All About Black Belt Hazirah Nasuha Binti Mohd Hanafi (171420028)

Dan Black Belt

Source: Dragon Sport

The term Dan (단) is commonly used in Korean martial arts to denote a black belt. Dan also give meaning as Degree in Korean. Unlike some martial arts, in some styles of taekwondo achieving one's first black belt (1st dan) is not intended to connote that one is now an "expert" in taekwondo. In these styles of taekwondo (for example, the Kukkiwon/WT-style), the 1st dan black-belt is intended instead to denote that one is now a trained student, but still a student nonetheless. The journey for a ‘trained student’ to become a ‘grand master’ is long and tough, consuming a lot of time and money but the journey is worth to experience the art and discipline of Taekwondo itself.

Dan Rank

Source: deserttkd.com

Black Belt have nine rank from 1st Dan Black Belt to 10^TH Dan Black Belt listed below :

When numbering the dan ranks, Sino-Korean numbers are used (rather than traditional Korean numbers). In other words, the ranks are il dan, ee dan, sam dan, etc., not hana dan, dool dan ,     set dan . Different styles and schools assign different naming and meanings to different ranks. The list below is typical but certainly not universal!

Il dan (일단): first-degree black belt (also sometimes called cho dan (hangul: 초단 hanja: 初段), or 조교님 jo kyo nim: Assistant Instructor, or Junior Instructor)

Ee dan (이단, or yi dan): second-degree black belt (also sometimes called 교사님 kyo sa nim: Instructor)

Sam dan (삼단): third-degree black belt (also sometimes called 부사범님 boo sa bum nim or kyo bum nim: Assistant Master)

Sa dan (사단): fourth-degree black belt (often the first "master" rank, 사범님 sa bum nim)

Oh dan (오단): fifth-degree black belt

Yuk dan (pronounced yook 육단): sixth-degree black belt

Chil dan (칠단): seventh-degree black belt (often this is the first rank that receives the title 관장님 kwan jang nim; in English this is often called "grandmaster", but more correctly denoting the "head of a school", where the word kwan means school)

Pal dan (팔단): eighth-degree black belt

Gu dan (구단): ninth-degree black belt (sometimes known as 총관장님 chong kwan jang nim: Chief Master)

Note that in the above list, the suffix -nim is an honorific, analogous to the Japanese suffixes -san, -sama or -chan. You could translate the term roughly as "respected". So "sa bum nim" could be translated as "respected teacher" -- though in English the term is often translated as simply master.

For most Korean martial arts, the dan ranks do not go past ninth dan, although on some occasions in some organizations, a tenth dan (십단) has been issued. When a 10th dan is issued, the term Supreme Grand Master is sometimes used. Typically this honor is awarded posthmously (after they died) to somebody who has been instrumental in the founding an entire system or spreading taekwondo around the world.

Poom Belt

In some Korean schools, most notably in Kukkiwon/WT-style taekwondo, there is also a poom system in place (품, 品). Practitioners who have not yet reached the age of 15 cannot test for a dan rank; for them, there is a system of four poom grades instead. After the student reaches the age of 15, their poom-grade can be changed to the corresponding dan-grade without additional testing.

In some of these schools, young black belts (i.e., "poom" levels) wear a solid black belt just like the "dan level" adults; in other schools, a black belt with a red stripe is used instead for the poom levels. The premise for using a different color belt is that it emphasizes to these young students that they are not yet truly dan level. The counter-argument is that doing so introduces a layer of unnecessary complication that requires explanation, and ultimately adds little value -- different schools adopt different philosophies on this question.

Black Belt Poomse

Source: Poomse.me

Kukkiwon/WTF Taekwondo uses the following series of forms (called the Yudanja series) for Black Belt forms:

1)Koryo (고려) - first dan, also spelled Goryeo and Koryeo ("learned man", symbolizing a wise person). An older, deprecated form called Original Koryo is also considered by some clubs/associations to be one of the Yudanja forms, but it isn't considered so by the Kukkiwon (for gradings or the Master Instructor Course) or by the WTF (for the World Poomsae Championships).

2)Keumgang (금강)) - second dan ("diamond", symbolizing hardness, unbreakable)

3)Taebaek (태백)) - third dan ("sacred mountain", symbolizing spirituality)

4)Pyongwon (평원)- fourth dan, also spelled Pyeong-won ("open plain", symbolizing peacefulness)

5)Sipjin (싶진)) - fifth dan, also spelled Shipjin ("eternal 10", symbolizing health and longevity)

6)Jitae (지태) - sixth dan (symbolizes mankind as the connection between heaven and earth)

7)Cheonkwon (천권) - seventh dan, also spelled Cheon-gwon ("sky", symbolizing piety)

8)Hansoo (한수) - eighth dan, also spelled Hansu ("water", symbolizing adaptability)

9)Ilyeo (일여) - ninth dan (symbolizing the Buddhist concept of oneness of the mind and body)

Each of the yudanja forms has a floor pattern that traces out a Chinese character or other symbol. Each character is said to represent a characteristic that should be exhibited by a taekwondo master: wise, unbreakable, spiritual, peaceful, long-lived, pious, adaptable, etc.

Yudanja Meanings

Original Koryo (also called Old Koryo) was one of the original Yudanja series of Black Belt forms, developed between 1965 and 1967 as part of the unification of the Nine Kwans to form modern taekwondo. This form was replaced by the modern Koryo form in 1972 and is rarely practiced nowadays. The reason commonly cited for the replacement of Original Koryo was that it was deemed to be too simplistic as compared to modern Koryo.

Black Belt Poomse

KORYO

Source:Youtube

KEUMGANG

Source:Youtube

TAEBAEK

Source:Youtube

PYONGWON

Source:Youtube

Credit to:

http://taekwondo.wikia.com/wiki/Dan#Background

https://sites.google.com/site/wtftaekwondoartist/wtf-poomsae-names-and-belt-levels

https://www.youtube.com/user/ForumTaekwondo