Why the black belt isn’t the highest rank in Karate

If you ask a group of strangers what the highest rank in Karate is, they will often tell you that it’s the black belt. However, whilst this may be the case most of the time, it’s not always true. In fact, if you trace Karate back to its Okinawan roots, then you’ll understand that the red belt is sometimes the final belt. In this article, we shall discuss the role of the red belt in Karate. This is because the red belt was originally the last Karate belt to be awarded. Since then, Karate culture has changed and these days it isn’t much of a thing. So, if you’d like to learn more then read on.

Cases when the red belt is the highest rank in Karate

These days, most people will wear a black belt as their final rank. This isn’t exclusive to Karate either, as most other martial arts typically end with a black belt too. However, in the original days this was different. Most Okinawan Karate dojos would award a red belt deep into a person’s black belt. The reason for this is that the red belt often denotes mastery so it’s typically quite hard to achieve.

Normally, this would happen around 5th dan or 9th dan, depending on the standards of each particular dojo. In other words, very few people achieve the status of master in Karate, despite being a black belt. This is a good example of how just because you’re a black belt, it doesn’t mean you’re an expert or master. In Karate, the black belt is often seen as the beginning of your journey.

Unfortunately, this tradition isn’t very common in modern-day Karate. These days, Karate follows more of a conventional system where black belt is the final rank.

When the red belt isn’t the highest rank in Karate

As seen, originally the red belt in Karate was the most prestigious belt. Although this still happens – often this system isn’t used anymore. Instead, the black belt is usually one of two ranks within the Karate system. The first placement of the red belt is in the middle of the Karate ladder. However, this really depends on what discipline of Karate you train.

For instance, many modern practices use the red belt as the penultimate color before the black belt. Overall, this shows how Karate has become more westernized over time and has moved away from its far eastern roots.

Karate isn’t alone with having the rare red belt

So far, we’ve established that in Karate, it’s possible to earn a black or red belt. However – Karate isn’t alone in this regard. In fact, the red belt of mastery is also awarded in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu too. In BJJ, there are only a handful of red belts in the world and this number is minimal. Historically, there’s only been a double digit number of these red belts due to it literally takes years to get this rank. Whether BJJ was inspired by Karate here is unknown. Nonetheless, it’s interesting to see that there’s another martial art out there that has something in common with Karate.

What is the black belt with red stripe in Karate?

In some Karate gyms, you will see a black belt with a red stripe on it. Usually in martial arts, you may see a belt with white or black stripes, but it’s very rare to see red stripes. So, what does this mean? In short, some dojos will give black belts red stripes when they reach a new dan. Although this may not be as obvious as a red belt, the red stripe is meant to show mastery. So, a black belt with 5 red stripes is clearly more experienced than a black belt with 3 red stripes. Like other ranks, this proves how stripes can show how experienced someone is.

As a general rule though, it’s fairly uncommon to see a Karate black belt with red stripes. This is because some places operate differently, whilst it’s also pretty hard to get to such a high rank in the first place. If you do happen to see this sight though, you should respect that the person wearing the red stripes is probably very experienced and knowledgeable.

Conclusion

You could argue that Karate’s move away from the red belt has marked its change in culture. Since its earlier days, Karate has changed a lot – both in its techniques and culture away from its physical side of things. In short, the change in belt shows how Karate has arguably become more commercialized, whether for better or for worse.

At the same time, if you train long enough then there’s a possibility that you could come across an old school Karate red belt. If this is the case then thank your lucky stars as it’s quite a rarity these days.

If you’d like to learn more about the culture of Karate then check out this historical book here.