How do you all go about teaching students, young and old, to tie their belt knots? I'd like to hear some of the ideas people have.

I just tie it in a square knot and watch my GF glare profusely. :D

I just have them follow me step-by-step. I've noticed that there seems to be two primary ways people tie their belts:

1) with the belt crossing at the small of the back (done in Okinawa-te, presumably to act like a back support)

2) with the belt crossing basically at the knot (done in the TKD class I worked out with).

I can do (1) in my sleep. I couldn't do (2) to save my life.

I know it'd be easier for most to remember something like 'right over left and left over right', but I can never seem to remember that. I tend to rely more on muscle memory for physical stuff.

Cthulhu

I have taught both adults and children, and I have them stand beside me, and tie their belt following me. In large beginner classes the colored belts would pair with a beginner, and stand beside their partner, and we would all tie our belts. Give each hand movement a number and tie on the count.

It seems to work.

Fold the belt in half. Place the fold upon your waist. Wrap it around each side, as it crosses tuck one side under the the other (as to avoid the "x" effect). Smooth it back each side to the front. One snake crawls under and out- the other snake lops over. The first snake rolls over the second and chokes it. Pull tight.

I have the student stand beside me and we start with the center of the belt at our navels, then we wrap one side of the belt around and then the other, making sude they not crossing eachoter. When we do the knot in front I make sure they do the knot the right way. If they do it wrong it looks like a limp cross. If they do it right you can twist the belt a little and it looks like an inviting date.

I can imagine the comments I will get on my previous post. Some people will be P.O.'d at me. Oh well. Lighten up. Other people will be howling as they roll on the floor. And then there will be the desperate guys who will be sending me thank yous. The comment was made as a joke, but if you are teaching a male with a good sense of humor and he is having a hard time learning how to tie his belt properly. Show it to him and then tell him the joke, he will never tie it wrong again.

That's EXACTLY how it was shown to me many years ago, and I have heard other instructors describe it the same way. Let's face it- in every way there is one dialogue for guys and another for gals. I didn't make that rule, but I darn sure try to live by it.

Now if you are teaching a husky gal with a Billy Ray Cyrus haircut, it might be an okay approach...

(Just took the heat off of you Rob!) :rofl:

Alright, guys...simmer down.

Yeesh, you're both starting to sound like Gou!

:rofl:

Cthulhu

Man, I can take a buttwhuppin' with the best of 'em- BUT THEM WORDS WAS HARSH!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I was shown how to do it the TKD way, their reasoning being it was "neater" than having it cross at the back. What ever the reason, that's how I still do it now and I like the way it looks.
Been doing it that way for so long I don't think I could the other way.

:asian:

Since we did do some grappling in Okinawa-te, we required the belt to cross in the back, to act as a sort of back protector. I know how to tie my belt without it crossing in the back, but after a decade of tying it with the cross, I feel incredibly vulnerable if I tie without the cross.

Cthulhu

Kosho ryu ties their knots some strange way so that the belt keeps coming undone

It matters not how your belt is tied, it is what it contains!! I didn't learn to tie it in the way without the cross in back until I saw others do it. What next?? Maybe a bow in back would be real cute. "Don't hit me there"!! Maybe if I lost thirty pounds, I could tie mine twice. Dang- that would make it twice as important! Sorry- just a little tired and... well I don't know. In other wrods- TIE YOUR BELT ANY FREEKIN WAY YOU PLEASE! Who cares?

The Okinawan masters didn't wear Nikes either. Does it matter?

DOES IT MATTER???????????????

BLAH BLAH FREEKIN BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!

Did you hear about the belt that was frightentd?
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When asked why he was scared ...he said, ...
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I afraid not!

hee hee....... thats ones for Dot

Speaking of afraid not ... is there anyway that anyone
knows of to successfully trim some edges off of your
belt, AND prevent it from fraying, or looking like crap?

WHAT......... TRIM YOUR BELT....... ARE YOU CRAZY!:soapbox:

As a lower rank you should work hard to not maintain a colored belt too much longer than a year at most!
(I mean how long do you want to be in 1st grade......... about?........ 1 year right! not longer..... get on with the next challenge)! If you want to kick back a bit wait until you are black and settle in with your material.

For Brown and Black Belts the wear and tear are the battle scars of use. Wear it proudly and train * train * train!!


:asian:

I agree, never trim your belt and never just throw it around toss it on the floor..etc. A lot of hard work went in to it, treat it like it.
But then again it is just a belt.

That is correct..... treat it with respect.

Yes, I know it is just a belt in cloth but it represents all your hard work and effort.

:asian:

The only reason I give any consideration to my belt is because my instructor gave it to me and had it embroidered (very nicely, too!). Even so, I don't treat it with any reverence or anything...it's just a strip of cloth. When I'm not wearing it, I just toss it into my gear bag.

As far as shortening a belt, it depends on the belt. If it's one of the cheaper colored belts, I believe those can have their ends melted to prevent fraying. If it's a belt with sewn ends, good luck!

Cthulhu

Originally posted by Cthulhu
Yeesh, you're both starting to sound like Gou!

