So why are black belts black (and other belt colours)?

The other day, I began to wonder if there is any reason why Jigoro Kano chose black for the high-ranking colour belt and conversely why white for low grades (before all the other colours came in).

Someone was telling me that old tale of how a black belt was just a really filthy white belt and I just couldn't take it seriously. But it did make me wonder if there really was some significance to the belt colours. :thinking:

 

Black is awesome.

But apparently now orange is the new black (or something like that).

 

Yeah, the whole belt getting dirty thing is a fantastic myth that refuses to die.

I'm not sure myself as to the reason for it actually. According to a couple of people I've spoken to, it was along the lines of white representing a "bright beginning" (for want of a better term) and black representing...well, the opposite of that.

An Aikido instructor once put it like the idea of a candle burning down. When you light it, it's white, light and fresh, no experience. By the time you get to black the candle has burned out and you have to start finding your own way without the light. It was all lovely and poetic.

All that said I couldn't put my finger on a specific reason confidently. It'll be nice to see if anyone else knows any better.

 

Original belt colours are white, brown, and black. With white representing death in South/East Asia I would guess that it was supposed to be an easily understood symbol of the empty vessel of a body growing into life and knowledge.

 

I've seen some white belts get pretty filthy.....

 

I kind of looked at it as a white belt signified purity, in mind and in spirit of the practitioner, still innocent to the different evils of the world, not really able to explain everything else in between but black may be that as experience accumulates the practitioner gets their hands dirty or in a sense has "been there, done that" and experienced what the world has, seen everything.

I'm not sure, it sounded great when I used to think about it, not really sure how to put it into words but this was my best shot.

 

In places like China and Japan, white, (the colour of your gi) is associated with the 'Yang' principle and with death. Black is associated with the 'Yin' principle and with life.

I'm not stating catagorically that that is why black was chose as the colour of the highest rank belt, but I'd be extremely surprised if that wasn't one of the reasons why. The other reason beng that it looks nice.

 

Its 'cause black is the colour of death and when you're a BB you become an unstoppable killing machine bringing death and destruction on those that cross you or hurt the innocent.

 

If a black belt wasn't black, we'd have to call it something else.

Simples

 

Of course, we all know red belts are the best.

Hmm... maybe second only to Union Flag belts.

#LongLiveTheEmpire

 

Maybe white cloth was cheap and black dye was expensive? Although I always thought white was quite hard to bleach naturally for which they used to use urine...

 

My understanding is that a black belt or sash was used in the Japanese school system to denote high level swimmers. With Kano bringing his system into an academic system he adopted identifier.

 

Kano adopted the system from swimming who used the same colour ribbons to identify ability as far as I know.

Later the Japanese public schools were using the Kyu / Dan system as a means to rank ability throughout the different athletic departments. These departments were using belts or ribbons to identify ranking ability, most notably within swimming, where advanced swimmers wore a black ribbon around their waist to separate them from beginners in swimming tournaments.

 

I'd forgotten about the swimmers wearing different colour ribbons.

Damn you all with your "facts" and "reasonable logic"! I want my romanticised yet ultimately meaningless philosophies.

 

So if Kano copied swimmers, how did they choose their colours?

 

Why was swimming such a big thing? Am i missing something...

 

I don't know that it was a "big thing" any more than the US tradition of getting a "letter" in track and field or wrestling or soccer/football or whatever to show some level of proficiency.

 

One of the legends I like is that the white belt was worn to hold the gi together. After years and years of practice, sweat, blood, and dirt the belt would turn orange, then green, then brown, then black. That's how the black belt and colored systems came into play. According to one of the legends.