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When you first walk into a dojang, you notice that the students are wearing white uniforms and belts of various colors. You may wonder what is the significance of the different color belts. The belt colors signify the approximate Taekwondo skill levels of the wearers.

The founder of one of the "realistic" martial arts, says that "the claim that a belt is a certification of ability is the original sin of the martial arts community." In his opinion, if a karate belt was really a certification of ability, the holder would have to re-test at regular intervals. I guess this means your college degree is useless unless you re-test for it regularly. This founder, like other of his ilk, likes to quote Bruce Lee who said "I don't hold a belt. A belt holds up my pants." Of the thousands of martial arts masters throughout the centuries who have left us innumerable words of wisdom, he quotes an entertainment celebrity who never competed where he had to prove his claims and who would probably have remained relatively unknown had it not been for the entertainment industry and other entertainers who were his students.

In the dojang, there is no age, gender, cultural, or racial barriers; all students begin their training at the lowest skill level, the white belt. Each student then trains and progresses at his or her own rate in accordance to his or her own desire and ability. During this training process, students develop proficiency at performing Taekwondo techniques, while also developing the physical characteristics of strength, stamina, quickness, flexibility, coordination, and balance. They develop the important mental characteristics of patience, humility, self-control, perseverance, concentration, and respect. They also gain knowledge about Taekwondo and its origin. As students develop these skills, physical and mental characteristics, and knowledge, they are awarded colored belts to signify their level of knowledge and proficiency. 

A specific colored belt is awarded to a student based upon his or her meeting the minimum requirements for the belt and for his or her demonstration of skills during a test that are substantially improved from his or her last belt test. Belts are awarded to students based on improvement of their own personal skills. For this reason, belts give only a rough estimate of a student's actual Taekwondo skills.  One red belt student may display extraordinary skills in comparison to another red belt student. It may appear that the lesser skilled red belt does not deserve the red belt, when in actuality, he or she trained an extraordinary number of hours and showed great progress to earn the belt in comparison to the more skilled red belt who was able to easily learn the skills in short time. 

The final goal of Taekwondo is supposed to be the "perfection of human character." however, many times this goal is forgotten. If you listen to Taekwondo students talk to each other, you would think the goal to Taekwondo is to make everyone a superb sparring competitor. If a student goes to every tournament and loses every match, some feel the student do not deserve his or her present rank and should not be promoted. However, a student who persists and continues to improve his or her skills, is always congratulatory to the winners, and cheers for teammates, is more deserving of promotion than a superb fighter who is self-congratulatory and neglects others. Rank is determined by many factors, having a true "Taekwondo spirit" is foremost among them.

Anyone who is willing to make the commitment of time and effort may learn Taekwondo and advance through the belt system. For some, advancement may take longer than for others due time conflicts with other phases of life, money problems, physical differences, physical or mental disabilities, or injuries. However, since belt advancement is awarded on personal improvement, anyone who preservers may reach the black belt level. The secret to earning a Taekwondo black belt is simple—commitment and perseverance.

Colored belts signify the position/rank of each student in the dojang hierarchy. The higher the belt/rank, the higher the position, and the more respect deserved. After years of studying and training, a student may reach the top of the belt/rank hierarchy, the black belt level. Since rank is awarded based on tenure, performing certain minimum skills, and on making substantial personal improvement, it is a more a social and psychological status than it is an indicator of fighting ability. A higher rank many times indicates the person has higher tenure in the dojang/organization, not necessarily that the person has a higher skill level than persons of lower rank. Skill level does not always equate to rank. Just because a young red belt may be able to consistently beat an older 6th degree while sparring, it does not demean the 6th degree nor raise the red belt's esteem.

The practice of Taekwondo requires strict order and discipline, which comes from respect of the seniority of the belt system. The more respect a student has for the significance of the belt system, the more serious he or she may become in his or her Taekwondo training.

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