Belt;How do you tie, and how long are the tails?

[JazzKicker]

how do you wrap your belt? I know 2 ways: 1) put the middle of it at the center of your waist, wrap it around, tie a square knot. in the back it "crosses over". This was the "beginner" way I used for a long time. 2) Put one end (right side for me) in the small of your back, wrap to your left twice, bring out the first part of the wrap for the other tail to tie. This is neat and avoids the crossover in the back.

After it's tied, how much do you have dangling- 4", 8", down to your knees ? mine seem to have shrunk over the years....

[Lupin1]

We teach the kids the first way. Usually once they hit junior black belt I'll teach them the more advanced way. I don't hold the stationary end against the small of the back, though, I hold it against my stomach with enough hanging down to be the tail.

I just put on my belt and measured the "tails". They're almost exactly 12".

[OneKickWonder]

I do it the first way you described. That's how I learned when I was a kid. That's the only way I knew lol. I'll have to look out for the other way to see if anyone in our club does it.

[sensei8]

The way you first describe; I've been doing that since day one back in 1964...that's how we were taught, and this is how I taught/teach it. My "tails" hang down to just under the hem of the gi jacket...mid-thigh.

[JR 137]

I tie mine the second way you described. I don’t do it for the aesthetic reasons of having it look like a single belt though; it just doesn’t get tight enough for me. When I tie it like that, it loosens up and moves around too much. It goes up, down, sideways, and comes untied. After trying it the second way you described, it stays put and tied. I guess there’s a little too much slack in the belt for me when I have it crossed in back.

There’s only one other person in my dojo who ties it like me. I saw him doing it a few times in the locker room and asked him why. A few weeks later I decided to try it, and I haven’t gone back to the other way.

The tails go about mid-thigh or so. I’m not fan of the tails being really long. Not that I’m the fashion police, but the WKF guys who wear their belts with the tails going past their knees drives me crazy.

[singularity6]

I use the second method. I prefer the tails to be about a foot long, but my current belt hangs down a bit further. It annoys me because it sometimes slaps me in the face when I do certain kicks.

[Nidan Melbourne]

We teach the first way to our students, as it is the easiest one to teach our students.

Our “advanced” way is similar to the way you said the 2nd option. But we start by placing one end on the left hip and then wrap around.

Once they get the second portion back, they adjust the belt so you can tie the respective knots. And the tails are of a similar length.

My belt ends up with around 30cm for each tail, which is enough to show the full embroidery and a bit extra.

[LLLEARNER]

I hold one end on my right side and then wrap around my back 2 times then tie. My ends end up mid thighish. I also like my belt tight.

[MatsuShinshii]

The first description.

[Wastelander]

We tie ours the first way you describe, and I like mine to be a bit longer than mid-thigh. Interestingly, although you're describing a specific process in your second method, you can get the same result by just feeding your belt together as you wrap from the front, which is how I was originally taught, and did for the first four years of my training.

Now, if you grapple a lot, you might start tying it the first way, but with a lock-down version of the knot. Comes in handy!