Karate Belts in Order: Kyu and Dan Grades Explained

Karate ranks are divided into two groups: kyu grades for students and dan grades for black belts.

Kyu grades

Kyu grades count down. A beginner starts at the highest number, usually 10th or 9th kyu depending on the style, and moves towards 1st kyu, the last grade before black belt. Each kyu has its own belt colour or a stripe on the belt.

Belt colours

There is no single colour order for all of karate. Each style and federation sets its own. Many schools use a sequence close to white, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown and black. In Kyokushin the classic order is white, orange, blue, yellow, green, brown and black, with a stripe marking the second grade of each colour. Children's programmes often add extra colours or stripes so that progress is more frequent.

Dan grades

After 1st kyu comes 1st dan, the first black belt. Dan grades count up, usually to 10th dan. The higher dans are awarded for years of teaching and service to the style, not only for technique, and the minimum time between gradings grows with each dan.

What a grading includes

A grading exam normally tests three areas: kihon (basic techniques), kata (set forms) and kumite (sparring). Higher grades may also include theory, breaking or teaching.

Red and blue belts in competition

In WKF sport karate, the karate of the Olympic programme, competitors wear a red (aka) or blue (ao) belt in each bout. These colours only show which side a competitor is on and have nothing to do with rank.