Ranks and Our School

For those of you who are brand new to our school, all of the colored belts you see in class can be confusing. As each of us advance in our training and skills, we advance through the ranks of TaeKwonDo through testing for the outward sign of our inward progress, our belt (the Korean word is prounounced "tee" or "dtee") shows our individual rank.

While specific belt details can vary between schools, almost every school (pronounced "dojang" or "do-jong") advances students in steps called "gups" (pronounced "gup" or "goop" or "goob" or even "keub", because translating sounds from Korean to English isn't an exact science). A new student at his or her first testing typically earns his or her Yellow Belt.

For the beginner, the belts we use at Family Moo Do Academy go as follows:

9th Gup - Yellow Belt

8th Gup - Yellow/White Belt

7th Gup - Green Belt

6th Gup - Green/White Belt

5th Gup - Blue Belt

4th Gup - Blue/White Belt

3rd Gup - Brown Belt

2nd Gup - Brown/White Belt

1st Gup - Red Belt

Dan Bo - Red/White Belt (these students are considered black belt material, and at some schools it was a black belt called a T-black. The "T" meant "temporary".

1st Dan - The first actual black belt worn by our students. You also have earned the right to have black trim on your uniform. Belt is black with one Gold embroidered bar or stripe on one end.

2nd Dan - Black with 2 bars. Student must be 1st Dan for 1 year before he can be considered for testing for 2nd Dan.

3rd Dan - Black with 3 bars. Student must be 2nd Dan for 2 years before he can be considered to test for 3rd Dan.

4th and up. With each advancement in rank, another year is tacked on to the time required in the student's present rank before he or she can test again.

Senior Master Anthony Boyle, 7th Dan

Senior Master Boyle has well over 35 years of teaching experience. For a full listing of his credentials, click here.

To view some of Senior Master Boyle's black belt students and teaching assistants, click the link below.
black belts