Origin of the term GRAYBELT

When people decide to learn a martial art, they imagine the day they become a black belt. For most traditional martial arts, this requires several years. Then 10 years go by, and you’ve earned your black belt. As the name implies, it’s a very dark black. But if you look around, there are people who earned their black belts earlier. After another five years or so, the belt starts to wear down—a little fading, a little fraying. And if you look at the real masters, the instructors who’ve been doing it their entire lives, their belts aren’t black anymore. They’re multiple shades of gray and frayed.