washing your belt

[white owl]

The tradition that I tell my students about it (& I tell them it's a tradition, not the gospel truth) is that all your knowledge & pain goes into your belt. So, you don't want to wash that away. I'm not sure why anyone would want to keep their pain, but oh well

I prefer to think that it goes into my mind. But, I can see what you are saying.

I tell the kids that what's the tradition says. Then I ask, "does your knowledge really go in your belt or your head?" They say, "in your head." I say, "exactly. But it's a tradition that we keep." I think it's important to explain things like that so that kids get that it's a part of what we do without them believing it's somehow mysterious.

I also tell them it's tradition to not let your belt touch the floor. Then I point out that it does touch the floor when we do push-ups & sit-ups. I tell them the point is to treat their uniform & belt with respect. Much like a police office probably wouldn't drag his uniform on the ground on the way to the hamper at night, we don't wanna do that with our belts & uniforms either.

[white owl]

Man I am so computer illiterate. I was trying to quote icemansk on dragging the uniforms an belts on the floor, anyways I agree with that you do not do that I think it shows disrespect.

[NewEnglands_KyoSa]

Man I am so computer illiterate. I was trying to quote icemansk on dragging the uniforms an belts on the floor, anyways I agree with that you do not do that I think it shows disrespect.

i completely agree, i'd like to share this story...

at our dan ceremonies, you come to the front, greet the chief master who gives you your certificate and then the following masters an instructors and usually down the line your instructor wherever he/she is gives you your belt. after you recieve it you are suppose to line up with the black belts, take your red belt off, and put your black one on. so keeping this in mind, one kid comes forward, recieves his certificate, rank, goes down the line, joins the line takes his red belt off, lets it fall to the floor in a heap, and puts is new black belt on. i was furious, absolutely furious, and told the kid that you don't take a belt that has been around your waist for a year and a half of your life and then just throw it on the floor once you get a new-er prettier colored belt. oh God, i let this kid have it. but anyways, i look back on it now and laugh, so i thought i'd share.

[bushido_man96]

Don't you think you might have been a bit hard on the kid? I've had more important pieces of clothing laying on the floor of my house, waiting to be washed in the laundry.

[NewEnglands_KyoSa]

Don't you think you might have been a bit hard on the kid? I've had more important pieces of clothing laying on the floor of my house, waiting to be washed in the laundry.

this kid didn't place it on the floor, he close to threw it. and if he didn't have to, he wouldnt have picked it up either, it was more like he was throwing it out than placing it away. especially for someone receiving black belt rank, i thought that he'd have more respect first of all, and second of all, it's a rule for it not to touch the floor, so to violate one right in the middle of your ceremony, doesn't exactly make you or us look great.

[sangngak]

The real reaso for the tradition of not washing belts is this: In the 50's when I began Karate and Kempo, there were no martial arts stores, no magazines etc so, in other words, no place to buy a Gi. In Honolulu we had one store, Hakabundo on Beretania (down by Aala park). They sometimes had gis from Japan. Gi's didn't come in a big selection of sizes. You usually bought a Gi several sizes too large because when you washed a gi, it shrank, and I mean shrank. The belt shrank also, so we didn't wash them. The belts were usually green, brown and Black, unless the instructor had some local person who could sew them for his school. When we made our green belt (took about a year or more) we had to use Rit dye, and dye our belt. This meant boiling the belt and dye in a pot. Then we'd hang it over a tree limb and get people to hang on each end so it would stretch. We'd do this until it dried and pray it hadn't shrank too much too wear. Then we still didn't wash it. We'd get a brown belt after 2-3 years and again, boil it in dye, and stretch it the best we could. In 4-5 years we'd get black and repeat the boiling.

If you notice the green covered up the dirty white, the brown covered the green OK and black covered them all up.

I still have the same belt I bought in 1959. It hangs quietly in my closet alongside other black belts with several stripes on them. When my great grandson gets his adult black belt, I'll give it to him with instructions not too wash it.

Anyway, as time passed, my friend Ed Parker sent me some magazines called "Black Belt"and asked that I pass them around in Hawaii to help get the magazine started. And soon there were MA stores etc etc.

But, now you know why the legend of "Don't wash your belt." really got started. It was just a joking thing we'd say, and today it seems some people take it seriously.

[A. Orstrom]

A lot of footballers choose not to wash their socks for the entire season due to tradition as well

I think that has more to do with superstition than tradition. There are some Major League Baseball players out there that have some weird superstitions that they adhere to as well. Not to be confused with tradition.

Yes, that's true. What I meant to focus on was that the superstition can turn into a tradition - footballers not washing their socks because the others don't. Following the "customs" of the others even though they don't believe it or feels that it is silly. I suspect that quite a few traditions are created this way, and I think it adds a certain charm to the whole thing. We practice the various arts as well, shouldn't we get to make a few traditions?

I still don't wash my belt, and I don't think I ever will. I like the symbolism in the whole "washing your ability and experience out with the dirty water".

Oh, and I don't think you can make a direct comparison between the gi and the obi - the gi is not a visible indicator of your rank. If I were to give it a bit more (too much?) thought, I think, to me, the obi represents my advancements and experience whereas my gi represents the hard work and is a symbol of equality in the dojo.

Enough ramblings for now.

__

Alexander

[Hwa Rang Warrior]

I was always told NEVER wash your belt.

[aikikenjitsu]

I've had my black belt for years and I've never seen the need to "wash" it. In the machine, it would tear it apart. If it doesn't smell and you don't drop it in dog crap, then there's no need to wash it!

The only exception being thatif it's very stiff and looks a little akward, then do something ab out it. Some brands are bette than others. It also depends on the thickness of the belt.

[tori]

I do not wash my belt because I was told not to by my instructor. I undertand the "tradition" of it and have heard the stories as to why not to, but truly I think if the belt needs to be washed, it should be.

Amazing what influence one instructor can have on a student huh?! I respect him and I respect his rules. The obi does not get washed.