Martial arts belt colors in order, in the most common systems: white, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, black. But the order isn’t universal. Judo, BJJ, karate, and taekwondo each use different colors and different numbers of ranks, and boxing, Muay Thai, and wing chun don’t use belts at all.
I’ve trained in seven arts over 20+ years, three with belts and four without, and taught beginners in both kinds. Here’s the honest map of who uses what, what each color usually means, and why the order matters less than most beginners think.
- There is no single belt order. Each art, and often each organization inside an art, sets its own colors.
- The one thing every system agrees on: white starts, black is a serious milestone, and everything between is local convention.
- BJJ has only five adult belts and takes the longest. Karate and taekwondo have the most colors and move fastest early on.
- Belt color is a rough guide to time on the mat, not a guarantee of skill. Two purple belts from different gyms can be years apart.
- For an adult starting after 35, the right question isn’t how many belts but does this school test honestly.
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The Belt Order in the Major Arts
Here’s the side-by-side. The order runs left to right from beginner to black belt, using the most common sequence in each art. Individual schools vary, and I’ll cover the main variations below.
| Art | Adult belt order | Ranks to black | Typical time to black |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brazilian jiu-jitsu | White, blue, purple, brown, black | 5 | 8 to 12 years |
| Judo (most Western systems) | White, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, black | 7 | 4 to 6 years |
| Karate (varies widely) | White, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, black | 8 to 10 | 3 to 5 years |
| Taekwondo (WT/Kukkiwon style) | White, yellow, green, blue, red, black | 6 to 10 with stripes | 3 to 4 years |
| Krav maga (most systems) | White, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, black, or P1 to P5 levels | 6 to 7 | 5+ years, rarely emphasized |
| Boxing, Muay Thai, wing chun | No belts | None | Not applicable |
Two things jump out. First, the color list gets shorter as the art gets harder to fake. BJJ uses five belts because progress is measured by live sparring, so there’s no need for a dozen intermediate steps. Second, the time to black belt ranges from three years to twelve, which tells you the word black belt means different things in different rooms.
What Each Belt Color Usually Means
Across the belt arts, the colors follow a loose logic that goes back to the judo founder Jigoro Kano, who introduced white and black in the 1880s. The colored belts in between were added in Europe in the 1930s and spread from there. The meanings below are the common ones, not rules.
White Belt
Everyone starts here, and in BJJ you’ll stay here for a year or two. White means you’re learning the basic movements and the vocabulary. At a good school, nobody expects a white belt to be good at anything except showing up.
Yellow, Orange, and Green
These are the early-progress belts in judo, karate, and taekwondo. They usually mark a few months each and mean you can perform a set of basics on a cooperative partner. Kids’ programs lean on these heavily because frequent promotions keep children engaged. For adults, they’re a nice acknowledgment and not much more.
Blue Belt
In BJJ, blue is the first real rank and the one where most adults quit. It means you can defend yourself against an untrained person on the ground and survive against trained ones.
In judo and karate, blue sits in the middle of the ladder and means roughly the same thing: the basics are solid, and you’ve started sparring with intent. I wrote a whole piece on how good a BJJ blue belt really is because the question comes up so often.
Purple Belt
BJJ’s purple belt is where people start to look like they know what they’re doing. It typically takes four to six years. Karate uses purple in some systems as an intermediate rank; judo mostly skips it.
Brown Belt
Brown is the last stop before black in almost every system. It means you’re technically competent and now polishing. In judo, brown belts (first kyu) are often the best competitors in the club because they’re hungry and haven’t slowed down.
Black Belt
Black belt is the beginning of serious study, not the end. In judo and karate it takes three to six years, and it means you have a complete set of fundamentals. In BJJ it takes a decade and means you’re an expert by any reasonable definition. Black belts then have their own degrees, from first dan up to tenth, which take decades more.
Red Belt
Red shows up in two very different places. In taekwondo, it’s the rank just before black. In BJJ and judo, red is the highest rank there is, reserved for a handful of people in the world with fifty years or more in the art. If you see a red belt at a local gym, ask which kind.
Why Every Art Uses a Different Order
Belts spread from judo to other arts through copying and adaptation, and every organization that adopted them tweaked the sequence. There’s no governing body for martial arts as a whole, so nobody was ever in a position to standardize it. The result is that the belt order tells you as much about the school’s history as about your skill.
