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.

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.

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!