American Kenpo Belt Ranks by KenpoTech.Net
Beginner: White Belt, Yellow Belt
Intermediate: Orange Belt, Purple Belt
Skilled: Blue Belt, Green Belt
Advanced: 3rd Brown Belt, 2nd Brown Belt, 1st Black Belt
Infinite Insights Into Kenpo, Volume 1, page 97
Note: It is common practice to see the ranks broken down with a slight modification to the list above so that they appear as below. The organization below just simplifies things and makes it an even split reducing the categories to 3 sets of 3 belts each. Despite Ed Parker breaking down the ranks in Infinite Insights Into Kenpo, Volume 1 as above, it is important to note that he made no formal objections to the breakdown below and it is now the most common, if not the only, breakdown in use today.
Beginner: White, Yellow Orange
Intermediate: Purple, Blue, Green
Advanced: 3rd Brown, 2nd Brown, 1st Brown
The Black Belt Ranks
- American Kenpo Black Belt Ranks
1st Black – Junior Instructor
2nd Black – Associate Instructor
3rd Black – Head Instructor
4th Black – Senior Instructor
5th Black – Associate Professor
6th Black – Professor
7th Black – Senior Professor
8th Black – Associate Master of the Arts
9th Black – Master of the Arts
10th Black – Senior Master of the Arts
Note: The 10th degree title for the founder and head of the system is ‘Senior Grand Master of the Arts’. This title can only be bestowed upon the founder of the system and as such this title is reserved for Senior Grand Master Ed Parker alone.
