Belts

Belt Colour	Belt Name	Belt's Symbolism
White	Tanjo (Birth/ Beginning) Beginner belt	Represents both the birth of a new day and the beginning of a new martial artist.
Green 1st tip	Hana (Flower) Junior belt	Represents both the opening of a flower in the morning and the 'flowering' of the student into the world of martial arts.
Green 2nd tip	Ki (Tree) Junior belt	Represents both the flowering plant becoming stronger into a tree and the student's improving mental and physical strength.
Blue 1st tip	Asa (Morning) Junior belt	Represents both the morning moving onward and the student's training also moving onward into the day.
Blue 2nd tip	Sora (Sky) Junior belt	Being the middle coloured rank, this is symbolic of the sky above at midday and the student taking pause to look around before pushing forward into more intense training.
Red 1st tip	Atatakasa (Warmth) Intermediate belt	Symbolic of both the day's temperature rising and the student's training intensifying.
Red 2nd tip	Netsu (Heat)Senior Intermediate belt	Symbolic of the day's temperature at its peak and also of the student pushing themselves to new levels of achievement.
Purple 1st tip	Gogo (Afternoon)Senior belt	Represents the cooling afternoon when the student begins to make more sense of all of the training that they have done thus far.
Purple 2nd tip	Nichibotsu (Evening)Senior belt	Represents the day fading into dusk and the student summing up their training, preparing for choices that the future training offers.
Black Belt	Yoru (Night)Senior belt	Represents the day turning to night and the belt turning black. As night signifies the beginning of the day for nocturnal animals and plants, black belt is the beginning of a new range of training for the student. Thus, black belt is not seen as an end of any kind in Hinansho, but just the beginning of the martial artist's deepest and more unique areas of training.

Hinansho's belt system is designed to give students both short and long term goals and to give them a sense of personal achievement. Many styles award students belts simply for being on a belt for a certain time, but this does not happen in Hinansho and as such, belts are considered a serious accomplishment. The belt system is constructed in such a way so that it both increases in intensity gradually to grow with the student and also symbolically in that each belt and its tips represent a certain stage of a student's development. Belts are simply a way of acknowledging achievement, development and respect. As a student progresses, not only does the range of technique progress but so does the amount of respect gained and responsibility earned. Sure, in the beginning of a student's training it is time to learn the basics and ways of the club, but as time goes by it is hoped that the student will impart more of themselves into the style and take responsibility when appropriate.