This matters for two practical reasons. First, ranks don’t transfer. A green belt in karate who walks into a judo club starts at white.
Second, the number of belts is partly a business decision. More colors mean more testing fees and more moments of visible progress. That’s not automatically bad, and it’s worth knowing. I go deeper on this in what a belt actually tells you.
Stripes, Tips, and Kids’ Belts
Most systems now add stripes, small pieces of tape on the belt, to mark progress between colors. BJJ uses up to four stripes per belt. Taekwondo schools often use tips of colored tape. Karate schools sometimes split each color into a low and high version.
Kids’ belt orders are almost always longer than adult ones. BJJ has a completely separate children’s ladder, white through green with intermediate colors, and a child’s rank resets to blue-eligible at sixteen. If you’re an adult comparing your progress with a kid’s, stop. The systems aren’t measuring the same things.
Where Belts Stop Being the Point
Half the arts I teach and train don’t use belts at all. Boxing, Muay Thai, and wing chun measure progress by what you can do against a resisting partner, by fight records, or by the coach’s judgment. I taught adult beginner boxing and wing chun classes without ever handing anyone a rank, and they progressed just fine.
If you’re choosing an art for self-defense, the belt system should be near the bottom of your criteria. Whether the school trains against resistance matters far more. I cover the beltless arts separately, and my ranking of martial arts for self-defense ignores belts entirely.
Choosing a Belt System After 35
If belts matter to you, and there’s nothing wrong with wanting visible milestones, here’s how the systems feel from the inside as an older adult. Karate and taekwondo give you the most frequent promotions and the fastest black belt. That’s motivating, and it also means the belt carries less weight.
Judo sits in the middle: fewer belts, real sparring, and a black belt in four to six years that means something. BJJ gives you the slowest, most honest ladder, and it’s the one where a blue belt at 45 is a real achievement. Earning a belt after 40 walks through what each path costs in time and body.
Whichever you choose, look for a school that posts its requirements, tests in front of others, and has adults your age above white belt. Those three things tell you more than the color chart on the wall.
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Get the free routine card →Or read the chair tai chi guideMartial Arts Belt Order FAQ
What Is the Order of Belts in Martial Arts?
The most common order is white, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, black, but every art differs. BJJ uses white, blue, purple, brown, black. Judo commonly uses white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, black. Taekwondo uses white, yellow, green, blue, red, black.
What Is the Highest Belt in Martial Arts?
In most arts the highest belt is a high-degree black belt, usually ninth or tenth dan. BJJ and judo reserve a red belt for tenth dan, held by a handful of people worldwide. In taekwondo, red is the rank just before black, not the highest.
How Many Belts Are There in Karate?
It depends on the style and organization. Most karate systems have between eight and ten colored belts before black, often including white, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, and brown, sometimes split into low and high grades.
Is a Blue Belt Higher than a Green Belt?
In judo, karate, and taekwondo, blue usually comes after green. In BJJ there is no adult green belt at all, and blue is the first rank after white. Always check the specific art and school.
Do All Martial Arts Have Belts?
No. Boxing, Muay Thai, wing chun, wrestling, MMA, and most weapons arts have no belt system. Progress is measured by sparring ability, competition record, or the coach’s assessment.
Which Martial Art Has the Hardest Black Belt?
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is widely considered the hardest black belt to earn, taking 8 to 12 years of consistent training with promotions based on live sparring performance. Judo is also demanding because competition results often factor into promotion.
Your This-Week Plan
- Pick the art you’re curious about and look up its belt order in the table above, then check the specific school’s website for its own version.
- At a trial class, ask how promotions work and how often adults are tested. Vague answers are a red flag.
- Read the BJJ belt order or the judo belt order if either art is nearby, then the full belts guide for how to think about ranks as an adult beginner.
- Decide now that your first goal is 90 days of consistent training, not a colored belt. The belt comes on its own.
This article is educational and reflects my own training and teaching experience across several martial arts. Belt systems vary by organization and school, so treat the orders here as common patterns rather than rules, and confirm details with the school you plan to join. Check with your provider before starting any contact sport.
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