Worn/Frayed Black Belts

[sensei8]

This is just from my personal experience whilst training with a variety of Okinawan senior sensei, and also from my couple of trips to Okinawa.

The belt is a piece of material. It is to be washed if it becomes dirty, or even if you want to just soften it up so it ties better - I had first hand experience of this.

Secondly, a belt holds your gi together, it's nice to fold it up and not drag it on the ground so it doesn't get dirty, but if you toss it over a sofa, or place it on the floor until you do something, I've never found that to be a no-no in Okinawa - of course you should not just leave it there, but that's just general tidiness.

Wear around the edges of a black belt is the most I've seen, occasionally a thread or two might start to come off, or the belt will start to fade, but I've not seen one that is completely white, it is always replaced.

Once again, this is my first hand personal experience from the limited world of Okinawan Karate that I have seen.

But, in the end of your day, if your sensei/dojocho says don't do something - don't do it.

I would like to make a general comment on peoples idea of 'you should never wash your belt'. Japanese and Okinawan are both very, very clean cultured people. It is imperative we clean our gi, clean our body, cut our nails, clean the dojo - why would you never wash your belt? I'm not saying every week, but I give mine a courtesy wash every once and a while - I've never read anything that I could source on good authority to tell me otherwise (no individual should take offense to that statement).

I think a lot of these traditions come from Western countries who 'assume' about things. The belt is like the Samurai's sword, it represents honour, and whatnot - but sometimes, things really are...as they seem and it is just a belt, nothing else.

I realise that this is becoming a long post, so sorry! - this is the last thing I will add. The belt system is a relatively new innovation. It was brought into Judo when belts weren't like what we have today, when the senior Judo students were awarded with a black belt - it was not from it turning dirty, it never has been - this, for sure, is a myth.

First of all...Welcome to KF!!

This too is a solid post!!

[Dobbersky]

Wow, Excellent Thread and posts

I have several belts that I wear when I'm training/teaching. I have a Purple Belt (the 2nd (8th Kyu) belt in my syllabus), My Main BB (a cotton 50mm belt) which after 2 years is only slightly faded where I tie it. I also have a BB with a red stripe and a BB which is split length with red (I also have a white belt which I wear when visiting other clubs. I explain to my students all the time its the karateka that makes the belt NOT the belt makes the karateka. There is a lot of snobbery about. "I'll never change my BB.....I'll never wash it............." etc. I can say that none of my students or me have Dan Bars or Embroidary on our belts. if we "threw" all our belts into a basket and asked someone who'd not seen us training before to hand out the belts/grades to each of us I am sure they would get the grades 99% correct.

In my Syllabus the final belt is a Black/Red block Belt. I know that in many schools "Red Belt" is the last belt in the system and this is what the Senior Yudansha are wearing. Does this mean that BB is just an inbetween belt just like the Kyu grade belts?

I never wash my belt, but not too sure if I'm happy to wear a frayed and faded BB either. I think as with my GI it should be neat and tidy and smart. I always make sure my students are aware that for BB I expect their Gi's etc to be presentable at all times. We as Yudansha are embassadors to the martial arts and we need to present ourselves that way at all times.

OSU!!!!

[sensei8]

Just for grins and giggles...

I'm 52 years old, and in that, my hair is fading AND frayed AND turning gray; just as my Yudansha's have and are...sheech...can't I have one or another instead of both happening at the same time?

[likeke34]

i think it's just a personal preference... I outgrew my 1st black belt a long time ago lol... I was just a teen and when I became an adult, there's no way I could even tie my belt anymore haha...

my 2nd belt started to get extremely ugly and busted looking... I remember my sensei telling me i must be training hard and that people actually like it when their belt starts to look like mine... he even said he's heard of people that purposely washed it w/bleach to get it looking like how mine was...

personally, i didn't like it though lol... when i was a kid white belt, i remember wanting to be a black belt more than anything and i'd see some of the busted black belts and worried that when i became a black belt, it would eventually turn back white again!

so, when my black belt started going white... i just replaced it with a new nice tokaido belt! i personally just like my belt black and don't really care for the experienced look because of my experience/thoughts as a kid whitebelt... just my 2 cents on the matter