| Many types of Martial Arts have a colored | | | | Never let a white belt get dingy or dirty. |
| belt system. Judo was the first type of | | | | The belt needs to be tied firmly above the |
| Martial Arts to adopt this practice. The | | | | hip bones. Make sure it is loose enough to |
| color of the belt indicates the level of | | | | move during your activities but tight enough |
| skill the student has. Students have to pass | | | | to stay in place. The ends of the belt |
| skill tests to move on to learning techniques | | | | hanging on both sides need to be even. This |
| and moves of the next color. Beginners start | | | | can take time to learn so practice finding |
| with a white belt. In the old days, the white | | | | the amount of material needed to tie it. Some |
| belt was dyed the new color as a rite of | | | | people place a small market on the inside of |
| passage and honor in Martial Arts. Today the | | | | the belt to find the location easily. The |
| belt is simply replaced with the new color of | | | | belt should never be allowed to cross itself |
| the skill level. After white, the colors are | | | | in the back. Never let your belt touch the |
| yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, and | | | | floor. |
| black. | | | | |
| | | | Having the proper respect for the Martial |
| While the goal of each student in Martial | | | | Arts includes honoring the belt color system. |
| Arts is self improvement, the belt in some | | | | Never wear a belt for a level of skill you |
| forms of it offers the student a way to | | | | have not accomplished. This is considered to |
| display their efforts to the other students. | | | | be dishonorable. Your instructor will help |
| It is also designed to help students engage | | | | you learn to tie your belts properly. Enjoy |
| in fair sparing activities. To respect the | | | | learning about Martial Arts, improving your |
| culture of Martial Arts, it is important that | | | | skills, and proving you are worthy of a |
| you wear the belt properly. | | | | higher ranking belt. |
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