Learning to Tie A Karate Belt

One of the first difficult techniques every new martial arts student must learn is that of learning to tie their karate belt (referred to as an ‘obi’ in the Okinawan tradition).

The karate belt, or obi, wasn’t introduced into the martial arts until after the second world war when the martial arts began to flourish in more and more areas. As the martial arts continued to multiply, so did the colors and styles of belts. Now not only are there numerous colors of karate belts, there’s also many different styles including the traditional double wrap belt, the single wrap belt, and even a Velcro belt complete with pre-tied knot!

Our focus for this tutorial is how to tie a traditional double wrap karate belt. While the chart below is an excellent reference on its own, our online martial arts students have the benefit of referring to a video to better assist them in learning to properly tie their karate belt. The video lesson is also included in the Martial Arts Skills and Drills Library.