Villari’s Customs & Traditions

Belts, Colors, Uniforms & Ranks
Belt Colors
There are lots of colored belts in our ranking system! Here’s the order in which you’ll wear them as you progress:
White
Yellow
Orange
Purple
Blue
Blue w/Green Stripe
Green
Green w/Brown Stripe
Brown w/Single Black Stripe
Brown w/Double Black Stripe
Brown w/Triple Black Stripe
Black

Uniforms
If you’re going to wear a gi, or uniform, you should know a little bit about what you can wear, and at what rank:

We encourage all students to have a Villari t-shirt.
Any student may wear a white gi at any time, though students who hold a white, yellow belt must only wear a white gi.
You may wear a black gi once you reach an orange belt.
You may not mix black and white until either 2nd Dan (2nd Degree Black Belt), or you become the Chief Instructor of your own school.
You may wear red pants at 4th Dan.
You may wear a red top at 5th Dan (considered as Master-level rank)

Kyu Ranks
White (Mukyu / No kyu)
Yellow (Jukkyu / 10th kyu)
Orange (Kyukyu / 9th kyu)
Purple (Hachikyu / 8th kyu)
Blue (Nanakyu / 7th kyu)
Blue w/Green Stripe (Rokkyu / 6th kyu)
Green (Gokyu / 5th kyu)
Green w/Brown Stripe (Yonkyu / 4th kyu)
Brown w/Single Black Stripe (Sankyu / 3rd kyu)
Brown w/Double Black Stripe (Nikyu / 2nd kyu)
Brown w/Triple Black Stripe (Ikkyu / 1st kyu)
Dan (Black Belt) Ranks
Shodan (1st degree)
Nidan (2nd degree)
Sandan (3rd degree)
Yondan (4th degree)
Godan (5th degree)
Rokudan (6th degree)
Shichidan (7th degree)
Hachidan (8th degree)
Kudan (9th degree)
Judan (10th degree)

Patches & School Colors
Our School patch should be worn on the left-chest side of your uniform, and the US Flag should be worn on your right shoulder.

Our School patch has three primary colors: Black, Red, and Gold. Each color represents conceptual learning: black represents darkness, void of knowledge, or beginning; red represents effort and work, as well as mastery; gold represents enlightenment. And so, the colors of our patch show that we start, from the outside in the darkness, and progress with a supreme effort to achieve mastery, and ultimately, enlightenment. This is symbolic of the meaning of Kung Fu.

Bowing, Kneeling & Showing Respect
Bowing is a sign of respect, similar to a handshake, which we perform as a common courtesy when practicing with each, and when entering and leaving the dojo. We also bow when starting a class to show respect to our instructors, our flag, and Great Grandmaster Villari.  We kneel towards the front of dojo when tying our belts before class as a sign of respect for the hard work we’ve put into earning it.