The belt-by-belt program

TAEKWONDO TRAINING Reading time : 7 min Updated September 6, 2026
The FFTDA publishes a belt-by-belt program — the « Progression Française des Keups » booklet (18-012), written by the national technical directorate. For each colour: the exam's poomsae, the kibon levels across the five families, the hanbon count, the ho shin soul phase and the sparring rounds. This guide gives the full table — the tool the booklet itself intends to be pinned in the dojang.

Two ladders, one reminder

This program belongs to the general 10-keup ladder (white · yellow · blue · red, each colour split by stripes), assessable « from the benjamins category (age 8) » to veterans. Under-14s have their own children's Progression Française (15 keup, 8 colours) — see Belt grades & promotion. The two coexist, never conflated.

The program, colour by colour

Colour (keups)PoomsaeKibons (levels)HanbonHo shin soulSparring
White (10th)choice: Il Jong, one simple sequence, or none yetLevel 1 of every family1escape only1 round
Yellow (9th–7th, stripes)Il Jong → Yi Jong → Sam Jong+ blocks/hand strikes L2 · kicks L2–L42escape only1 round
Blue (6th–4th, stripes)Sa Jong → Oh Jong → Yuk Jong+ blocks L3–L5 · hand strikes L3–L4 · kicks L5–L7 · stances L3–L4 · steps L2–L34escape + strikes2 rounds
Red (3rd–1st, stripes)Tchil Jong → Pal Jong+ blocks L6–L7 · hand strikes L5 · kicks L8–L9 · stances L5 · steps L4 · no-contact stopping strike4escape + strikes + takedown2 rounds (different opponents)
The kibon levels refer to the five federal families — blocks (7 levels), hand strikes (5), kicks (9), stances (5), footwork (4) — whose technique-by-technique detail is in Fundamental techniques. The booklet also grades the evaluation criteria by colour: Korean terminology from yellow, left/right symmetry from blue, and the no-contact stopping strike demanded from red.

The exam sparring: rounds and durations

The round count follows the colour (1 for white/yellow, 2 for blue/red — against different opponents for blue and red); the duration follows the age category at exam time, with the category's protections mandatory:

Age category at the examRound length
Benjamins (9–10)1:00
Minimes (11–12)1:00
Cadets (13–14)1:30
Juniors (15–17)2:00
Seniors (18–29)2:00
Veterans (30+)1:30

1st dan: five imposed grips

For the black belt the candidate presents five escapes/counters/takedowns on five regulation-imposed grips — the responses are free, the grips are not:

  • A — single same-side wrist grip
  • B — single cross wrist grip
  • C — two-hand grip of one wrist
  • D — both wrists gripped, from the front
  • E — both wrists gripped, from behind
The booklet grants the teacher real pedagogical latitude: start ho shin soul from white, or only from yellow/blue/red — it is the assessment that is graded, not the right to practise.

FAQ

What does a blue-belt student present at the exam?
Their keup's poomsae (Sa, Oh or Yuk Jong depending on the stripe), the kibons up to the blue levels of the five families, 4 hanbon kyorugi, a ho shin soul with escape + strikes, and 2 sparring rounds with their age category's protections.
Does this program apply to children?
The booklet opens it from benjamins (age 8). Under-14s follow the children's Progression Française (15 keup, 8 colours) in parallel — two distinct ladders, never conflated.
Is contact allowed in the exam's kibons?
No: the strike on a partner is stopped as close to the target as possible, « no contact allowed » — and that test is only demanded from red belt.

Sources

FFTDA — Progression Française des Keups, technical booklet 18-012 (© 2019, 28 pages; written by Bastien Gleren, CTN, prefaced by DTN Patrick Rosso) — retrieved in full on 07.09.2026 from fftda.fr: the colour ladder, the poomsae per keup, the five kibon families and their levels, hanbon and ho shin soul per colour, rounds and durations per category, the five 1st-dan grips. Paak taekwondo corpus, file 03 (§Livret-recovery). Content verified September 2026.

Last updated: September 6, 2026 ID : help.taekwondo.belt-by-belt-program