Dan
段
A master grade in Japanese and Korean martial arts, usually with a black belt. First awarded in 1883 by Kano Jigoro in judo.
Quick Facts
Word breakdown
Definition
Dan (段) means grade or step. In martial arts it denotes the master grades that follow the student grades kyu. The holder of a dan is called yudansha in Japanese, a practitioner without a dan mudansha. The founder of judo, Kano Jigoro, adopted the system into martial arts from the board games go and shogi, where kyu and dan had been used earlier. In 1883 he awarded the first grade, shodan, to two of his oldest students. He introduced the black belt for holders of a dan in 1886, and in 1907 he settled on the white training uniform with a white belt for students and a black one for holders of a dan. Most modern Japanese arts took the system over from judo, and after 1945 so did the Korean arts. The highest grade differs between the arts. In judo it is the tenth dan, which only a few living holders in the whole world have. In kendo the highest attainable grade is the eighth dan.
Relations to other terms
See also
The belt of the training garment, which holds the jacket and shows rank by its color. It is tied with the koma-musubi knot, similar to a reef knot.
Hanshi範士The highest of the three shogo teaching titles, next to renshi and kyoshi. In kendo it can be earned no sooner than eight years after kyoshi and eighth dan.