Can you be anything higher than a black belt in karate?

Question

my friend was telling me about a "chain belt" being one of the highest levels you can go, is this true?

Answer 1

in ata(american taekwondo association) you can go as high as a 9th degree black belt, and you start off at first degree.

there is no such thing as a chain belt. in any martial arts.

Answer 2

well, some places have 10 degrees of black belt. and what Alex said is true exept where i go gold belt is the second belt.

Answer 3

Never heard of chain belt.

Though I mainly practice judo,

I did train in wado ryu karate for a couple of years till I turned 12,

from the top of my memory...

each belt has kyus..

and black belt has 10 degrees/levels

Answer 4

In some martial arts, red belt is higher than black belt.  I have also heard of a gold belt in some arts.  I have never heard of any art using a chain belt, but with all the McDojos out there, I'm sure it exists somewhere...

Answer 5

Yes. 1st degree black belt.

Answer 6

Many styles have many delineations for higher ranking practitioners. For instance, in Tangsoodo, you can rank 4th degree black belt or higher you obtain a multi-colored belt of either black and red or red and white.

In Judo a red belt is a master rank.

And in some sort of Japanese style you don't even get a black belt but a midnight blue.

In all my training and looking at other styles I've never heard of a chain belt. It sounds like your friend was trying to sound smart, but just showed his ignorance. But like it was stated before, each dojo has the opportunity to add a belt rank to the system in-which they teach. McDojo alert!!!

Answer 7

Your friend was joking. There are no "chain belts" in karate. The chain belt doesn't exist in martial arts period.

Answer 8

There is Black Belts then it goes into 1st degree, 2nd degree and so on...No such thing as "Chain Belt".

Answer 9

Factoid: On April 12, 1924, Gichin Funakoshi, the "Father of Modern Karate," awarded karate's first black belt dan upon seven men. This beginning was a highly personal, yet formal ceremony in which Funakoshi is said to have handed out lengths of black belting to his pupils. Still there is no evidence that Funakoshi himself had ranking in any budo under the dan/kyu system.  In Okinawa, Japan the dan/kyu system did not become universal until after World War II.  Before 1924 no one who studied Karate was ever ranked with any type of colored belt.  Japan's old ranking system relied on titles rather than ranks for their students  Belt ranking is still new to the martial arts community in all arts.  How quickly history covers up the truth huh? So a chain belt or jujitsu's next rank up from white belt which is "red belt" or black belt with 88 red and white stripes or a  fan belt belt there all less than 100 years old within the thousands of years in the span of martial arts. Belt ranking has only been around for a drop of water in a bucket's worth of time. Tell your friend to stop watching so much t.v. When I was a kid every kid used to tell me stories of how their uncle pulled out a man's heart and showed it to him before he died and I always replied, "Yeah man I saw that movie too!"

Answer 10

Your friend is yanking your "chain"....lol   In traditional Japanese and Okinawan Karate, the highest color is solid Red.  

There is a running joke amongst the Okinawan karate masters in regards to this belt, it is often referred as the "Death" belt  or rank  due to the fact that by the time the practioner is awarded this highest level of rank, he's either dead or at least closed to it.

Ranks from 7th Dan, 8th Dan and 9th Dan utilizes the red and white belt.