If you are one of those students, one of the first lessons as a karate initiate is the importance of proper training gear usage.
Every karate student begins their journey with two cornerstone pieces of gear. First is the gi, which is short for keikogi. It roughly translates to practice clothes.
A gi is one example of a traditional training uniform worn by eastern martial artists while they practice their craft and learn.
Then there is your obi, the Japanese term for the karate belt. For any karate students serious about mastering their training, learning how to tie a karate belt properly should be a top priority.
Even though it might seem daunting early on, you should not get discouraged. Patience and determination are imperative for any aspiring karate student that wants to succeed.
What Is a Karate Belt Exactly?
A karate belt is just a broad sash, but in this case, an obi refers to a belt that distinguishes your specific training level and your proficiency in karate.
Belts are a functional addition to your karate uniform by keeping your gi in place during sparring and training. Obis can also help identify your skill and rank as a karate student to instructors and other students.
Karate is less about grappling and focuses more on calculated striking than most comparable martial arts. So the method of tying a karate belt is more about presentation than, say, a judo belt or a taekwondo belt.
Why Is It Important To Learn How To Tie a Karate Belt?
The act of ritual is pivotal to learning karate, and wearing your belt is one of the most meaningful rituals of this ancient martial art.
To practice karate successfully, one must be dedicated, focused, and disciplined, and not just during training.
The belt represents more than a mere piece of cloth tied around your waist. Obis and gis are to karate students as knives are to chefs and instruments are to musicians. They are essential tools of your craft.
Your whole practice uniform becomes an extension of your karate, especially your belt. How you treat and maintain your gear is a direct reflection of your approach to training and your level of dedication to mastering the art of karate.
If your karate belt is not tied correctly, it can come across as a sign of disrespect. Incorrectly worn obis can signal that you do not respect the martial arts or prove that you exhibit poor attention to detail.
Neither of these qualities is good in a karate student.
You may think it is a trivial detail, but such errors can distract your karate instructors and fellow students. When you practice martial arts, you are responsible for learning how to tie a belt in karate the proper way, and it is not something to take lightly.
A student whose belt is tied neatly and correctly displays healthy respect for the art of karate and an understanding of the significance and history behind the obi.
The Truth Behind Karate Belt Rankings
The history of the karate belt is almost as old as the practice of karate itself.
In ancient times, karate belts worn by students held up trousers during training and combat. Later on, the obi helped keep certain valuable items and weapons safe and secure, like a utility belt.
As karate evolved, different color belts denoted various clans, social ranks, or regions. The belts also advertised whatever style of martial arts the wearer practiced for the world to see.
Obis might even provide a hint about what school the warrior attended for training. Rankings among these schools followed specific color patterns that separated students into beginner, advanced, and master groups.
Traditionally, karate students kept the same belt all throughout their training and never traded it in for a new one. While they might trade in their ruined gis, obis were supposed to stay with them their whole lives.
As training went on, the belt would turn yellow from excessive sweat. Obis would turn green from students who trained in the grass. They were stained brown from practicing on packed earthen yards.
After years and years of blood, sweat, toil, and sacrifice, the belt would often turn a dark brown or dirty black.
Even though hundreds and hundreds of years have passed since those early days of karate training, these revered traditions still live on in many modern karate schools and dojos.
In the years between World War I and World War II, the Japanese developed a ranking system that they called the dan. The system used the traditional ranking colors and began with white for new students.
Once students achieved mastery and wore all the obi colors, only then were they given black belts.
These rankings have changed over the centuries, but colorful obis still help categorize the skillset and proficiency of karate students today.
How Do I Get My First Karate Belt?
White belts still represent the earliest stages of karate training, so they will be the first belt you receive. You can safely assume that any other student wearing a white belt is also just starting to learn martial arts.
In Japan, the color white represents death, and in that culture, the white obi symbolizes the death of your old life and the birth of a new perception of reality.
While it varies from school to school, there are usually little to no requirements that you must meet to snag a white belt.
It is generally presented together with your first gi. One of the main reasons you receive a white belt is to show you proper usage when you practice how to tie a karate belt properly.
In American Kenpo Karate, there are ten different colored rankings. Once a student receives their first level black belt, there are nine more black belt levels to complete.
- White
- Yellow
- Orange
- Purple
- Blue
- Green
- 3rd Degree Brown
- 2nd Degree Brown
- 1st Degree Brown
- 1st-10th Degree Black
Like white belts, each color has a deeper meaning and symbolism behind it.
- Yellow belts are given to karate students to represent the first beam of sunlight that climbs over the horizon at dawn, bringing hope and new life to the world.
- The orange belt symbolizes the sun’s strength and steady improvement through dedicated practice.
- Purple belts stand for the color of the coming dawn, so karate students who are entering the more advanced stages of their karate training receive this belt.
- The blue belt symbolizes the minds and bodies of karate students and gets awarded to those who have begun learning technical karate skills.
- Green belts represent the steady growth of new life underneath the sun, and students who show that they are successfully refining their new karate skills will get these belts.
- The brown belt represents ripening plants that are ready to be harvested, and students who earn brown belts have skills that are beginning to mature.
- Students who have begun to achieve a deeper understanding of karate’s mental and physical tenets will receive a black belt. When a student earns their black belt, it shows that they have mastered the fear of death.
Different organizations will use different belt color systems, but most of them mimic this pattern closely.
