The children's belt system was developed to combine both Karate and Judo belt systems as well as expand upon the adult belt system to provide more positive encouragement and easier to digest test material. Because we are learning two different martial arts styles at the same time, the system was developed to focus on different aspects of the arts at different times. This comes in particularly handy for tournaments and mixing with other dojos at different events.
Maturity and experience are two traits necessary for becoming a black belt and therefore it is necessary for all students to be at least 16 years old to be a full black belt. If the rank of junior black belt is attained prior to the student's 16th birthday, they will be held at that rank until the students 16th birthday and will undergo a minor assessment and ceremony.
The three levels of brown belt (San Kyu, Ni Kyu, Ichi Kyu) was modeled after Miyama Ryu Ju-Jutsu belt system and better enables assessment and time to mature in one of the most critical times in a young martial artists career.