Retrieved Nov 18, 2017, from https://mightygoods.com/martial-arts-belts/

2. Swennen, F. (2009). The Evolution of Karate: From Secret Martial Arts to Worldwide Cultural Sport. Japan: International Budo University.