kidswarrior
Senior Master
After watching the KFSS clips I posted earlier, someone asked me a good question: Why are they wearing gis and belts?
Short answer is this (I wasn't there, so am going by what I've read, or heard from instructors): When Jimmy Woo first got his El Monte studio up and running in late 50s/early 60s, no one had hear of kung fu (took the TV character 'Caine' in the 70s to do that). So, Jimmy called his art Karate Kung Fu (musta killed him). And so with the name, the uniform followed. I'm also guessing Japanese/Okinawan gis were the only MA uniforms you could get then, anyway.
Once everyone is in gis (tho I've seen Jimmy in a white gi, black gi, kung fu silks with no shirt, formal silks, dress pants and wifebeater undershirt while teaching, and probably some other things too), the belts inevitably followed. At first, Jimmy decided he'd be the only black belt, and everyone else would be white belts. This eventually changed to colored belts (yellow, green, brown), and nine degrees of black, 9th being Master.
This is all for formal settings/showings, tho. In studio workouts, you see everything from full uniform, to gi pants and T shirt, to cut off sleeve T shirt and shorts--but almost always with a belt.
Short answer is this (I wasn't there, so am going by what I've read, or heard from instructors): When Jimmy Woo first got his El Monte studio up and running in late 50s/early 60s, no one had hear of kung fu (took the TV character 'Caine' in the 70s to do that). So, Jimmy called his art Karate Kung Fu (musta killed him). And so with the name, the uniform followed. I'm also guessing Japanese/Okinawan gis were the only MA uniforms you could get then, anyway.
Once everyone is in gis (tho I've seen Jimmy in a white gi, black gi, kung fu silks with no shirt, formal silks, dress pants and wifebeater undershirt while teaching, and probably some other things too), the belts inevitably followed. At first, Jimmy decided he'd be the only black belt, and everyone else would be white belts. This eventually changed to colored belts (yellow, green, brown), and nine degrees of black, 9th being Master.
This is all for formal settings/showings, tho. In studio workouts, you see everything from full uniform, to gi pants and T shirt, to cut off sleeve T shirt and shorts--but almost always with a belt.