AuthentiKan

We are happy to present the United States Taekwondo Academy (USTA) Black Belt Certificate!

The certificate is press-printed on large (11” x 17”) linen cardstock with a perforation to separate the certificate from the record tab. The result is an 11” x 14” certificate, the standard size for which you can find many good frames, and an 11” x 3” record tab.

Figure 1 shows the blank certificate with the record tab removed.

Figure 2 shows the way the certificate might look like before removing the record tab—names, date, and rank filled in, authentication stamps placed, and, for record filing, 3-hole punched.

The following are special features of the new black belt certificate:

First, USTA’s logo of a power high kick figure and red and blue Taegeuk are prominently displayed at the upper center of the certificate to represent the school’s specialization in Korean taekwondo. The South Korean flag has the Taegeuk in the center. Taegeuk is the Korean cognate of Taiji, the Chinese concept of yin and yang.

To represent the integration or combination of Korean martial arts with American spirit, we used Old Glory red and blue, the official colors for the U.S. flag, instead of Korean red and blue.

Behind the Taegeuk and the logo, a larger light gray high kick logo appears in the background as a watermark.

The thick black lines at the certificate’s top and bottom represent the black belt. Look closely at the real certificate and you will see a fine stitching pattern design on these belts. The pattern is so fine that it cannot be reproduced using a normal photocopier. It’s a security feature to prevent forgery.

USTA’s website URL, sanantonio-martialarts.com, appears on the bottom black belt. Since a martial arts certificate is your billboard at your student’s home or office, it is always a good idea to include your domain name.

In the center of the certificate is the name of the school and the words black belt certification translated as Korean hangul.

The number of colors is kept to a minimum: only true black, Old Glory red, Old Glory blue, and gray. This keeps the certificate simple yet sophisticated and in good taste.

The entire certificate is 11×17, including a record tab at the bottom to use for maintaining your records.

A perforated line makes it easy to tear off the record tab.

All our custom certificates are printed on cardstock paper. They are thick, tested for laser or inkjet printers, and much better than the thin and flimsy certificates anyone can get in an office supply store. Your students work hard to earn their ranks. Reward and encourage them with your unique certificates, not the type that anyone can purchase and print at home on their own printer.

We are really happy with this custom certificate. It is a professional, modern style certificate that hints at the glory of both Korean and American traditions.

This is a gup certificate for the United States Taekwondo Academy in San Antonio, Texas. Please see USTA Black Belt Certification post for a detailed review of the concept behind the certificate design.

Some martial arts school owners think rank certificates are not as important as black belt certificates and thus try to save money by buying stock certificate papers from local office supply stores and doing a DIY design or using certificate templates from a CD.

That is the wrong approach.

Gup, or rank, certificates are very important. They have the potential to become billboards at your student’s home or office for years or even a lifetime. A typical school will issue five times more ranking certificates to students than black belt certificates. The price difference between a certificate professionally designed just for your school and a DIY certificate that looks like it could be from any school is less than 50 cents per certificate. An amateur design is as obvious as a new student trying to pretend that he is a black belt. A high quality professional certificate will bring you more students, whereas a cheap certificate will sometimes discredit the school. Over the long term, it is cheaper to have your certificates professionally done than to try to save a few cents.

This gup certificate is press-printed on standard letter-size cardstock. It is unique to the school and reinforces USTA’s branding.

This certificate is designed with the belt line blank to allow the appropriate belt color to be added when printing a rank certificate. On the example above, orange belts are printed on the certificate.

Unlike the black belt certificate, which has the standard text preprinted, for this gup certificate we leave the bottom half blank so it is more flexible and can be used for different purposes.

A certificate like this enhances the branding of the school and makes students feel like they are earning something important. The document is a great encouragement for your good students.

Double Crescent Taekwondo School has a new name and a new logo: “Double Side Kick Taekwondo.” We were excited about designing its new certificate. The new certificate is similar to the old one in layout to emphasize the continuation of the school’s teachings and tradition. At the same time, the new color, blue instead of red, and the new name and logo communicate the new start.

