Tying a karate belt correctly is an essential first step for all beginning karate students. All-Karate.com identifies two reasons why tying a karate belt in a set manner is important: to prevent the belt from coming loose or sliding around during training and to keep the ends of the belt from interfering with your fingers or hand movements. While all karate belt knots appear the same in the front, some karate instructors teach their students a method that prevents the belt from crossing over itself in the back, while other karate teachers allow the belt to cross. Determine which your instructor prefers and use that particular technique.
Without Crossover in Back
Step 1
Hold one end of the belt in your left hand at your waistline so that approximately a foot of belt dangles down. This is the belt's short end. Use your right hand to wrap the long end once around your waist. Leave the hand holding the short end in place.
Step 2
Cross the long end of the belt over the short end at your navel and wrap the long end around your waist a second time. Continue to keep the hand holding the belt's short end in place. Cross the belt's long end over the short end at the level of your navel just as you did the first time.
Step 3
Push the belt's long end under both layers of the belt, pull it out the top and line it up with the short end. The long end should now be dangling over the top of the belt's short end, with the two belt layers lying between the separate ends.
Step 4
Pull the belt's short end to the right side of your body, so that what was once the long end is pointing at a 45-degree angle down on one side while the short end is pointing at a 45-degree angle down on the other side.
Step 5
Move the short end of the belt up and place it crosswise across the top of the long end. There will be a small space at your waist level where the short end crosses the long end; pull the long end through this space.
Step 6
Tighten the knot with both hands and straighten.
With Crossover in Back
Step 1
Hold the karate belt in both hands and place the middle at your waist level so that an equal amount of belt hangs down on either side. Wrap both ends of the belt around your waist, cross the ends behind your back, and pull the two ends to the front. You should have an equal amount of belt in your right and left hands.
Step 2
Cross the left side of the belt across the right side at the level of your waist, forming an "X" in front of your body. Take the top end of the belt--the end that you just crossed over to the right side--and pull it under the portion of the belt wrapped around your waist so that you now have a portion of the belt hanging down to your left, below your waist, and a portion of the belt on your right, above the waistline. Pull on both ends to tighten.
Step 3
Drape the upper portion of the belt over the waistline so that it lies over the lower, left-hand portion. Wrap the left-hand end of the belt completely around the upper portion and tighten by pulling on both ends.
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