White and Black Stripes on Belts

Some folks commented on the idea of Sho Dan-ho and Shonen Sho Dan-ho (少年初段補) in the previous blog post. To clarify, this is written on our 'Ranks and Requirements' page:

Juniors under age 16 may go no higher than Sho Dan-ho, and will receive a special cotton Shonen belt with a white stripe running the length of the black belt. Yonen (余年) age 12 and under are ineligible for black belt rank until age 13.

Written elsewhere on the page: 

White stripes and black stripes may be placed on belts. A white stripe lowers the rank (showing closer to the White Belt end of the spectrum), and a black stripe raises the rank (showing closer to the Black Belt end of the spectrum). These stripes cannot be used past 6th Kyu Green Belt, as 5th Kyu and above have stripes assigned to them. From this rank on a student either passes or fails.

Black stripes ("-dai") on a white belt and white stripes ("-ho") on a color belt are used when a student has shown improvement, but does not meet the standards to reach the next full kyu. This serves as a visual reminder to the student and Sensei that they need a little more polish to come up to expectation for full rank.

A black stripe on a color belt ("-dai") may be awarded to a student with exemplary test results, making the student senior in that kyu. Students who do not test very well may also be given a "-dai" rank on the belt they presently hold.

Sho Dan-ho has graduated the kyu ranks and is an apprentice Black Belt, indicated by a white stripe on the end of the belt. This stripe is removed after the apprentice passes a test on Black Belt material for full Sho Dan.

We Are Family

I was recently reminded of a story from March 2007 when we held a special Shinsa (rank examination) for 15 year old Frank Gomez.  In our dojo, we use Sho Dan-ho (初段補 - apprentice Black Belt) as a rank, and youths under 16 years old can only hold Shonen Sho Dan-ho (少年初段補 - junior apprentice) before their 16^th birthday.

Mr. Jerry Saravia happened to be home from college and worked intensively preparing Frank to test.  We decided on a special test date for the last Sunday Mr. Saravia would be at the dojo.  On test day, Mr. Saravia showed up, as did Mr. Jose Pineda.  Both Sho Dans were in their 20s (21 & 27), around Frank’s size, and both originally made Shonen, earning their ranks before age 16.  I knew Frank and Mr. Saravia would work well together, but was surprised how well Mr. Pineda worked with Frank and coordinated with Mr. Saravia on ippons (1-step self-defense) and kumite (sparring) as they worked Frank hard.  After shinsa, the two Sho Dans introduced themselves: By the way, my name is Jose.  Hi, I’m Jerry.  I was stunned that these two were strangers.  It never dawned on me that they trained different years, made rank at different times, and never crossed paths before.  I then complimented them on their teamwork; how smoothly they worked with each other.  Their response was matter-of-fact: Even though it was different eras, they both trained with me.  Of course they would think alike, react alike, and move alike.