Taekwondo Belt System Overview
Taekwondo uses a coloured belt system to indicate a practitioner's grade and experience level. The system varies slightly between organisations, but the World Taekwondo (WT) system is the most widely used in the UK.
Taekwondo Belt Colours — WT System
In World Taekwondo, grades are divided into Geup (Gup) grades for coloured belts and Dan grades for black belts:
- White belt — 10th Geup. Beginner. No previous knowledge.
- White belt with yellow stripe — 9th Geup
- Yellow belt — 8th Geup
- Yellow belt with green stripe — 7th Geup
- Green belt — 6th Geup
- Green belt with blue stripe — 5th Geup
- Blue belt — 4th Geup
- Blue belt with red stripe — 3rd Geup
- Red belt — 2nd Geup
- Red belt with black stripe — 1st Geup
- Black belt — 1st Dan and above
Note: individual clubs may use slightly different colour sequences — always follow your club's grading syllabus.
Junior Colour Stripe Belts
Many clubs use colour stripe belts for junior practitioners to mark progress between full grade changes. These are typically a white belt with a coloured stripe, or a solid colour belt with a stripe of the next grade's colour.
Our Cimac Colour Striped White Belt and Cimac Coloured Stripe Belt cover the full range of junior grades.
Black Belt Grades (Dan)
Black belt grades in WT taekwondo run from 1st Dan (Poom for juniors under 15) through to 9th Dan. Most practitioners will spend years at each Dan grade before being eligible for promotion.
Which Belt Do I Need?
- Starting out — your dobok will usually include a white belt. See our Adidas WT Dobok with White Belt.
- Coloured grades — Cimac Martial Arts Belt — available in all colours
- Black belt — adidas Champion Black Belt — premium 100% cotton
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