Soon...soon my plans will be complete...

(insert maniacal laughter here)

Originally posted by Klondike93
But then again it is just a belt.

Good point. What about people who train in systems with no belts?

You're gonna make me say it, huh? The fact of the matter is
that I'm too fat to wear any belt besides a 9. My instructor
forgot, and gave me a size 8. So I have these little bitty
stubs of belt sticking out beyond my knot. So embarassing.
So I thought .. if I were to wrap it around ONCE, and trim it
to a decent length, then I'm good to go. Melting it was my first
thought, but no idea on how to do that without making the
ends all curled and black. Thanks for the humiliation!

Originally posted by Kirk
You're gonna make me say it, huh? The fact of the matter is
that I'm too fat to wear any belt besides a 9. My instructor
forgot, and gave me a size 8. So I have these little bitty
stubs of belt sticking out beyond my knot. So embarassing.
So I thought .. if I were to wrap it around ONCE, and trim it
to a decent length, then I'm good to go. Melting it was my first
thought, but no idea on how to do that without making the
ends all curled and black. Thanks for the humiliation!

I push myself to be in the next grading pool so that I got new belt instead of doing any work to the existing belt. Use this one as motivator for yourself to work a little harder(I know it is hard with your new daughter), and maybe in a few levels a size 8 will seem a little long. just for the next grading make sure your instructor has the proper size for you.

Originally posted by Kirk
You're gonna make me say it, huh? The fact of the matter is
that I'm too fat to wear any belt besides a 9. My instructor
forgot, and gave me a size 8.

Frank Trejo took 2 belts and sewed the ends together for himself.

It's called a martial arts supply store. They got 'em. Buy one. I think they are about $7.

It's called a martial arts supply store. They got 'em. Buy one. I think they are about $7.


Is that ... *sniff* *sniff* yes, that's definitely sarcasm. I thought
I recognized the smell! ;) :asian:

It DID walk like the duck, and it DID quack like the duck...

BWAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Sorry Dude! Just having a little fun....

C O ver Dare.......

M R Ducks!

M R Not!

S M R!

M R Ducks!

M R NOT!

C M E D B D Feet?

M R Ducks!

Well I'll B......

M R Ducks!

My dad used to lay that one on me all the time!!

I be thinking some people have way tooooooooo much free time on their hands. Little nursery rhymes are cute though.

Originally posted by Vince Sorry Dude! Just having a little fun....

No need to apoligize, I condone fun. ;) Was having it myself.

I actually have a rack where I store all my old belts on......... it has the crest on the left and is all hand carved with pegs sticking out to the right with white on thru the blacks there.:cool:

here's how I tie: start with belt folded in left hand. take one end of belt and place it on my right hip then circle the rest of the folded belt around my waist, usually twice. now once it's wrapped twice around my waist, I take the second end and tuck under the the two wrapped portions, I then take the starting end, that's underneath the two wrapped portions and pull it down, take that end and proceed to tie a knot, and I usually have two equal lengths on each side.

Originally posted by Goldendragon7

I actually have a rack where I store all my old belts on......... it has the crest on the left and is all hand carved with pegs sticking out to the right with white on thru the blacks there.:cool:


Mr.C.
That looked pretty cool! Did you make it yourself or have someone do it for you? I definately haven't seen anything like that out before & it looked kind of old.
Jason Farnsworth

p.s. Honest I didn't touch it or anything hanging on it!!!!!!!

Originally posted by jfarnsworth
That [Belt Rack] looked pretty cool! Did you make it yourself or have someone do it for you? I definately haven't seen anything like that out before & it looked kind of old.


It was a gift but it was all hand carved by a custom wood worker. Only about 18 years ago.


:asian:

I had to trim my yellow belt. my instructor at the time accidentally got me one that was about six sizes too big and could go around my waist around five times.

your second best option: find someone who sews. Simply chop the unwanted portion off the belt, cut about 1/2 an inch of the inside stuffing out, fold, and hem neatly. You can't even tell its been chopped if you do it right. This is what I did.

your third best option: lop off the part you don't want. get yourself to your nearest craft store (Michaels is good) and buy a bottle of StopFray. Its kind of like rubber cement, but specially made to stop fabric from unravelling. Apply to the end of the belt. Use sparingly, because it is slightly visible on the fabric. This stuff works great to keep holes in jeans from getting bigger (use on inside of fabric) and fabric ribbons from unravelling. My friend used this option on one of her TKD belts, and it looked fine unless you looked at the end very closely, because you could see a little bit of the grey stiffener padding inside it.

Of course, the best option is to just get a belt that fits. They're a couple of bucks at the supply store.

Originally posted by nightingale8472

get yourself to your nearest craft store (Michaels is good) and buy a bottle of StopFray. Its kind of like rubber cement, but specially made to stop fabric from unravelling.

Hehe, you really can buy anything in America can't you!

Ian.

Darn near!

Originally posted by vincefuess



Now if you are teaching a husky gal with a Billy Ray Cyrus haircut, it might be an okay approach...

:rofl:

An achey breaky hair mistakey!!! :rofl: