Senior Red Belt

Gup: 1st

Symbolism: Heat

Meaning: As the oak tree grows higher and closer to the sun, it begins to feel the heat of the sun and it give the tree inspiration to grow higher. The senior red belt represents the student who is so close to attaining black belt that he or she feels it. Red also signifies the danger of a student believing that reaching black belt will complete his or her growth in Taekwondo.

Probationary Black Belt

Gup: Poom

Symbolism: Darkness

Meaning: Even though the oak tree struggles to leave the earth and reach the heavens, it finds it cannot. It realizes it is rooted to the earth and that its strength comes from its roots. As the oak tree reenters the earth seeking its roots, the light of the sun dims and turns to darkness. The black belt represents the student who, after reach black belt, realizes that the answers to all the questions he or she has been seeking are not at the black belt level, they were always present at the beginning, at their roots, at the white belt level, in the basic techniques of Taekwondo. He or she simply did not know enough at the time to recognize their worth. As the student leaves the safety of the light, or knowledge he or she has attained, to search for the truth in his or her roots, eh or she discovers that even with all he or she knows, there is still the darkness of a greater unknown looming ahead, the first degree black belt. The black belt is the final preparation for first degree black belt.

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