Belt Embroidery

[David Miller]

Hello everyone. So basically i went to this website where it showed embroidery of belts in karate, and at one point i saw this black belt with the color amber. And underneath the picture it said that only shihan rank can do embroidery of the color amber to their black belts. So i wanted to ask is every school different when it comes to embroidery or is it tradition that only shihans are allowed to wear amber color black belts. Thanks

[italian_guy]

I think that every school has its own tradition. When I was in karate I use to wear a Black belt with amber embroidery gifted by my head instructor just after my shodan examination.

[Spartacus Maximus]

Italian_guy has the right answer. There are no universal traditions with embroidery for belts. However, the most commonly used colours of embroidery used on black belts is gold. Red is also used but less common. As for embroidery on red belts or red/white belts used by 7th to 10th dan in some styles or dojos, the thread is usually gold or black.

The final answer to the original question is whatever the chief instructor decides or what your association and dojo use. Look at other people of equal or higher grade check their belts and see what they have.

[David Miller]

In my dojo, a lot of black belts wear red color embroidery and i have seen 2 students wear white and a couple of them wear yellow/gold as well. There was 1 student who had blue one, and the rest has red. When i asked them why does a lot of students wear red instead of you know white or any other color they say that they like the color red on their black belts.

[Spartacus Maximus]

Well then if that is the case, it would seem that everything depends on personal preference for wherever it is you train. Personally, I suspect that this type of thing tends to be more common in relatively recent karate styles such as those derived from kyokushin and shotokan; as well as eclectic mixes.

This is not a judgment on the value of these, merely a general observation. Obviously the are certainly exceptions, but the traditional Japanese styles and their much older Okinawan predecessors that existed before 1945, tend to have a more conservative approach. In these styles dojo's colourful gis, belt embroidery would be seen as extravagant and showy. Something that goes against the ideals of modest and humility as conceived by Eastern thought and bushido.

[italian_guy]

Well then if that is the case, it would seem that everything depends on personal preference for wherever it is you train. Personally, I suspect that this type of thing tends to be more common in relatively recent karate styles such as those derived from kyokushin and shotokan; as well as eclectic mixes.

This is not a judgment on the value of these, merely a general observation. Obviously the are certainly exceptions, but the traditional Japanese styles and their much older Okinawan predecessors that existed before 1945, tend to have a more conservative approach. In these styles dojo's colourful gis, belt embroidery would be seen as extravagant and showy. Something that goes against the ideals of modest and humility as conceived by Eastern thought and bushido.

Concerning Gis my school was more conservative instead. The rule was: white only.

[Patrick]

Hello Mr. Miller,

Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. As you have another thread very similar to this, I am going to close this one and encourage the discussion to continue over there: http://www.karateforums.com/belt-embroidery-color-vt50763.html

Thanks,

Patrick