Black Belt Degrees
Black belt ranks get differentiated by half-inch red tips in the second, third, and fourth degrees.
A five-inch red block will get added once a student reaches the fifth degree.
Three more half-inch stripes distinguish the sixth through ninth degrees.
Two five-inch blocks get added for the tenth degree, separated by half an inch of space.
Once you earn your third-degree black belt, your rankings are based more on contributions toward the sport rather than technical prowess.
To climb the ranks as a karate student, one must pass a karate grading exam for every subsequent level.
Karate Grading Exams
In order to advance to the next level as a karate student, you must show improved technique and deepening knowledge of fundamentals, form, and sparring. Karate grading exams determine whether a student deserves a new belt.
Some of these examinations include written and oral testing along with the testing of practical skills.
These testing requirements will vary based on your skill level and experience. You may need to log a certain amount of hours, show consistent growth and proficiency, and demonstrate quantifiable progress to pass the exam.
In the end, it is up to your instructor whether or not you are awarded a higher rank after the examination.
How To Tie a Karate Belt Step By Step
Though there are several different belt colors and rankings to decipher, tying a karate belt is a pretty universal experience. It does not matter what color karate belt you wear since the overall process will look the same across the spectrum.
When you are just starting out, trying to tie your belt correctly can seem intimidating, especially if you watch a higher-level student do it in front of you with lightning speed and accuracy.
Remember that they were once in the same place as you, and everyone has to start somewhere.
Read on to discover this helpful step-by-step guide on how to tie a standard karate belt knot.
Take note that this guide is based on the traditional Japanese obi style and is used by most new karate students when they start training.
Step 1
Start by placing your hands in the center of the belt. Hold it out in front of you and let the ends of the belt hang down.
Ensure that both ends of your obi match up and place your belt just below your navel. The belt should come to rest on or right above your hips and the top of your gi pants.
Step 2
Take the ends of the belt and pull them behind your waist and then your back. Switch your hands and grip the opposite ends, then pull the belt back around to the front of your waist.
Check that the belt is still an even length on both sides, and take care not to twist it. The obi should lay flat all the way around your back and waist.
Step 3
Hold both ends out in front of you, then take one end of the karate belt and lay it neatly atop the opposite end. It should make an x with the hanging ends of the belt.
Step 4
Keep the crisscrossed belt steady, holding it close to your body, and then loop the top end of the belt underneath all of the belt’s layers.
Step 5
Pull the top end towards your body and pull it tight, but not too tight. It forms the base of your knot.
Step 6
Hold the base of the belt steady and grip the bottom end of the belt. Then, neatly flip that end over so it’s facing the other way.
Step 7
Now cross the top end of the belt over the bottom end to form a small hole.
Step 8
Reach your hand through the hole and grab onto the top end, then pull it through the hole and tighten the knot one final time.
When you are done, both of the hanging ends of the belt should be the same length. If they are not, untie the knot, adjust the ends, so they hang symmetrically, and retie the knot.
Karate Belt Variations
Different dojos and schools can ascribe to various methods and ideas about how to tie a karate belt. There might be a dozen ways to tie the same knot in your karate belt or a dozen different knot styles to choose from.
The longer you practice tying a proper knot with your obi, the more you are bound to encounter various knots and styles and techniques that vary in difficulty.
Here is a variation on the traditional belt knot method you can try instead.
This style of tying your belt eliminates the crossing of the obi across a student’s back. Some students find this more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing.
Step 1
Start by holding the belt directly in front of you and holding the right end of the belt across your stomach.
It should hang just a few inches past where you want the belt to hang when it is tied.
Step 2
Now pull the left end of the belt behind you until it is wrapped around your waist.
Step 3
Repeat this motion and wrap the belt around your waist one more time. Make sure you hold the belt steady and keep it from twisting, maintaining the position of the belt’s right side.
Step 4
Carefully tuck the left side of the belt under both layers and then pull it up.
Step 5
Now pull both ends of the obi firmly and form a tight base.
Step 6
Fold the left side of the belt down and tuck the right side under the left, towards your right side.
Step 7
Loop the right end of the belt around the left end and through the hole.
Step 8
Pull your final knot tight.
If you find the ends are uneven, you should untie the belt, adjust the length, and retie your obi.
How Long Does It Take To Tie a Karate Belt?
On average, it takes a karate student less than five minutes to properly tie their belt.
New students might take longer to get the hang of it and might take a bit more to get the belt tied correctly. However, with patience and practice, you will find that tying up your belt gets easier and easier, until one day you can do it in less than a minute, without blinking an eye.
Keep in mind that presentation is much more important than speed when learning how to tie a karate belt.
Final Thoughts
Karate gear is an essential aspect of karate, even for the newly initiated student. Once you obtain your gi and your obi, it is vital to learn how to use them properly.
Learning how to tie a karate belt in Kenpo is vital because it represents ritual, dedication, discipline, and focus. If you tie your belt incorrectly, it can read as disrespectful and lazy.
Feel free to read out step-by-step guides as many times as you need, and remember to practice, practice, practice.
Whatever you do, don’t get discouraged if you can’t tie your belt perfectly right off the bat. As you will come to see, mastering this martial art takes plenty of patience and thick skin.
So don’t worry. You will be tying that obi like a pro soon enough.
In the meantime, we will be here with more helpful articles like this through every phase of your karate journey.
