What does red belt mean in taekwondo?

Answer 1

The Red Belt in Korean Taekwondo is typically used to represent a high color belt level, usually around the 3rd, 2nd, or 1st geup (grade), which is right below the rank of Black Belt. At this rank, the student should be fairly proficient at the basics, and preparing to take the test for IL Dan (1st Degree) Black Belt.

This senior ranked student should be regularly active in training, and act as a responsible class leader, as well as displaying the proper attitude, manners, and honorable moral behavior inside the dojang as well as outside.

Some Instructors and organizations will assign a philosophical meaning to the color red as appropriate to the stage of the students training, such as red representing an element of danger where a student has good knowledge and skill, but lacking in a fully matured level of discipline and control expected at the Black Belt rank. The color red can also represent fire, which is an element in nature that can be either beneficial or destructive, depending on its use. Fire consumes fuel and then burns out. A high rank student must take care not to get 'burned-out' from the many hours of repetition and review required to advance to the next level.

Fire also represents energy, which is a desirable characteristic of a high ranked student to become energized and re-focused on the goal of attaining the Black Belt rank.