As a Judo coach one of the most annoying things is seeing a judoka whose belt is constantly coming undone OR a Judoka who cannot tie their belt properly. You can usually tell beginner Judoka by how they wear their belt, many of them tend to tie the belt in a ‘fountain belt’ which is not recommended at all. A ‘fountain belt’ is when your belt comes out of the know vertically instead of horizontally.

These days there is no excuses why you cannot do you belt, there are literally stacks of videos on YouTube to help you tie your belt. So I suggest you go and put your gi on, grab your belt and follow along with the videos below and practice so you can do your belt (or Obi in Japanese properly).

Please do not wear a belt this long.

Oh before we get started it is important to cover belt size. In Judo there is a legal and illegal sized belt. For fashion reasons the following picture contains a black belt that is not only illegal in Judo comp because it is too long, but it is also unfashionable. So please by a belt that when it is tied up properly only extends no more than 15cms.

And another thing, if you are a belt colour in another martial art please wear the belt colour that you are in Judo. I have had a number of Karate of Japanese Jiujitsu practitioners ask me if they can wear the belt they are ranked in their chosen art – the answer is no you can’t. Go to a local martial arts store and invest in a white belt.