In their earliest uses, sashes were pieces of cloth wrapped around a practitioner’s waist to hold up their pants.  Later, as time progressed, the cloth was made wider so that not only would it hold up the pants but it was also used to practice breathing techniques by always pressing tightly on the dan tien (a few inches below the belly button.)

The color of these sashes was usually black since, in China, that was the easiest and most accessible color of dye used for clothing.  In the early 1900’s, the Japanese would begin to use belts as a distinction of rank, black being the highest.  In the mid-1950’s, many international kung fu associations also began to use ranking distinctions but they kept their original sashes and most adopted the black sash as their highest rank.

Our school’s ranking is as follows:

1. Non-rank
2. Yellow Sash
3. Orange Sash
4. Blue Sash
5. Green Sash
6. Brown Sash
7. Red Sash
8. Black Sash (1st Degree)
9. Black Sash (2nd Degree)
10. Black Sash (3rd Degree)