Belt colors and ranking tradition by Don Cunningham Legend and myth have flourished along with the practice of martial arts, such as judo and karate, since the beginning. Yet, there seems to be no greater lore than that associated with the near-mystical origins of the coveted black belt. To the astonishment of many martial arts practitioners, though, the black belt's history is rather short in the overall scheme.
Many stories abound regarding the honored black belt in various martial arts styles.
The one most commonly heard is that the novice martial artist traditionally started with a white belt. As he trained and practiced over the years, though, the belt became soiled, first turning brown and ultimately black as he perfected his martial arts skills. Notwithstanding the extraordinary metaphor provided by this charming bit of folklore, unfortunately, it has no foundation in truth. Colored belts were never part of any ancient martial arts tradition. Actually, the black belt was first used to designate ability or rank in Kodokan Judo slightly more than one hundred years ago.