Okay, I have to speak up because this is getting annoying. In all my years of martial arts, I have never seen the need to wash a belt. They rarely if ever get dirty in regular practice in the dojo. If your belt is getting dirty off the mats, clean the mats! There is no need to wash something that doesn't get dirty. Also, once your belt reached she advanced stages of frayage (wear a black belt for 15 years and you see how it looks) running it through the wash would probably kill it.
i,m a third dan at judo been doing judo for 24yrs and never washed any of my belts and i dont think i know any body that has washed their belts either I just thought they were supposed to smell like that sorry about the spelling been broped on my head again
The belief of not washing your belt is utter BULL****! This "tradition" is not only bizarre, it is also disgusting. Think of the what you are brewing in your belt with all the dust, sweat and who knows what else mixed in there. What if some child put it in his or her mouth? The "senseis" who preach this tradition are extremely misinformed and their knowledge of their martial art should be in doubt. It is also troubling that this myth is not only present in karate, but most martial arts as well. The belt ranking system is actually, more or less a century old and its inventor is none other than Jigoro Kano (founder of judo). No self-respecting Japanese would leave any article of clothing they are going to wear unwashed. Wash your uniform (even your belt). You will not only show that you have self-respect, you will also show that you have consideration for others who will be bothered by the awful stench your unwashed belt exudes. Ans Saikyou...hindi magadang halimbawa sa darating na henerasyon ang pagturo ng mali.
kung mali ito, bkit umabot pa sa henerasyon natin ito? sa tingin ko, wala namang masama sa pagsunod nito. hindi naman ako namimilit. ang sa akin, kung gusto nilang sumunod, sumunod sila at kung hindi naman, ok lang. for the benefit of our fellow MAPpers who can't speak tagalog: ~translation~ aml01_ph: teaching something that is wrong is a bad example to the future generation. saikyou: how come it reached our generation? In my opinion, there's nothing wrong if you will follow this tradition. Im not forcing anyone to follow this. If they want to follow it, then let them follow the tradition and if they don't want to, then its ok.
well, like what rubymoon has said, if it really needs to be washed, wash it in the gentlest way possible.
The Japanese wash their belts, its a fact. I like the part in Angry White Pygamas where they put their Gi's outside to dry to show off, but keep their belts inside (because they're white)
Nope! Both in Kyrokushin Karate and now in TKD that I have been in, you never wash your belt, even new to you ones. Mine has never bled on my uniforn and In TKD we have 10 colors. IN the karate, I can see the hard work I did in all three from the seat stains still in them. In bothe I was told you wash out the knowledge gained when you do that. Think of them as memory albums.
Even though the "legend", from which the tradition of never washing your belt emerged, proved not to be ancient, the symbolism still holds true. I wouldn't toss it out entirely just because it's "only" a hundred or so years old. In many modern martial arts, it is a tightly held tradition and a lot of people enjoy the sense of importance and respect it brings to their arts. My earlier story about the philosophy behind the tradition may not be ancient (although, my guess is it has some ancient roots anyway), but it still applies and certainly lends itself well to the modern belt system. Whether you wash your belt or not, you will still travel the circle of life, both in your martial arts training and in your everyday life. With this concept in mind, I find climbing through the various colored belts (or sashes) a much more rewarding and interesting pursuit. I'll still throw the thing in the washer if it starts to stink, though.
I washed a belt the other day cause it was new and dead stiff, i don't see any problem with doing this it was impractical the way it was so i just fixed it. Kiwi
It reached our generation because people follow it believing it to be some kind of holy tradition or some zen thing. It is not ok for hygienic reasons, especially with the Department of Health's campaign against SARS. There may also be another reason as stated by my brother who practced judo before I did. He said dirty uniforms were another way to make your opponent submit (ala Dragonball, you know the stinky guy). This is why he kept two sets of uniforms, one he used for dojo training, and one he used for competitions. Since judo is a grappling art, I can see the logic. But I fail to see the logic for striking arts like karate.
Yeah, thats true there is nothing worse than someone putting a hold on you, and there sweating stinking Gi to be covering your face. It feels like you are being suffocated with a wet cloth bag on your head. Most unagreeable Kiwi
If I were a referee I would disqualify anyone who showed up in a gi that wreaked so badly. It's disrespectful, and it's cheating. You might as well just rinse your gi in chloroform.
People who wash their belts should be strung up by their...er....belts. Some belts need to be soaked because they have cheap dye, so I think it is fine to put a really heavily coloured belt in a tub of water for a while to remove excess dye. Otherwise they can stain jackets (which are rather more expensive to replace, and bleaching is bad for them). And nothing looks worse than a brand new belt. But people can do what they want with stuff they buy.
