Free karate tips

How to tie a Karate Belt

The Karate Belt Tie

Knowing how to tie a Karate Belt is the first thing an aspiring Karate student should learn. Our photo tutorial will show you in steps how to do it. We also have a video clip prepared.


karate belt tie

Click here for our Step-by-Step Photo Guide on How to tie a Karate Belt

Click here to view the How to tie a Karate belt video clip / quicktime movie!

There are many ways to tie a Karate belt. What most Karate instructors agree on is as follows:

  • The belt shall sit above the hip bones and shall be tied firmly, so that it doesn’t loosen or come off during the training session.
  • The ends of the belt shall be of equal length, with both ends of the belt exiting the knot downwards. This reduces the chances of the belt to interfere with any movement or your hands or fingers getting caught in it.
  • Do not let the belt cross itself at the back.
karate belt overcross
This picture shows Sensei Terry, a master of the unusual Santak Laos style. Must be Indonesian or something! Exponents of this style are known for their ferocious sense of color, long white beards and an uncanny ability to climb chimneys. :-) They are also known to have their belts cross over at the back.

Some Dojos (Karate schools) make a point from not letting the belt cross itself at the back, mostly for aesthetic reasons and perhaps also for comfort reasons. Other Dojos do not pay much attention to belt tieing, and some schools teach tieing the belt in a way that makes it physically impossible not to have the belt go overcross (view video clip).

We’ll show you an easy way to tie the Karate belt so that is fulfills all requirements AND it doesn’t cross over at the back. Neato!

Last 10 forum posts:

17 comments about “How to tie a karate belt”

  1. July 20th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
    Jeremy said:

    In viewing your video about how to tie a karate belt - why do you make such a big deal about tying the belt properly and then use a granny knot to tie […] more

  2. November 25th, 2006 at 6:43 pm
    william said:

    thats how the korean arts tie theres crossover at back

  3. June 10th, 2007 at 11:43 am
    steve said:

    this is a wonderfull site

  4. August 11th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
    Sue said:

    My son just started karate and this site is absolutely wonderful!! Thanks for all the info…I have bookmarked the site so I can refer back to it ofte […] more

  5. December 21st, 2007 at 5:42 pm
    Adam said:

    Well, properly tied belt should not let gi fall off your body even if it’s untied (i mean the knot) because of hard training.

  6. April 6th, 2008 at 10:42 am
    Giuseppe_S said:

    i tend to tie my belt the TKD way, where you place the centre of the belt just under the naval region and cross over at the back. My sensei hasn’t sai […] more

  7. June 20th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
    Charles said:

    Actually tying the belt with a cross adds back support. Which is the main reason for wearing a belt. Having no cross is only for looks and it’s a newe […] more

  8. October 11th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
    syamanand said:

    i am studying karate in a institution my master says that our karate style is harshiyami, r u heard about this, is this style is correct please replay […] more

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