What Does “Gup”, “Poom”, and “Dan” Mean?

It does feel good to wear a new belt!

So you just went through your first belt test, broke your first board, and got your first certificate. On your certificate it has a number and the word "Gup" on it. What does that mean?

One of the things that makes Tae Kwon Do so unique is that it has formal organizations and systems that help coordinate competitions and standardize ranking on an international scale (This is very helpful for the Olympics). In order to do this they have specific terms for a belt promotion. Here is what they each mean.

Gup - This usually refers to color belts. Unlike with Black Belts, the color belt ranking system isn't quite as standardized. For example, Dojang A might have white, yellow, orange, green, blue, etc. While Dojang B might have white, white-yellow, yellow, orange, etc. The Gup number tells Dojang B where you are in Dojang As curriculum, and so they have a good idea where you might be in their curriculum.

There is something very good about passing your first test!

Poom - This one is a little more tricky. In Tae Kwon Do there are two types of black belts. Poom and Dan Black Belts. Some schools have a strict minimum age requirement to become a black belt (usually this is somewhere between 12-15). The reasoning for this is that there is a certain level of maturity and skill expected of a black belt that an 8 year old might not be able to fulfill. An 8 year old would not likely be able to do the 100 pushups required of an older black belt. However, some students advance quickly enough through a program that they would have to wait a couple of years to be able to test for their black belt, and possibly meet the physical requirements to do so. So what do schools do? They created a "young black belt" for the students who are too young to teach and/or compete. It's still a perfectly legitimate black belt who undergoes a similarly challenging test that turns into a full black belt automatically when the student reaches the appropriate age. They dress similarly, act similarly, and are respected similarly, they're just not old enough to do everything an adult black belt can do (like teach).

Dan - This is the term for someone who has become an adult black belt. With this they can compete in more tournaments, start training as an instructor, and/or an examiner. People with Dan black belts are also eligible to begin training to work as an instructor. They are now old enough that the kids will look up to them and the adults won't look down on them (too much.)

So there you go! There is the basic explanation of the Tae Kwon Do ranking system!