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White Belt
“Pure and without the knowledge of Songahm
Taekwondo. As with the Pine Tree, the seed must now be planted and nourished to
develop strong roots."
The
student has no knowledge of Songahm Taekwondo and begins with a clean (pure)
slate.
Purity is often signified by the color
white.
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Orange Belt
"The sun is beginning to rise. As with the
morning's dawn, only the beauty of the sunrise is seen rather than the immense
power."
The
beginner student sees the beauty of the art of Taekwondo but has not yet
experienced the power of the technique.
Orange is found among the many
colors of the sunrise.
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Yellow Belt
"The seed is beginning to see the sunlight."
The
student begins to understand the basics of Taekwondo.
The sun appears to be
yellow.
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Camouflage (Camo) Belt
"The sapling is hidden amongst the taller pines
and must now fight its way upward."
The
student begins to realize his/her place in the world's largest martial art. The
student must now begin to spar in order to promote in rank.
Camouflage (greens) is used to
hide among the trees in the forest.
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Green Belt
"The pine tree is beginning to develop and grow
in strength."
The
student's technique is developing power. The components of the basic techniques
are beginning to work in unison.
As the pine tree develops, it sprouts
green
pine needles.
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Purple Belt
"Coming to the mountain. The tree is in the
mid-growth and now the path becomes steep."
The
student has crossed over into a higher level of Songahm Taekwondo. The
techniques, poom-sae (forms), and level of gyeo-roo-gi (sparring) becomes more
difficult, creating a "mountain" that must be overcome.
Mountains are often depicted as being
purple.
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Blue Belt
"The tree reaches for the sky toward new
heights."
Having
passed the mid-way point, the student focuses his/her energy upward toward black
belt.
The sky appears as
blue.
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Brown Belt
"The tree is firmly rooted in the earth."
At
this point the student has mastered the basics and developed deep roots in
Taekwondo.
Brown is known as an earthy
color, such as dirt.
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Red Belt
"The sun is setting. The first phase of growth
has been accomplished."
The
first day (the period of time from white belt to red belt) of growth is coming
to an end. The physical skill has been developed but lacks control; therefore,
physical and mental discipline must now be achieved.
Variations of
red
are found among the many colors of the sunset.
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Red/Black Belt
"The dawn of a new day. The sun breaks through
the darkness."
The
previous day has ended, giving way to a new dawn. The student must begin a new
phase of training; that of being a black belt.
The
red
is the sun (in a sunrise) as it breaks through the
black
of night.
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Black Belt
"The tree has reached maturity and has overcome
the darkness... it must now 'plant seeds for the future.'"
The
color black is created when all the colors of the light spectrum have been
absorbed into an object. That object has "taken control" of the colors and
retained them. If one color was to "escape", the object would no longer be black
but would appear as that color. The student has mastered the nine geup (grades)
of Taekwondo. He/she has "absorbed" all the knowledge of the color ranks and
overcome or "mastered" that level or training.
The colors of the spectrum are bound together and are not reflected off an object, resulting in the absence of color which we call black.
