When you think of martial arts, you think of the obvious. UFC, Bruce Lee, ninjas and samurai…Seriously though, you think of punches, kicks and take downs. You think of athletes moving swiftly and efficiently. The other side that is often placed in the back of our mind is the discipline, focus, confidence, cleanliness. CLEANLINESS! Come to class with a dirty uniform or no uniform at all…you just don’t feel the part! You have to look like you’re ready to practice!

The belt is a crucial part of the uniform. Though it is but a piece of cloth to show your rank to others, it is also a trophy to remind you how hard you have worked up to that point. Take care of your belt! Don’t drag it around and don’t lose it! Treat it with respect. Wearing it properly will also make you look more disciplined.

Problem is…how do you tie it? I’ve seen kids just wrap it around their waist a couple times and loosely tuck the ends anywhere they could. I’ve seen parents tie the belt like a shoe lace. I don’t blame y’all. There are many ways to correctly tie the belt. There are tons of videos circulating through YouTube on how different schools tie their belts. Here at EvolveAll in Arlington, VA, we do the “Hollywood” knot as the primary way to tie the belt.

Here’s how:

1) Evenly fold the belt in half.

2) Place the middle of your belt on your waist

3) While holding the middle of the belt on your waist, wrap one end of the belt

(side 1) around the waist.

4) Take the hand that was on the middle of the belt and wrap the other end (side 2) around the waist in the opposite direction ON TOP of the belt that you wrapped the first time (side 1).

5) You should now have 3 layers of belt right under your belly button.

6.) Take the top layer end and wrap it around the other layers to secure the belt.

7.) Grab both ends of the belt and cross them.

8.) Take one end and put it through the hole like you’re tying a knot.

9.) Pull both ends horizontally to tighten the knot which should look like a fortune cookie.

10.) BELT TIE COMPLETE