5) Testing’s and Belt Ranks

Each martial art has unique belt ranks and colors. Our art Tang Soo Do (art) Moo Sa Do Kwan (style of Tang Soo Do) has a very special ranking system. Each color represents a season of the year reminding us to be martial artists all year round and both inside and outside the dojang (martial arts school) not just in class.
White represents winter and the white snow cover the unexplored potential in the ground underneath it.

Orange represents early spring and the sun melting the snow and potential beginning to stir and develop.

Green represents springtime and growth.

Red represents summertime, a ripening, courage, confidence and fire.

Midnight blue is worn instead of the more common ‘black belt’. The midnight blue color is a much older tradition and represents the fall or harvest time, fluidity, water, maturity.

The white uniform is completely white as is the orange belt uniform. At the end of the first year if the student passes their green belt test they will be allowed to wear a green trimmed uniform.

At the end of the second year upon passing the red belt exam students can then wear the red trimmed uniform.

And upon passing the Blue belt test at the end of the third year they students are then allowed to wear the midnight blue trimmed uniform which is modeled after the historic uniform worn hundreds of years ago by Korean knights known as Hwa rang. They were considered the first ‘warrior scholars’.

From white to blue each testing period takes about three months. Similar to semesters in school.

Dan tests (midnight blue) are done twice a year.

Testing’s consist of:
Online exam to make sure the student understands the history, philosophy of the art.
Physical exam:
Basics (blocks, strikes, kicks, stances)
Self Defense
Sparring
Forms
Weapons (advanced ranks)
and skill demonstrations such as breaking boards.

You’re instructor will announce when everyone is ready to test, the dates and times. Keep in mind we have A & B testing cycles which means if you enrolled on an A cycle then you would not test when the B cycle members test. We do this as to not overcrowd the testing’s and make testing’s a positive experience for the participants.