Belts and grading

Judo has a grading system for the different colour belts.

Sho awards: these are for players under 8 years. There are a series of assessments carried out at the club. The BJA will then send a pack with certificates and so on, whilst the club will give the player a purple belt. Please return the purple belt when you move to the mon grade system or if you leave the club.

Mon grades: these are for players under 16 years. There are 18 of them:

1st mon: red belt, 1 yellow tag

2nd mon: red belt, 2 yellow tags

3rd mon: red belt, 3 yellow tags

4th mon: yellow belt, 1 red tag

5th mon: yellow belt, 2 red tags

6th mon: yellow belt, 3 red tags

7th mon: orange belt, 1 red tag

And so on through orange, green, blue and brown belts.

Kyu grades: these are the adult learner grades for players over 16 years, although players over 14 can get kyu grades instead of mon grades.

6th kyu: red belt

5th kyu: yellow belt

4th kyu: orange belt

3rd kyu: green belt

2nd kyu: blue belt

1st kyu: brown belt

Dan grades: these are the adult (minimum age 15) grades for advanced players.

1st dan to 5th dan: black belt

6th dan to 8th dan: red and white belt (in alternate blocks).

Sho, mon and kyu grades are awarded by the club.

Sho grades are awarded when the coaches feel the players are ready.