Karate Belts: A Major Part Of The History Of Martial Arts
"The arrangement of classifying practitioners of martial arts using the color of their obis or karate belts, is one of the sport of karate's most significant and well known, though often unclear, practices. Although the belt is not much more than a thin piece of fabric that is used to hold the jacket closed, it is a highly revered part of the sport, as it is the distinguishing factor that separates new practitioners from old.
The colors of the obi are indicative of a practitioners rank, belt colors are earned on a an individual basis as a student of Karate masters different skill sets, moving from one belt to another is not easy and can sometimes take years. There are multiple feats that need to be accomplished at each level to move up to a new belt, though each dojo will have variances in what is required, there are some very strict rules that are to be honored by master instructors when they are guiding their students to higher rankings.
The most important thing to know regarding the obi is the fact that it is specifically used as a way to rank each martial artist and let everyone know how proficient and skilled they are with their particular art, and this was actually the exact purpose of its creation. A long time ago, the only reason martial artists ever wore a belt was simply to hold up their own pants, but eventually an instructor known as Jigoro Kano decided that he wanted a system for showing the skill level of each of his students and established the colored obi system as a way of doing so.
Officially, in modern Karate, a dojo leader holds the responsibility for determining what colors will mean what with regard to ranking. Although no specific rules may exist, it is widely accepted that black belts are the highest level of training and white belts are new recruits who have not yet earned any significant achievements.
Some people believe that the original significance of the shades was that karate belts that were black were such a color due to years and years of being worn in combat without being washed, this may or may not be true, but because of this story some traditionalists choose not to wash their belt. The story of the dirty belt probably has some truth to it, however, today practitioners generally replace their belt as they improve in rank. "
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