Black Belt Ranking

Being at the testing for Master Stone's black belts this weekend, along with conversations with Master Trento (who is going to many, many different kinds of testings in many different kinds of martial arts this year) and maybe the fact that my testing is this NEXT WEEKEND - got me to thinking about "Black Belt Ranks"...  

Let's begin with the basics.

Respectfully,

Kathy Wiz

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According to Wikipedia...   ;)

Ranks in Korean

1. Il dan (일단): first-degree black belt (also known as cho dan (초단 hanja: 初段))
2. Yi dan (이단): second-degree black belt
3. Sam dan (삼단): third-degree black belt
4. Sa dan (사단): fourth-degree black belt
5. O dan (오단): fifth-degree black belt
6. Yuk dan (육단): sixth-degree black belt
7. Chil dan (칠단): seventh-degree black belt
8. Pal dan (팔단): eighth-degree black belt
9. Gu dan (구단): ninth-degree black belt
10. Ship dan (십단) tenth-degree black belt

For most Korean martial arts, the dan ranks do not go past ninth dan,
although on some occasions in some organizations,
a tenth dan (십단) has been issued.

Ranks in Japanese

Many arts use between one and ten dan ranks:

Degree	1st Dan	2nd Dan	3rd Dan	4th Dan	5th Dan	6th Dan	7th Dan	8th Dan	9th Dan	10th Dan
Pronunciation	Shodan[a]	Nidan	Sandan	Yondan	Godan	Rokudan	Shichidan[b]	Hachidan	Kudan	Jūdan
Japanese	初段	二段/弐段	三段/参段	四段	五段	六段	七段	八段	九段	十段

In some arts, black belts are worn at all dan levels. In other arts, the highest rank (10th dan) wears a red colored belt. In Judo, 6th to 8th dan may wear a red and white-patterned belt, 9th to 11th dan may wear a solid red belt.