Karate Belts
Students start by going through the "Kyu" ranks (Pronounced 'kew', as in Kew Gardens). Progression in karate is a personal journey, but at the early stages you can expect to grade every 6 months. Kyu ranks and the color belts that go with them are as follows.

Once black belt has been achieved, students are awarded Dan grades.

For further details on the EWK Sylabus see our overview page. For the rules relating to grading please visit our grading rules page.

Juniors (6 to 11)
Junior students must take a Mon Grade prior to taking the associated Kyu grade and receive a stripped belt. Having reached 1st Kyu, junior students may apply to take a Junior Dan Grade (Black Belt), but are not then able to take further dan grades until they are Adults (16 or above).

Cadets (12 to 15)
Cadet apply for Mon Grades prior to taking the associated Kyu grade, in the same manner as Junior Students, and can also not progress beyond Junior 1st Dan until they are 16. In exceptional cases cadets may be awarded a Kyu Grade instead of Mon grade upon completion of a particularly outstanding grade. It must be stressed that the award of a Kyu grade rather than a Mon grade reflects remarkable progress, and is the exception rather than the rule. The award of an exceptional Kyu grade does in any way affect the outcome of future grades which are judged on their merit on the day.

Adults (16 and above)
Adults are not required to apply for Mon grades, and progress via Kyu gradings.

How to tie the belt

1 Find the middle and place against your middle. 2 Cross ends right over left. 3 Tuck the right end under BOTH strands and pull tight. 4,5 Complete the knot tying left over right. 6 Pull tight and allow ends to hang symmetrically.