Kyū

Kyū

is a Japanese term used in modern martial arts as well as in tea ceremony, flower arranging, Go, shogi, academic tests and other similar activities to designate various grades, levels or degrees of proficiency or experience. In Mandarin Chinese, the same character is pronounced jí, and the term is used for academic tests. In Korea, the term geup () is used (also transliterated as gup or kup). In Vietnamese martial arts, it is known as cấp (khớp).

History

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department started a ranking system using kyū to measure the police officers' ability in Kendo. Grades were from 8th to 1st.

In the 1890s, the Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society introduced the dan and kyū ranking system to various martial arts in Japan.

Martial arts usage

File:Diploma of 8th Kyu in Kyokushin Karate.jpg

The certificate of 8th kyū in karate.

In modern Japanese martial arts, kyū-level practitioners hold the ranks below dan or black belt. The kyū ranking system varies from art to art and school to school. In some arts, all the kyū-level practitioners wear white belts while in others different coloured belts, tags or stripes are used; in kendo for example the belt system is not used. Although some aikido schools do use a coloured belt system the norm is for kyū grades to wear a white belt, and for dan grades to wear a black belt. Kyū-level practitioners are often called , "ones without rank", and are considered as initiates rather than students. When practitioners have reached the ranking of first degree black belt, they become . The holder of a black belt of any degree is a , "one with rank".

Academic tests usage

Martial arts' organizations are not the only ones who use such a system. Some academic and professional organizations also use kyū and dan as measures of a person's ability. For instance, the Japan Kanji Aptitude Test which tests a person's ability to correctly read, write, and use kanji, is graded using kyū.

List of kyū ranks

Kyū ranks progress using a descending order system, so 1st kyū is the highest. For example, the first kyū outranks the 2nd kyū. The Dan ranking system starts after 1st kyū. Essentially, the kyū is the number of steps before reaching mastery whereas the dan gives steps into mastery.

Pre-1st kyū and pre-2nd kyū are used in examinations of languages, because it is often hard to pass the examinations at 1st and 2nd kyū.

Grade	Pronunciation	Japanese
1st (Highest)	Ikkyū
Pre-1st	Jun'ikkyū
2nd	Nikyū
Pre-2nd	Junnikyū
3rd	Sankyū
4th	Yonkyū
5th	Gokyū
6th	Rokkyū
7th	Nanakyū
8th	Hakkyū / Hachikyu
9th	Kyūkyū
10th	Jikkyū / Jukkyū
Ungraded	Mukyū

The lowest kyū is sometimes called "Mukyū" () which means "ungraded" in English. The lowest kyū depends on organizations. For instance, the United States Judo Federation has 12th kyū as the lowest grade for junior class, and 7th kyū as the lowest for adult class.

In Japan, the difficulty is classified into three categories as in the following list:

Grade	Pronunciation	Japanese
Highest	Jōkyū
Middle	Chūkyū
Beginning	Shokyū

Coloured belts

File:JJS Dojo.jpg

Karateka wearing different coloured belts

File:1gB.jpg

Karatekas at the dojo with different colored belts

In some styles, students wear white belts until they receive their first dan rank or black belt, while in others a range of colors are used for different kyū grades. The wearing of coloured belts is often associated with kyū ranks, particularly in modern martial arts such as karate and judo (where the practice originated). However, there is no standard association of belt colours with particular ranks and different schools and organizations assign colours independently; see Rank in Judo for examples of variation within an art. However, white is often the lowest ranked belt and brown is the highest kyū rank, and it is common to see the darker colors associated with the higher ranks, i.e., the closest to black belt. Historically, students of martial arts would only have one belt or obi, which they would hand-dye when the next ranking was achieved. From a dyer's perspective, the colours must progress from light to dark.

The system of using different colored belts to mark rank is not universally accepted in the martial arts. Supporters of the belt colors point out their use as a simple visual key for experience, such as in matching opponents for sparring, allowing opponents to somewhat accurately judge each other's skill, and to split them for competitions. Those who oppose the use of coloured belts are also often concerned that students will worry too much about relative rank, and become arrogant with trivial promotions and differences, while supporters feel that by providing small signs of success and recognition, students are more confident, and their training is more structured, and that the ranking system encourages higher-ranked students to assist lower-ranked ones, and lower-ranked students to respect their seniors.

On the 1984 martial arts film The Karate Kid, a dialogue between characters Daniel LaRusso, a karate student, and Mr. Miyagi, his master, expresses the opposition by some martial arts teachers to the use of colored belts and to karate ranks themselves, by stressing the priority of mental and emotional ability in learning karate over attaining ranks and belts. When asked by LaRusso about "what kind of belt" he has, Miyagi jokingly answers "Canvas. JC Penney, $3.98" — stating the brand, store and price of his waist belt — and gives LaRusso a visual lecture in which he points to the head, chest and waist, stating that karate comes from the heart and the mind, never from the belt.

See also

• Dan (rank)
• Rank in Judo
• Go ranks and ratings
• Karate ranks