Karate Belt

Jesi Boy · White Belt

Hello Karate Forums!

I see a lot of people tying there belts with elastic bands nowadays, so that it does not come undone.

This is not so important for training, but for competition, as you get disqualified if your belt falls off.

It is also good, as you can have your belt stay in a nice loose knot, not some small and tight one.

The only problem is, I don't know how to do this!

I would really appreciate it if someone could tell me how to tie a knot with an elastic band.

Cheers!

- Jesi Boy
_________________
"It's what you do in the shadows that brings you into the light."

Wastelander · KF Sensei

To the best of my knowledge, there isn't a big trick to this--you tie the belt in a normal knot, and then you just hold the ends together, slide the elastic band up to the knot, and secure it behind where the ends come out of the knot. Now, since I don't compete I have never done this, and nobody in my dojo does this, but I've seen it done by WKF people. I just tie my belt tight enough to stay put, personally.
_________________
Kishimoto-Di | 2014-Present | Sensei: Ulf Karlsson
Shorin-Ryu/Shinkoten Karate | 2010-Present: Yondan, Renshi | Sensei: Richard Poage (RIP), Jeff Allred (RIP)
Shuri-Ryu | 2006-2010: Sankyu | Sensei: Joey Johnston, Joe Walker (RIP)
Judo | 2007-2010: Gokyu | Sensei: Joe Walker (RIP), Ramon Rivera (RIP), Adrian Rivera
Illinois Practical Karate | International Neoclassical Karate Kobudo Society

sensei8 · KF Sensei

To be frank and honest, I've never ever heard of this. Is this a current trend/fad among today's competitors??

I'm with Wastelander in that all I've ever done was make the knot tight enough to not worry about it coming loose and falling off from my waist.

Is there a special band or is it just a rubber band that I'd use to fasten things up with or is it a hair band??

Then I found this...

https://www.kyokushinworldshop.com/us/full-contact-karate-5652254/belts/knot-straps/

Why not?!

_________________
**Proof is on the floor!!!

MatsuShinshii · Black Belt

Wastelander · KF Sensei

The elastic band he is talking about is just a hair tie of the same color as the belt--for most people who do this, it's red or blue for WKF competition. They seem to like having extra thick, stiff belts in that circuit, so breaking in the belt and cinching it tight doesn't seem to be all that popular.
_________________
Kishimoto-Di | 2014-Present | Sensei: Ulf Karlsson
Shorin-Ryu/Shinkoten Karate | 2010-Present: Yondan, Renshi | Sensei: Richard Poage (RIP), Jeff Allred (RIP)
Shuri-Ryu | 2006-2010: Sankyu | Sensei: Joey Johnston, Joe Walker (RIP)
Judo | 2007-2010: Gokyu | Sensei: Joe Walker (RIP), Ramon Rivera (RIP), Adrian Rivera
Illinois Practical Karate | International Neoclassical Karate Kobudo Society

Alan Armstrong · Black Belt

In Shotokan the belt starts off white, then dyed yellow in boiling water, then again dyed for orange, in boiling water, then green... brown..each time it is dyed a darker color, till black is achieved; the fabric will loose its stiffness with all the boiling and dying, easier to tie with time.

As opposed to buying and wearing pre colored belts each time reaching a higher level, the stiffness could always be an issue and difficult to stay tied up.

A way to loosen up the belt fabric and oneself is to use it as a stretching out aid before and after class.

Nidan Melbourne · KF Sempai

I've never seen belts tied with Elastic Bands before. I compete in AKF Tournaments, and seen god knows how many people changing their belts regularly after rounds.

For Kumite; i can understand why due to the nature of combat.

For Kata; it shouldn't be as necessary to have one.

Personally why even wear it if your not going to tie it properly? And then also have to rely on something else to keep it tied up.

MatsuShinshii · Black Belt

nyramat911 · Yellow Belt

I'm a bit of a late-comer to this conversation, but I'll throw my two cents anyway.

Noah, you're correct in that it's much more common in WKF style tournaments where thicker red and blue belts (such as Shureido and Tokaido brands) are favoured, and that it's just a regular hair tie which matches the belt colour. I know some people who have these brands of black belts in the dojo and do the same- the belt is just too thick to stay in a knot properly when it's new.

However, the trick is to put on the hair tie before the final stage of the knot, so you can feed the ends of the belt through, thus ensuring the ends stay in place. Alternatively, you can put the hair tie on middle of the belt so there's no chance of it falling off, but still feed the ends though in the last step.

Jesi boy I've never seen anyone do this because they wanted a loose knot, only because their belt is too thick to maintain a small, tight one. It's quite rare to see this in the dojo, even for black belts- generally you're training so much that the belt loses its stiffness pretty quickly. The issue with competition belts is exactly that- they're for competition. In class one usually wears their rank belt, not a competition belt, so it's the rank belt which gets worn out.

Liam, I haven't competed for a few years, but higher level competitors in AKF tournaments often did this, particularly when it became trendy to use the thicker belts for kata. The thick-belt trend didn't continue into kumite, so this behaviour wasn't observed there nearly as much.

OneKickWonder · Purple Belt

This is the first I've heard of it.

I can see how it could be useful for young kids, who can't tie their belts yet. But adults? Is this really a thing?

	KarateForums.com Forum Index -> Karate	All times are GMT - 6 Hours Goto page 1, 2 Next
Page 1 of 2