Compared to the original certificate, we have upgraded the paper stock to a higher grade linen paper.

Below the school name is the same name written in Korean hangul. On the four corners are four Chinese characters, adopted in Korea as hanja, to represent Double Side Kick Certification.

As a security feature, we added the school’s new name on a fine print line of 2 pt. size text across the bottom of the certificate.
The watermark on the certificate reads “Taekwondo.”

We are happy to announce the creation of Stevenson’s Superior Martial Arts certificates.

The shield and fist design in the center is inspired by the school’s logo.

To be consistent with the school logo, the main colors in the certificate are black, dark gray, and gold.

The Chinese character on the right reads “Kenpo Tang Soo,” literally fist, low (or method), Tang (or China), and hand, meaning Kenpo Karate. The characters on the left read “dragon tiger spirit,” meaning the spirit of dragon and tiger. A dragon design is on both top corners and tigers are on the bottom corners, representing dragons dominating the sky and tigers dominating the earth.

This certificate has a full bleed and a traditional Chinese style border. The black border represents the black belt, or the mastery of martial arts. The gold to represents the superior, golden standard.

Please see Zhen Shou Dao Gung Fu Certificate Translation for a detailed review of the authentic Chinese translation of this certificate.

The design of this certificate is traditional in style. Ancient style Chinese characters are used on the four corners and old English script is used in the title.

Different shades of green are the main colors used for the Zhen Shou Dao Gung Fu certificate since the school’s martial arts style is praying mantis.

A large, light gray outline of the praying mantis logo, supplied by the client, is placed behind the text in the center of the certificate as a watermark.

The Chinese characters for Zhen Shou are on the right hand corners of the certificate; the characters for Winded Fist are on the left.

Beneath the top border and above the bottom border are fine text lines with the word “WILLIS,” the surname of the school owner, repeated as an authentication and security feature.

We also offer martial arts stamps in traditional wooden handle red rubber style. Just mention it in your order form.

From our customer: 

I would like to say thank you for your fine craftsmanship, and excellent presentation, of the Martial Arts Master Stamp that I purchased in 2005.

It wasn’t until recently that I was able to utilize the stamp on a public basis. Since use of the stamp began I have only received compliments on the clearness, crispness of the design. Your employees were able to cleanly present a lot of information, both in Chinese and English language, without making the stamp look busy.  

Not only does the stamp work immaculately, the accompanying certificate(s) of meaning, ensures that the calligraphy gives accurate description and explanation of the characters on the stamp! In addition, the certificates are made for presentation; allowing a person to proudly display the certificate without hesitation. This is important, because–as you and your staff already knows–a stamp is more than just ink, it is a sign of one’s character. In ancient times a stamp gave the reader insight to the person in which the stamp represents. The certificates also allow those who do not read, or speak Chinese have a sense of security in the meaning of the stamp [and] re-assuring a person that the calligraphy doesn’t present with false meaning. 

For the reasoning given, I say thank you to your staff and yourself for such a fine product.

Gratefully,
William Schoonover, Nidan
Shaolin Chuan Fa Martial Arts

Because of our reputation for absolutely the best Chinese name translations, we have been getting more and more orders for certificate stamps orders and Certificates of Meaning. We don’t just copy and paste from a dictionary; our naming process takes almost two hours plus time for reviewing and editing. It takes so much brain power that we are limited in the number we can do per day. We have some jobs still pending from December. I apologize for the long delay but want you to know that we do only the best, even though it takes considerable time.

To reduce the load, we have increased the price for a Certificate of Meaning from $50 to $99. The price for the stamp only remains the same. We will have another price adjustment in the near future. What we really want to do is not increase the price, but devote more time to martial artists who really care about their good name and image. We will be creating packages instead of selling just “self-inking stamps.” The starting price will be higher, but the true value you will receive will also be higher. We have been providing stamps but have not been giving you the advice on how to use them and make them really work to enhance your personal brand. Now we are going to do that.

