Kuma Dojo's 2026 belt promotion will be held on Saturday, 29 August.
Kids judo begins with practice at 09:00 and the promotion test starts at 10:30. Adult judo begins at 14:00. All regular classes are cancelled for the day.
At Kuma Dojo, a promotion has never been just a change of belt.
The dojo follows the grade system of the Kodokan in Tokyo. In the Kodokan's youth division, children generally start from around age six, the first year of elementary school, working through seven grades from 7th kyu to 1st kyu. Each stage carries its own belt colour, from light blue, yellow, orange, green and purple, step by step to brown.
At Kuma Dojo, the promotion test is held only once a year.
That means every promotion represents not the progress of a few weeks or months, but the work of an entire year. Students have one limited opportunity to show their technique, etiquette, understanding, ability in randori, and the growth they have made on the tatami over the past twelve months.
This commitment to the system comes from the judo background of Kuma Dojo itself.
Its founder, Kuma, is the first Chinese judoka to come from the Kodokan's judo school and to reach the Kodokan's 5th dan through continuous success in the Kodokan's promotion contests.
At the Kodokan, the Tsukinami Shiai and the red-and-white contests have continued for more than a century, with competitive results long forming the foundation of promotion. Dan grades are not decided by a single examination. They are built contest after contest, through time, training, wins and losses.
What Kuma Dojo chooses to continue is exactly this respect for the belt and for the dan grade.
So 29 August is not an ordinary examination.
For the children and adults preparing for it, this is the summary of a year of training, and a trial that must be faced in person before the next stage begins.
Once a year.
On 29 August, the tatami awaits.