Yeah thanks for all the cool advice guys. I will talk to him about it. I can imagine his face if he said "err would you mind your name being on my belt" lol. I dunno. He founded the Shikata Shotokan so maybe i could have that rather than his name or just shotokan. I know i have a long time to wait (six months), but like i have said it's going to be very important and prescious to me so i feel it needs to be right. Once you spend that much on an embroidered belt you can't really go back if you don't like it.

So guys another question,.....

Satin or silk?

Why can' t you just have it plain? That's what I'd go for anyway (if I had the choice).

We are given our black belts pre-embroidered - they have your rank embroidered on one tab, karate in japanese on the other - if you want your name on it you do that seperately. Mainly only the senior sensei's have their names on them though

Why can' t you just have it plain? That's what I'd go for anyway (if I had the choice).

Ohhh no way, i would much prefere something on it.

Well I'm a long way from shodan at the moment. I might change my mind after all the sweat to get there!

I recomend getting a good black belt (shureido or tokaido) and having the style done on one end in kanji and your name in katakana on the other end. My preference is the shureido black belts. I have always worn cotton belts but I have ordered mysefl a satin shureido belt. I also recomend having the belt done in Japan or Okinawa so that the translations are correct. If you need help with them let me know and I can have anything you need translated so that it is accurate.

Oh cool, thats great thanks Brandon, i will probably take you up on that!.

Yes fish thats what i'm thinking there has been a lot of sweat and hard work getting to where i am, thats why i want my belt to be perfect...hope that doesn't sound stupid.

Instead of satin or silk, I would just get a regular old cloth belt, like what Brandon has mentioned. I think in the long run it will be more durable. I would be too worried about tearing up a satin or silk belt. However, I tend to be a bit rough on things, too.

Well I'm a long way from shodan at the moment. I might change my mind after all the sweat to get there!

Don't sweat it Fish. I've been a black belt for a while. I still wear it plain.

Here is a pic of me wearing my old tokaido cotton belt. The pic is about 9 months old: http://fisherkarate.com/brandon/brandon-welcome-pic-web.jpg

Here is a copy of the pic thats a bit bigger

http://fisherkarate.com/brandon/DSC00489.jpg