*Please note that Chidokwan Karate and Hakkoryu Jujutsu are distinct and separate martial arts systems.  Though both are taught here at Alfred Martial Arts, students are not generally permitted to cross train in these systems until they have reached the rank of Shodan or higher in one system.  At that point, their understanding and maturity will be assessed, and one may be invited to cross train.  It is imperative to the success of both the student and the program that such a student is able to be true to both systems.  Mixing philosophies is not encouraged.

The ranking systems used in modern Martial Arts practice come from military systems where members are organized by rank and file, and each rank has certain responsibilities and privileges within the system.  Such responsibilities and privileges may be written in your system’s Handbook, but, due to the rich oral tradition of martial arts practice, they are usually best learned and understood directly from your instructor and senior students.  All members, regardless of rank, are bound by these protocols. 

Both Chidokwan Karate and Hakkoryu Jujutsu follow such systems, though the colors denoting the ranks differ.  Black Belt ranks or grades are called “Dan” ranks.  “Dan” is a Japanese word, pronounced “don” in English, and meaning Level or Step or Grade.  Pre-Black Belt ranks are called “Kyu” ranks.  “Kyu” is a Japanese word, pronounced like the name of the letter “Q” in English, and meaning Non-Graded.

Tiny Tigers (students under age 7) progress through the "Blue Belt Rank" as follows:

            1. Solid Blue Belt ("Blue Belt")

            2. Blue Belt with Black Center Stripe ("Advanced Blue")

            3. Blue Belt with White Center Stripe ("First White Stripe")

            4. White Belt with Blue Center Stripe  ("Second White Stripe")

            5.  Belt with 3 White Stripes and 2 Blue Stripes  ("Third White Stripe")

Junior Students in the Chidokwan Karate Program (those under age 16 years) are awarded junior belts within their rank level.  Junior Belts use a striped belt system.  In Karate, Rank is denoted by the COLOR on the belt, not by the number of stripes.  For example, at the Yellow Belt Rank, the junior student will initially be awarded a belt that has a single yellow stripe in the center, with a white stripe above and below.  Next, the junior student will progress to a belt with a single white stripe in the center, with a yellow stripe above and below.  Then the junior student will progress to a solid yellow belt.  This occurs at each color belt level for the Junior Student; while adult students do not wear striped belts-- they simply wear the solid color for the duration of their tenure at that rank.  At age 13, the junior student may choose, after conferring with his or her parents and the instructor, to progress solely through the solid color adult ranks.  Once a student decides this, he or she may not opt to return to the junior system.  The junior system was devised to allow the young student much more opportunity for reward and a fuller sense of accomplishment as he or she advances through the ranks. 

While the Chidokwan System uses many colors to denote the Kyu ranks, the Hakkoryu Jujutsu System uses only three: White (one rank), Green (two ranks) and Brown (three ranks).  Because of this, striped belts are used to differentiate the ranks that share the same color.  In this system the stripes do indeed represent separate and individual ranks.

The adult Black Belt ranks (Shodan and higher) are reserved solely for adult practitioners who have been invited to and have subsequently passed the Shodan Test before a panel of higher Dans in their respective system.  Since children and teens are welcome to participate in the Chidokwan Karate Program, that program offers Junior Black Belt ranks as well, through 4^th Degree Junior Black Belt, or Yondan-ho.  Junior Black Belt ranks will practice the same skills and have similar responsibilities to their adult counterparts, except that they will not be licensed to teach, and they will not have certain other privileges and responsibilities that are reserved for adults.  To earn the Shodan rank, in either Chidokwan Karate or Hakkoryu Jujutsu, and all of the privileges and responsibilities that accompany that rank, the student must be at least 18 years old.