Belt Hierarchy

Within the belt system used in Taekwondo, students begin as a white belt and by successfully passing each grading, progress towards Dan grade. Belt tags are a grade in themselves and represent just and important an achievement as a new belt. The belt system is listed below:

Belt	Kup Grade		Representation
White Belt	10th Kup		Represents PURITY; the student has no knowledge of Taekwondo.
Yellow Tag	9th Kup		Represents the intermediate stage between white and yellow belt.
Yellow Belt	8th Kup		Represents EARTH; the ground in which the seeds of taekwondo knowledge are planted.
Green Tag	7th Kup		Represents the intermediate stage between yellow and green belt.
Green Belt	6th Kup		Represents GROWTH; signifies a tree’s growth as the Taekwondo skill begins to develop.
Blue Tag	5th Kup		Represents the intermediate stage between green and blue belt.
Blue Belt	4th Kup		Represents SKY; that the tree grows towards, as the student progresses in taekwondo.
Red Tag	3rd Kup		Represents the intermediate stage between blue and red belt.
Red Belt	2nd Kup		Represents DANGER, to themselves and others: the student must exercise self-control and restraint in their training.
Black Tag	1st Kup		Represents the intermediate stage between red and black belt
Black Belt	1st Dan onwards		Represents PROFICIENCY in the basic techniques of Taekwondo. Their training has gone full circle: they are a beginner again, and can truly start to learn.