What is the order of belts in Songahm taekwondo, and what do they mean?

Songahm taekwondo, the style taught in ATA schools, counts nine color ranks before the black belt, and it counts them backwards: you start at ninth grade (ninth gup) with a white belt and finish first grade with a red one. Each rank has its own form and its own meaning. The system was built as one story, told a grade at a time.

The full order, from ninth grade to black belt

Rank	Belt	Form	What the belt means
9th grade	White	Songahm 1	Pure and without knowledge of Songahm taekwondo: the seed is planted and nourished
8th grade	Orange	Songahm 2 (23 moves)	The sun is beginning to rise; only the beauty of the dawn is seen, not its power
7th grade	Yellow	Songahm 3 (28 moves)	The seed is beginning to see the sunlight
6th grade	Camouflage	Songahm 4	The sapling hides among taller pines and must fight toward the light
5th grade	Green	Songahm 5	The pine tree is beginning to grow and develop strength
4th grade	Purple	In Wha 1	Coming to the mountain: the tree is at mid-growth, midway to the peak
3rd grade	Blue	In Wha 2	The tree reaches toward new heights
2nd grade	Brown	Choong Jung 1	The tree is firmly rooted in the earth; the wind no longer sways it
1st grade	Red	Choong Jung 2	The sun is setting: the first day of growth is complete
-	Red/Black	Black belt recommended	The dawn of a new day: the sun breaks through the darkness
1st degree	Black		The tree has reached maturity; it must now plant seeds for the future

The names as published by the ATA schools cited here match each other word for word, rather than being metaphors one local instructor invented. Ask your own school whether it uses the same wording.

Why a pine tree tells the whole story

Songahm means "pine tree and rock." At the cited schools, every belt meaning is one sentence of that single image: a seed planted in the dark, a sapling fighting among taller trees, a young pine gaining strength, a tree rooted, then grown, then mature enough to plant the next generation of seeds. When a nine-year-old asks why camouflage comes after yellow, the answer is in the story - the young tree must push past what shadows it. The belt order is a curriculum for patience as much as for kicks.

How long each grade takes

Testing rhythms differ from school to school: ask your instructor how long each color grade typically takes, how often testing days are held, and whether minimum time-in-grade or age rules apply. We walk through what actually happens on testing day in a companion guide. The ranks exist to slice a long journey into steps a child can actually see.

What "decided" and "recommended" mean on a belt

Songahm taekwondo adds one wrinkle that confuses many new families: mid-level ranks can exist in two flavors, decided and recommended, and the red-and-black belt worn by black-belt recommended students is the best-known example. For 1st recommended (red/black) ranks specifically, ATA tournament rules allow competitors to choose to compete as a color belt or a black belt, and restrict the forms they may perform - check the current tournament rules for your rank. For your own school's use of decided and recommended grades, ask your instructor rather than reading the belt alone. When a belt has a stripe or a two-tone look, it usually signals an in-between station.

What happens after black belt

The first-degree black belt is not the end of the ladder; it is the first rung of a second ladder - one that adults who start late climb just as legally as children do. Black belts are counted in degrees, and the same belt meanings continue: the new black belt "begins planting seeds for the future," which in practice means teaching, judging and mentoring the students coming up behind. That is why black belts spend so much time holding pads for white belts.

Reading a belt correctly

A belt records a testing result, not a fighting level. Two orange belts ten years apart in age are not comparable athletes; they have both simply learned Songahm 2. When you watch a class, read the belts for what they say about time on the mat - and when your child asks about the meaning of their own color, tell them the sentence, not just the rank.

Bow in - first steps

Ask your school for its testing calendar, its written list of requirements per rank, and how long each color grade typically takes. If it keeps that list at the front desk, ask to see it.

Verify - to confirm

Belt meanings are published by ATA schools - compare your school's handout against the belt descriptions published by other clubs.

One limit

Grade minimums vary by school and by age; no published timeline is a promise about your child's testing dates.