Dan (rank) is by far the most recognizable symbol to the general public. The highest dan ranks are sometimes reserved for the founder or leaders of a style and only high-ranking students can be promoted to them. For example, only five living people hold a tenth dan in judo and only about thirty-five worldwide have been promoted to the rank since its inception; of those 10th dan promotions only fifteen were conferred by the Kodokan, all of them to Japanese judoka. This has led to upper level ranks becoming extinct in some arts. In other styles, the dan ranks are not the
Judo of national judo associations. The IJF is responsible for organising international competition and hosts the World Judo Championships and is involved in running the Olympic Judo events. Judo is a hierarchical art, where seniority of judoka is designated by what is known as the - ranking system. This system was developed by Jigoro Kano and was based on the ranking system in the board game Go. Beginning students progress through kyu grades towards dan grades. A judoka's position within the kyu-dan ranking system is displayed by the color of their belt. Beginning students typically wear a white belt, progressing through