Unlike Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and many other martial arts, the sport of Muay Thai has no internationally recognized ranking system. Because of this, we developed the Easton Training Center Muay Thai ranking system to help track students’ progress. Within the Easton Muay Thai program, there are eight shirt ranks, which are used to indicate a student’s level of proficiency and time spent training.

White Shirt

Your first promotion in the Muay Thai Ranking System will be your White Shirt! To earn your White Shirt, you must attend the minimum number of classes, and be familiar with the basic Muay Thai stance, as well as basic offense and defense. A student who attends kickboxing classes consistently will earn their white shirt it about one month. The White Shirt is the first step in a long and rewarding journey! 

Yellow Shirt

The second promotion is your Yellow Shirt. To earn a Yellow Shirt, you must meet the minimum class requirements, and be familiar with the basic Muay Thai offense and defense, as outlined in the Kickboxing Curriculum. A student with consistent attendance and good control will become eligble for promotion to Yellow Shirt after about two months as a White Shirt.
Earning your Yellow Shirt is an important promotion because it unlocks the Muay Thai program! Once a Yellow Shirt, you are now eligible to attend the Muay Thai Fundamentals classes, where you will learn to hold and hit pads, as well as perform basic offense and defense drills with partners. 

Orange Shirt

To earn your Orange Shirt (intermediate level), you must meet the minimum number of Muay Thai classes over the course of about three months, and demonstrate proficiency in pad holding and hitting. You must also demonstrate awareness of targets while drilling with partners, and understand basic defense. 
Earning your Orange Shirt unlocks the Intermediate Level classes, where you will begin to apply your knowledge of offense and defense in live partner drilling sessions. This is where we will begin to apply skills from theory to practice! 

Green Shirt

To earn your Green Shirt (Advanced Student), you must meet the minimum number of Muay Thai classes since your promotion to Orange, and demonstrate control when drilling with partners of all sizes. Earning a Green Shirt is one of the most important promotions, because it shows you have learned enough on offense and defense to begin to spar (train live) with other students! It is not enough to learn the techniques; you must also learn to train safely and compose yourself under pressure. This is a major part of earning your Green Shirt. 
Once you have earned your Green Shirt, you are now eligible to take the advanced and competition classes, which are focused on live sparring, clinching, and understanding the sport and scoring aspects of Muay Thai. While it is not everyone’s goal to compete in Muay Thai, it is important to understand the sport and how to score. 
Earning a Green Shirt also makes you eligible to begin instructor training, learning how to teach classes and starting to give back to the Easton Muay Thai community. This is an integral part of the journey, not only for the students you teach, but yourself! Teaching others helps you learn techniques and concepts better. At Easton, we value learning and giving back, so we love having students becoming teachers, and passing down the knowledge of the sport of Muay Thai. 

Blue Shirt

Earning your Blue Shirt is another major milestone! To receive your Blue Shirt, you must meet the minimum number of Muay Thai classes, as well as the minimum time (about four months) as a Green Shirt. You must also be sparring to be eligible for a Blue Shirt promotion. It is important to make sure we continue to test our skills and build our individual game, and sparring ensures that.  At Blue Shirt, students should be starting to build their own “style” within Muay Thai and starting to learn the concepts of scoring in the sport. 
Once a Blue Shirt, students who have started instructor training are now eligible to begin teaching Kickboxing classes! This is the first major step in a student’s instructor journey. Senior Blue Shirts will also be eligible to assist in teaching Muay Thai Fundamentals classes as well. 

Purple Shirt

To earn a Purple Shirt, you must take the minimum number of Muay Thai classes and spend a minimum of 2 years training at Blue Shirt. This is the first serious step up in time and class number for promotions. The Purple Shirt is where we move from less technical requirements and more conceptual requirements. A Purple Shirt should be well-versed in understanding the sport of Muay Thai. Along with offensive and defensive concepts, a Purple Shirt should have a unique style developed and tested in sparring. They will understand the scoring and the sport-side of Muay Thai. 
Once a Purple Shirt, students who are also instructors are eligible to teach at the Muay Thai Intermediate Level. 

Brown Shirt

To achieve the rank of Brown Shirt, you must meet the class and time minimum as a Purple Shirt. You must have developed your own style as a Muay Thai athlete, along with a solid understanding of other styles as well. Conceptually, you should be well-versed on the sport of Muay Thai, as well as the cultural aspects associated with the Art. A Brown Shirt should be able to teach any level of class offered at Easton, including Competition Team Training, while understanding the differences between class levels and their requirements. A Brown Shirt is highly regarded in the community, so students who earn this rank must be a strong ambassador for Easton and the sport of Muay Thai. 

Black Shirt

Earning an Easton Muay Thai Black Shirt will be a culmination of years of hard work, dedication to the sport, and commitment to the Easton community. Earning a Black Shirt will take approximately 10 years of consistent training, with a vast knowledge of the sport and Art of Muay Thai, including the cultural and traditional aspects. Additionally, an Easton Black shirt will be well-versed in teaching all levels of Muay Thai classes. Most importantly, an Easton Muay Thai Black Shirt must embody what it means to be a “good person.” A Black Shirt must clearly exemplify Easton’s Core Values, as well as the humility, dedication, and wisdom that comes with training in the Art for a decade or more.