This is one of the most popular martial arts. Its full name is karate-do, which means "the path of an empty hand", where an empty hand is understood to be unarmed. This name was born in 1929. It was invented by the master Gitin Funakoshi, who is the founder of modern karate.
The external attribute of the corresponding degree of mastery are karate belts. They are also a symbol of a certain load during training, as well as a reward for the efforts of a fighter.
How many belts are in karate?
They reflect the appropriate degree of mastery in this Japanese martial art, in particular:
- Kyu - student degrees in grades from 9 to 1;
- dan - workshops - from 1 to 9.
Based on the appropriate level of skill, the differentiated belt and color. With the improvement of combat skills, the shade darkens. Previously, there were only two colors of karate belts: white and brown, and now six. They correspond to 10 student levels (kyu). First, the student receives a white belt (level of potential and purity), then, after hard training, he is awarded with orange - 10 and 9 kyu (level of stability). After it comes blue - 8 and 7 kyu (level of variability), then yellow - 6 and 5 kyu (level of approval), then green - 4 and 3 kyu (level of emotions). Brown color - 2 and 1 kyu (creative level). This is the highest level for the student. Black belt in karate (1 dan) - is present exclusively among the masters of this martial art.
What does the latest shade of a karate belt symbolize?
It is registered, therefore the name is given on it and the owner is given. Due to the fact that the black belt is assigned only once in a lifetime, it must be very durable and thick enough, therefore, its production is carried out using special technology. The basis of the black belt is white, which is lined with black fabric.
The material from which the obi (belt) is made is often wiped and torn due to intense training. When the black belt is completely worn out, according to the rules of karate, it is believed that its owner has reached the highest possible level of skill.
Karate Kyokushinkai
Translated from Japanese, this is interpreted as "a society of the highest truth." Kyokushinkai is a karate style that was founded by Masutatsu Oyama in 1950. It is considered a rather difficult and tough variety of the Japanese martial art in question.
This style was created as a counterweight to many contactless schools and the most fundamental principle of the martial art in question - karate without contact. He demonstrated to the whole world the real power of Japanese martial art and thereby gained popularity among the fighters of many countries, and later became the basis for other contact styles of karate.
Karate Kyokushinkai as a sport
This is extremely spectacular. Fights (kumite) take place with full contact and without special protective equipment (gloves, helmets, projectors). The only rule is a ban on punching in the head.
In a full contact duel, you can often see powerful punches and high kicks. This does not leave indifferent a large number of viewers.
Dress
As in many other martial arts, kiokushinkai karate has its own “vestments”. Dogs, or keikogi, which is often incorrectly called "kimono," is the form of clothing in this style. The mastiff consists of pants, a freely tailored jacket and a belt. All objects are only white, of course, except for the belt, which has a corresponding shade, depending on a certain degree of skill of the fighter.
Dogs for this style of karate are slightly different from the traditional ones, as they have shortened sleeves (to the elbow or slightly lower). This cut is called the style of Oyama, which is characteristic not only for kyokushinkai karate. Belts and lobes have patches corresponding to a specific federation and school. However, most often it is a calligraphic inscription "Kyokushinkai", located on the chest on the left side.
The value of belts in karate
White, orange, blue and yellow are given to beginners. The list opens with a white color, which symbolizes the potential of a new student with regards to achievements of higher degrees of mastery. All the spiritual power that is hidden inside the student goes out after hard training.
The orange belt expresses the qualitative and quantitative component of the obstacles. This color - Mooladhara - comes from the fighter's spinal center (tailbone). It is associated with land, as it is the largest element among all the others. The student practices the ability to concentrate in the corresponding stances of stability.
The blue karate belt is the color of water. It symbolizes the element of Water located in the dorsal center (sacrum). Training for a given color of a karate belt develops the main ability of a student - to respond flexibly and adapt.
The yellow belt - Manipura - is a chakra located in the third vertebral center, the element of which is Fire. This center is connected by polarity with a single point located in the lower abdomen (the storehouse of creative energy and the center of physical balance). This color of the belt requires the student to seriously consider both physical fitness, dynamic coordination and balance, and the psychological aspect of training (perception, awareness, affirmation).
The green karate belt, as in the combination of colors, is obtained by mixing yellow (Fire) and blue (Water). The level of mastery corresponding to the green belt acts as a kind of reference point on the way to a more serious degree of mastery. This is Anahata - the chakra, which is located directly near the heart, and its element is Air.
The student at this level learns the true meaning of love for others, that is, he should not be indifferent to the fate of his neighbor.
The brown belt is an important level, so the student's approach to training should be very serious, responsible and mature. A student striving to master this level of skill is characterized by significant physical strength combined with the calm calm that is demonstrated during the performance of technical exercises.
In preparation for the master level (black belt), a student with a brown belt gradually assumes a number of responsibilities in the dodge. He instructs the class, guided by both personal experience and traditional learning. This student can clearly and correctly articulate various psychological and physical concepts, as well as explain the essence of the spiritual potential of karate-do in the framework of the dodge.
The black belt in karate is a kind of the most important step in karateka life. The practical technique of this master level (first dan) is associated with good tuning, the search for the appropriate technique and help in improving the younger black belts.
