A Glimpse into the World of Karate Belts

 

By Scott Jackson 4th Dan

For a karate student, there is nothing more important and a matter of pride as his karate belt color. As he passes on to a new level of skill and endurance, he is awarded a colored belt as a symbol of his progress. The colored belt grading system or karate belt ranking was first started by Judo and then eventually adapted by karate schools. The order of using the colors usually differs from one school to the other but the common one used by most of the schools is white as the starting point or 10^th kyu. Earlier on the same white belt was died with various colors before being used over and over again.

Using racks

As a student progresses to each new Kyu, he chooses to purchase a new belt. They may choose to give the old belt to a junior student or may choose to display it in a karate belt holder. The belt display karate rack is one of the most priced possessions for a karate student. It elegantly and proudly displays each belt indicating the levels that the student has successfully completed. A karate belt rack display was earlier used only by karate schools but now individuals have also started to use these racks. Asian designs with hand painted symbols are the most common designs. The many colors with the belt black karate topping the rack is a common sight in many martial arts schools.

Using training videos

Many people also use karate training DVD to learn the art. Although this has been under debate as to whether the method is as effective as learning under the guidance of a trained master, these videos are hot selling. In fact the popularity of the videos has ensured that most karate professionals now release their own series of karate videos. Combining these videos with the latest in uniforms and gear is now a common practice amongst many martial arts professionals. So you will find that these is a huge demand for Japanese karate uniform, the Chinese one and the more modern and used American version as well. The tokaido karate uniform is the other most searched and used one. This is popular owing to its tournament styled cutting which is different from the more common ones used in karate.

Popularity

The popularity of karate is such that it has taken over areas which were previously untouched. Now there are pens, books and all kinds of stationery with karate and martial arts themes. Karate scrapbook supply sales have skyrocketed in last year or so. Now you can get attractive designs and themes in karate scrapbooks. You can use them to stick your favorite photographs and scraps.