Karate Belts

KARATE BELT GRADES When i trained in Shotokan Karate there were nine kyu's to grade for.And each kyu had a different color belt.An ungraded karate student wore a white belt.while the 9th kyu [kukyu] was a orange belt then 8th kyu [hachikyu] was red,then it went to 7th kyu [shichikyu] a yellow belt.The 6th kyu [rokyu] was green,5th kyu [gokyu] purple,then the 4th kyu [yonkyu] purple with a white stripe.When you get to your 3rd kyu [sankyu] brown belt you are doing very well,a lot of martial art students don't make it this far.Then there is the 2nd kyu [nikyu] which is a brown and white striped belt,then the last of the kyu's is the 1st kyu [ikkyu] which is a brown belt with two stripes. At this stage you are very good at Kata's,free style fighting and all other aspects of karate.You should have the correct stance and positions,eyes should be focused ahead and not on the ground.Your techniquies should be confident and explosive with a good kiai,your hands and feet should finish at the ame time.When sparring you should not block to early or to late and make sure you do not get hit,and control all of your punches and kickes so you do not harm your apponent when sparing.After six months of hard training you should be ready to take your 1st Dan [shodan] black belt.Some people say it is not until you get to shodan thar you then start to learn Shotokan Karate. All dans are black belts and a run down of ther names are 1st shodan,2nd nidan.3rd sandan,4th yondan,5th godan,6th rokudan,7th sichidan,8th hachidan,9th kudan and 10th judan.Some masters,that is what you are when you get to black belt ,then when they get to 10th dan will wear a red belt.This is to say they have gone full circle in there training and must start again.