Menkyo

Prior to the current Kyū / Dan system Japanese martial arts employed a series of Menkyo or licenses. The exact Menkyo used varied from school to school, but a typical progression was:

• Shoden Menkyo (Initial Transmission License)
• Chūden Menkyo (Middle Transmission License)
• Jōden Menkyo (Upper Transmission License)
• Okuden Menkyo (Inner Transmission License)
• Menkyo Kaiden (License of Full Transmission)

Kyū / Dan

In 1883 the founder of Jūdō, Kanō Jigorō, awarded two of his students the rank of Shodan (1st Dan). At the time, there were no belts to differentiate between Yudansha (Dan holders) and Mudansha (non Dan holders); it wasn’t until 1886 that Kanō Sensei introduced the black obi for Yudansha. The original black belts were the traditional obi worn with kimono and not the narrow belts used today.

In the 1890s the Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society introduced the Kyū / Dan system to other martial arts and in 1907, Kanō Sensei created the modern Keikogi (training uniform) with white belts for Mudansha and black belts for Yudansha.

Since the mid 20th century, martial arts from other cultures such as China and Korea have adopted similar belt ranking systems.