(from a recent conversation on Facebook)
The colored belts were not there in the beginning.
The basic belt structure that has been adopted by most martial arts in the world, even those that didn't traditionally use belts previously, was the result of Jigoro Kano and his creation of distilled jujitsu he called Judo. "Ju" meaning gentle, and "do" meaning way. That is, gentle in comparison to its predecessor, Jiujitsu.
All of them borrowing from Chinese Chin Na. Jigoro Kano was an educator who created a cultural art for the schools based on the traditional partial Samurai Art that could be used in the schools as a form of physical education while instilling cultural values and a Japanese code of Conduct on and off the mat. Because it was designed as a partial art sport, randori or competition among students was a requirement for advancement.
Originally, there were no colors other than Black, which actually mirrors the same evolution in Ed Parker's Lineage of Kenpo. In the beginning, everyone went as far as colors go, from white to black in Kenpo, while accumulating minor stripes or "tips" as they were known in the beginning along the way on their belts. Kano called the rank system "kyu rankings" until black when they changed to "dan rankings." Everyone began at 10th kyu and counted downward to dan ranks.
That is also why brown belt ranks are backward. The lowest rank is the third brown and the higher rank is first or ikkyu. Mr. Parker didn't change that because, as he explained it to me, it mirrored American Military ranks, and much of what Mr. Parker did was modeled after his tenure in the Military American Coast Guard. ie 3rd Lieutenant is lower than the 1st Lt. Kyu ranks had no color until ultimately the brown belt was introduced.
The westernization of the Kyu System created varying colors as the arts slowly morphed into "business" as much as anything else, and needed short-term goals in Western Culture to incentivize students who tended to be goal-oriented, over a lifelong cultural pursuit. Different styles and nationalities chose different colors and their progressions based on many factors, some of them cultural.
Interestingly, the Koreans were the first to show respect to the Chinese Origin of the arts through the adoption of the "red" belt equivalent to the Japanese brown, showing respect to the Tang Dynasty in their Tang Soo Do.
While Educator Kano was the first to create these belt classifications to insure reasonable and fair competition, he was the first in the arts to make a gender difference by creating the "striped belt" for women. In the modern world, everyone has decided what they wanted in terms of rank colors, and progressions. Some practical, many just to be different from the next guy. Traditionally in the Japanese Arts and their influences, the "red and white belt" is bestowed and may be worn at 5th Dan, which is the last physically earned rank.
The Kenpo System in the Parker Lineage uses mostly traditional belt colors and rankings, but their progression is anything other than what it is now. In order of introduction; White, Black, Brown, Purple, Green, Blue, Orange, and finally Yellow. The marking of Black Belt ranks came much later with no one wearing stripes in the beginning, not even Mr. Parker.
As the Modern System took shape with stripes being a part of the system, Mr. Parker began wearing them but not until he was 7th. Before that, he wore a plain black belt as I do personally today. When the stripes got out of hand, my buddy "Big" Tom Kelly suggested the now famous "brick" to designate 5th.
However, even that was actually a mistake. The brick was supposed to represent five half-inch stripes, and so should have been two and one-half inches, but there was a misunderstanding and because it represented 5th-degree, it was made five inches. When it was pointed out it was a bit late and they just left it alone because it was kinda cool looking anyway.
I do not know who originated the red stripes on black belts but I have an idea in So Cal. It was the business of Modern Kenpo that drove it in the Parker Lineage, even to the point of forcing Mr. Parker to wear them. Additionally, we expanded on the original Kyu System by adding intermediate ranks. Yellow got an Orange Stripe, Orange got a Purple Stripe, Purple got a Blue Stripe, etc.
Once again to incentivize student retention, much like the modifications of the belt chart numbers. Only Brown didn't receive intermediate ranks because they were built into the progressions.
In business, you have to strike a balance. Make it too hard to advance, you lose students. Make it too easy you ultimately lose students. By elongating the material up through the ranks, with incentivizing increments of progress, you keep your students as long as you can, and a few will stay in the program until black. Kids are really tough because they dominate the market. Rank them too soon, you lose them. Don't rank them and you lose them to the TKD guy down the street giving out rank like candy on Holloween. Either way, if they make black you lose them because they accomplished their goal and began looking at other activities. I personally hate the business of Kenpo, although there is very few like Coach Bob White who make it work.
I have never been in the business because I refuse to compromise and never got into the arts for the business anyway. I'm selfish that way. Don't recruit, don't sell, just do and teach the nutjobs I can't get rid of. - Dr. Ron Chapel
Let me add, that FGM Parker started adding stripes because of the early criticism from some traditional Japanese systems. that American Kenpo had no advanced ranks. Thus the birth of the stripes.
Oddly enough early "traditional" Japanese systems felt that "showing" rank displayed arrogance.
Tom Kelly was the instigator of the 5" bar, however originally you wore "5" 1/2" stripes until you attained 6th Degree. At that point you then put on a 5" bar with 1 1/2" stripe,, which was unique and only used by Ed Parkers system.
Ultimately this was changed after a brief time then dropping the 1st 5 stripes and going directly to the 5" bar as we see today. - Mr. Dennis Conatser
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