You will be given a special discount if you have purchased school or instructor stamps in the past and would like to upgrade to the package offering. What you have paid can be applied to the new package price plus you will receive an extra discount. We will send you the details via e-mail.

A typical technical or literal translation can be done by a native Chinese language speaker with adequate understanding of both written Chinese and written English. Translating a certificate, however, requires a much higher level of language skill plus greater understanding of both cultures. The reason is that most serious certificates are written in Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese, which a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient China. This type of Chinese is different from any modern spoken form of Chinese.

Here is an example of a martial arts certificate translation we recently completed.

The original text:

“Be it known that the named individual has appeared before the governing council of Feng Quan Si Wu Shu.  After examination in the science of Zhen Shou Dao, the named person has satisfactorily passed examination and has attained the rank of _______ (rank attained)”

The Chinese translation:

Note that:

1. The Chinese translation retains the essence of the original English text but is written in the proper Chinese order that reads the most authentically. In English the name of the governing council appears first and then the style (Zhen Shou Dao), but in Chinese translation, in this particular case, it is more proper to mention the governing council at the end.
    
2. Each word and each name can be translated many ways. Often the literal translation is not the best translation. The words we used were carefully chosen to retain the meaning and yet demonstrate authenticity with a high language level.
    
3. The sentences were formed so they have exactly the same number of characters, a form of symmetry that is valued by the Chinese because it demonstrates mastery of the language.

We have created this large 11″ by 17″ medium-weight cardstock black belt martial arts certificate for Anshin Arashi Budo Bugei Kai. The client, Dr. Vernon Love, provided the beautiful vector aikido artwork and we created the unique layout and added the black belt heading, Japanese translation, and typesetting. The images below show the way the certificate looks after adding instructor stamps and a security edge stamp.

Concept 3
 

Final version

The header is a black belt across the top of the certificate with the organization’s name in English and in Japanese kanji. Japanese kanji is the Japanese adaptation of Chinese characters.

The school, Anshin Arashi Budo Bugei Kai, practices Aikido, Aiki Ju-jutsu, and judo. It is heavy into throws, especially aiki-type throws. The image in the center is a good representation of what the school does. The same image is also used as a watermark in the background to help prevent forgery.

On the right side of the certificate is a description of the school and art in Japanese. It shows that all members achieving the specified rank have been certified by the Ryu Soke’s personal authority.

On the left side is a typical diploma format and text in English: “This certifies that [name] has successfully completed all of the requirements and standards required for promotion to [rank] in the art of [name of the art] and is entitled to all of the rights and privileges appertaining thereto.”

We provide Word and PDF templates that allow the client to easily customize the name, rank, and art on the certificate. Since the certificate is 11 inches tall and 17 inches wide, a wide-format printer is needed to print onto the certificate.

“I like it just how it is, everything is perfect, print it up. Thanks, V. Love, MD”

“I am really pleased, I know I gave you a very difficult order, and you did excellent. I will pass your company’s name to all of my martial art associates. Thanks, Vernon M. Love, MD“

Advanced Calligraphy Set

Good Characters | Authentikan has worked with Lam Sam Yick, one of the most reputable Chinese brush makers for over a hundred years, to develop this quality calligraphy kit (limited supply) for the advanced calligrapher.

Unlike unbranded calligraphy kits that are good-looking but low quality, this kit’s maker has put its reputation behind the product and the quality is guaranteed.

Includes four top grade brushes, one ink stick, one ink stone, one brush rest, and one absorbant felt. Packaged in a wooden storage case.

Beginner’s Calligraphy Set

This calligraphy set has three brushes, one ink stick, one ink stone, one brush rest, and one water dropper. The wooden carrying and storage box is made to protect your Calligraphy Kit. The case will last for a very long time. It measures 11-5/16″ x 3-3/4 ” x 1-15/16″. The entire kit weights 1.13 lbs.