What is a black belt, and how can I get one?
It’s a black piece of cloth in the form of a long belt. They can be bought in any martial arts store. The right question, could be something like “What does a Black Belt represent?”, this requires a longer explanation. When Master Funakoshi arrived to the Japanese mainland, there were no belts, it was not before 1932 when he standardized the different levels in Karate, based on the Judo system. At that point he gave all his older students a black belt. The black belt represents the moment when you have learnt the technique well enough to be able to begin your true Karate training. So once you get one, after years of practice, you are ready to begin. There are previous gradings before attaining a shodan (first degree black belt) these are called kyu.