So, karate belts were listed above in order, that is, in accordance with the degrees of mastery of this Japanese martial art. As it has already become clear, the spiritual essence of man, which is involved in the process of developing the internal discipline of a soldier, is also affected.
Karate shotokan style
It is considered the largest in this Japanese martial art. The emergence of this style dates from the 30s of the last century. Its creators are the closest students and sons of Funakoshi Gitina (a karate master who introduced the Japanese to this Okinawan martial art): Funakoshi Yoshitaka, Egami Shigeru, Obata Isao, Nakayama Masatoshi, Hironishi Gensin and Hiroshi Noguchi.
The basis of the karate shotokan style is the shuri-te technique, which is characterized by sophisticated fighting techniques mainly at close range, as well as kicks at the lower level. Funakoshi studied it with such masters as Itosu and Azato, and later, along with his students, supplemented the technique with new elements: kicking at the upper level, conducting combat at an average distance, developing a sports duel system.
Thus, this style currently includes both the old traditional techniques of Okinawa, and the newly introduced techniques and combat methods of the sports section of karate.
Shotokan style features
Firstly, it contains stringent requirements regarding physical fitness, level of knowledge regarding technology and dedication.
Secondly, each action must be associated with the following elements:
- proper breathing (activation of circulation ki);
- timeliness of action;
- control of the movement of the shock limb (clear completion of reception);
- the development of the maximum possible speed and force in a minimum period of time.
Thirdly, it is required to study over 20 technical sets of techniques that are designed for a combat duel with two or more opponents.
Exceptional attention is paid to such moments as:
1. The development of a tough balance and overall stability through long-term development of low deep racks.
2. Rotational “snap” movements of the hips horizontally in one of two directions: along the impact vector or in the opposite direction (generating a significant destructive force in relation to strokes and blocks).
3. The instantaneous inclusion of all major muscle groups in the final phase of the impact: with a quick change of positive acceleration to negative or instant stop.
Belts specific to this style
Today, unlike other styles, traditional Okinawan belts retain the existing gradation of colors relative to the degree of mastery in shotokan karate. Belts have such shades as:
- white is the color of innocence;
- yellow - a shade of the sun, light, wealth;
- green is the color of growth, grass and forests;
- brown - a shade of earth, support.
- black is a combination of all colors.
As can be seen from the list, the colors of the belts in karate of this style are slightly different from the kyokushinkai gradation.
The technique of tying a belt in Kyokushinkai
- First, you need to take it both ends behind your back.
- Secondly, pulling the belt behind your back, you need to stretch its ends forward (they should be equally elongated in length).
- Thirdly, it is required to tie both ends together on the stomach through a flat knot (the remaining length of the ends should be equal to 15-20 cm.)
So, as it has already become clear, it is very easy to master the technique of tying a karate belt.
Thus, in shokotan and kyokushinkai karate, the belts differentiate depending on the degree of mastery of the fighter. The ultimate goal of karateka is, of course, achieving the highest level of the master, that is, getting a black belt, which, after hard training, wears out a lot and is rubbed to white.
A well-known fact is that karate belts do not wear off during all numerous trainings, they can only be dried. That is, it is a kind of tradition when, for example, white color is sprinkled with red spots after hundreds of fights, which indicates the fighter’s zeal on the way to achieving the next level of mastery of this Japanese martial art. But keikogi (training suit), on the contrary, should always be neat and clean.
The philosophical aspect of the meaning of the colors of the belt
This historical gradation is determined by the hierarchy of schools of the considered Japanese martial art, which arose on the basis of the structure of existing samurai clans. Both of them had purely individual “genealogical books”, in which the branch of all the rulers — Sjoguns and their courtiers, as well as teachers and relevant students — was reproduced. This made it possible to accurately determine, by means of the corresponding emblem stripes, the fighter’s belonging to a particular school or clan.
The color of the belt was a hallmark of the degree of proximity in the hierarchical ladder to the existing head of the clan. In fact, this system did not initially evaluate the technical component of a fighter’s skill, but its proximity to the so-called spiritual center of each of the schools - to Iemoto. Subsequently, it was transformed into a modern system of assessing the degree of mastery, according to which, after passing the theoretical, physical and technical exam, the student is assigned the appropriate belt and degree (Dan and Kyu).
As mentioned earlier, obi (belts) were not erased, because it was a symbol of the very hard work that the student put into daily training. After some time, according to Japanese beliefs, the white belt turned yellow due to sweat. Then, from the received injuries, it takes an orange tint. Further, after several months spent in hard training in nature, the obi turned green due to grass . Some time later, the belt faded and faded, while taking on a light gray, close to blue color. Gradually, this shade darkened, turning into a gray-blue or purple color. After several years, the obi turned brown.
Further, if the karateka decides to continue its training, then the belt darkens and becomes black. The holder of such a belt is a person who has carefully studied karate for many years. In the event that a karateka has devoted his whole life to the study of this Japanese martial art, his obi gradually darkens, and then wears out and fades greatly, that is, it begins to turn white.
Thus, the philosophy of karate regarding the learning process is that even when the highest level of mastery is achieved, the study of this martial art does not end, since this path has a spiral shape, symbolizing infinity.