Big Change! A New Beginning!
Beginning in 2005, Judo Canada will no longer be a blackbelt association exclusively. All who play judo in Canada can, or should, register and become members of Judo Canada. The Shimpokai has advocated for this for a long time and is pleased to see the change come about. Congratulations to M. Serge Piquette, President of Judo Canada, and the memberhship committee for making our Judo Canada truly represent all judo players - children, adults, blackbelts, and non-blackbelts.
Colored belts are used to indicate proficiency in the sport. Every beginner starts out with the white belt that comes with the uniform or gi but from there on not every jurisdiction follow the same colored belt approach. For example, at one time in the United States, as an indication of their progress, children from 8 to 12 years received only white and green colored belts, from 13 to 17 years of age, white and purple, and from 17 on, white and brown and after brown came the universal black belt. In Great Britain, belt colors run from white through yellow, orange, green, blue and brown, then comes black. Canada follows this same color approach. These colors represent steps and are referred to as kyu (student) grades and they run from 6th kyu to 1st kyu. However, in Great Britain, children grades are referred to as mons, a mon meaning a "gate" and these mon steps run from 9th mon to 1st mon. Additional red stripes are added to the six standard colored belts to indicate the various mon steps or grades.
At the Shimpokai we use the traditional colors of white, yellow, orange, green, blue and brown but for kids we add colored stripes. A child beginner, after 20 practices, has a yellow stripe added to their white belt to indicate that he or she is now an experienced white belt and is well on the way to their yellow belt. After yellow belt, 30 more practices are required, and along the way two orange stripes must be earned before an orange belt is awarded. Similarly, after orange, 30 to 40 more practices are required, and two green stripes earned, before a green belt is awarded. Before the stripe approach was used it was evident that most children found the wait between belt promotion far too long. Kids have a much different perception than adults of the passsage of time. Basically, we strive to make each kids judo class a fun activity by introducing games and giving continual verbal positive reinforcement for good performance. Our colored stripe approach is a motivational incentive and adds much to the success of our children's program. For more information see About Us.
