In the very varied and mixed world of traditional martial arts, there is one constant aspect of all training styles and that is the colour of the belt you wear signifies your rank within your particular type of martial arts.
Belts and the way they are used to signify the rank of a student was all started by a Judo teacher, many hundreds of years ago.
The colour belt system started out by using only white and black belts to signify rank in his style of training. The reason for using a belt system was to specify which of the students could compete in various activities.
As an example, those students with white belts could not compete in the same training activities as the more advanced students with black belts, and thereby avoid the risk of serious injury.
This simple coloured belt system was quickly adopted by others, and shortly after the introduction of the idea of using belts to rank the ability of students, other belt colours were introduced to the world of martial arts.
Over the years, looking at the colour of the belts became a great way of telling how much experience a student had in their style.
Major styles including Taekwondo, Karate, and several others, began to use this system as well over the years.
Nowadays, most traditional styles use belts to signify rank; however, there are some martial arts that don't use belts at all.
These styles are more or less for self defense purposes, and choose not to use belts or go by rankings either. Although they are different from the traditional martial arts, these styles are great to learn for protecting yourself.
Taking all things into account, colour belt systems are an innovation and welcomed addition to traditional martial arts.
They have given students something to aim for, and a reason to keep practicing diligently over the years.
The aim of most students that study in the various styles is getting the black belt, which is the highest ranked belt in martial arts.
A black belt takes years of dedicated practice to obtain, as the student will move through many lower ranked colour belts before getting the opportunity to try and earn the coveted and prestigious black belt.
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