HOW ARE THE BELTS RANKED?
Beginners will earn their first belt early in their Tae Kwon Do training starting with white and moving on to yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, red, and finally black. Juniors, or students under the age of 16, will earn a Junior Black Belt, or Poom. Adults earn a first degree Black Belt, or 1st Dan. Black Belts are ranked from 1st through 9th degree. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree Black Belts are considered journeyman level. 6th degree and above Black Belts are considered Master Instructors. 8th – 9th Degree Black Belts are considered Grand Masters.
Promotion exams are conducted at the discretion of the students Chief Instructor, but on average are conducted on a quarterly or semi-annual basis for lower ranks and annually for higher ranks. Whether a student is eligible for testing, is dependant upon several criteria: attendance; skill and knowledge development. Belts are ranked as follows: White, orange, yellow, blue, green, purple, brown (one stripe), brown (two stripes), brown (three stripes) and finally, Black. Students must be age 15 or older to be eligible to test for Black Belt, or 1st Dan. Black Belts are ranked from 1st Dan (degree) to 9th Dan. The highest rank of distinction is a 10th Dan who is considered to be a founder or successor of a style or system.
Promotion testings are conducted every three months from the beginning of a session for lower belts and six months for higher belts. Our belts are ranked as follows; the first belt tested for being orange and on to yellow, green, blue, purple, purple trim, brown, brown trim, red, red trim, and finally, black. Juniors, or students under the age of 15, will earn a Junior Black Belt, or Poom. Adults earn a first degree Black Belt, or 1st Dan. Black Belts are then ranked from 1st degree on up to 9th degree. The highest rank of distinction is a 10th degree black belt who is considered to be the founder or successor of a style or Kwan (School). In some cases, as with younger students, there may be , what we call, a half step promotion for lower ranks – orange belt with a white stripe in the middle through blue belt with a white stripe in the middle. Pooms also have, what we call, stage testing. They will test for 4 stages before becoming eligible for 2nd Poom.
Beginners will earn their first belt early in their Tae Kwon Do training starting with white and moving on to yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, red, and finally black. Juniors, or students under the age of 16, will earn a Junior Black Belt, or Poom. Adults earn a first degree Black Belt, or 1st Dan. Black Belts are ranked from 1st through 9th degree. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree Black Belts are considered journeyman level. 4th – 6th degree Black Belts are considered Master Instructors. 5th Degree Black Belts & 6th Degree Black Belts often hold the title Kwang Jang Nim (Head of a school or an association). 7th – 9th Degree Black Belts are considered Grand Masters.
Beginners will earn their first belt early in their Tae Kwon Do training starting with white and moving on to yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, red, and finally black. Juniors, or students under the age of 16, will earn a Junior Black Belt, or Poom. Adults earn a first degree Black Belt, or 1st Dan. Black Belts are ranked from 1st through 9th degree. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree Black Belts are considered journeyman level. 4th – 6th degree Black Belts are considered Master Instructors. 5th Degree Black Belts & 6th Degree Black Belts often hold the title Kwang Jang Nim (Head of a school or an association). 7th – 9th Degree Black Belts are considered Grand Masters.
