Kyū

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Kyū (級:きゅう) is a Japanese term used in martial arts, chadō, ikebana, go, shogi and in other similar activities to designate various degrees or levels of proficiency or experience.

In Japanese martial arts, kyū-level practitioners hold the ranks below black belt. The kyū ranking system varies from art to art and school to school. In some arts, all the kyū-level practitioners wear white belts while in others different coloured belts, tags or stripes are used to mark kyū grades.

Kyū-level practitioners are traditionally called mudansha, "ones without dan" and are considered as initiates rather than students - they only achieve that title once they have reached the ranking of first degree black belt, or shodan.

[edit] Kyū ranks in Japanese

Some martial arts refer to the kyū ranks entirely in Japanese. The list from tenth to first is as follows:

(Note: kyū ranks progress from the larger number to smaller. For example, a first kyū outranks a fifth kyū.)

• 10. Jūkyū (十級:じゅうきゅう)
• 9. Kukyū (九級:くきゅう)
• 8. Hachikyū (八級:はちきゅう)
• 7. Nanakyū (七級:ななきゅう)
• 6. Rokkyū (六級:ろっきゅう)
• 5. Gokyū (五級:ごきゅう)
• 4. Yonkyū (四級:よんきゅう)
• 3. Sankyū (三級:さんきゅう)
• 2. Nikyū (二級:にきゅう)
• 1. Ikkyū (一級:いっきゅう)

[edit] See Also:

• Dan rank
• Go ranks and ratings.