# How to turn a white belt into a black belt?



## MartialArtist666 (Mar 2, 2017)

Hi I've started training in Karate and had to buy a white belt. I like the color black though, how do I turn my white belt into a black belt?


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## Blindside (Mar 2, 2017)

Rit dye is quick and easy.


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## Dirty Dog (Mar 2, 2017)

Lots of training.


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## Buka (Mar 2, 2017)

You can't really turn it into a black one.

They'll make you do some stuff, then, when you can do the stuff the way they like, they'll either give you a whole new belt or put some tape stripes onto the white belt you got. Either way they'll make you do some more, other stuff, as well as make you do the first stuff over and over again, then, when they're happy with all that stuff, they'll give you another stripe....or another belt. They'll keep doing this. It can drive you crazy. 

Welcome to MartialTalk, by the way.


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## KangTsai (Mar 2, 2017)

Check out some dye types.


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## KangTsai (Mar 2, 2017)

Check out some dye types.


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## hoshin1600 (Mar 2, 2017)

show up every day.


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## Danny T (Mar 2, 2017)

MartialArtist666 said:


> Hi I've started training in Karate and had to buy a white belt. I like the color black though, how do I turn my white belt into a black belt?


You want to turn the belt you purchased into a black belt...dye it.
You want to develop black belt skills thereby attaining a black belt in Karate...train/practice as much as you can with an open humbly attitude, help others better their skills, and it will happen...in time. Enjoy the journey.


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## Bill Mattocks (Mar 2, 2017)

All the good black belts I know are still white belts.


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## punisher73 (Mar 2, 2017)




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## punisher73 (Mar 2, 2017)

In all seriousness, belt colors are earned through your particular school/style/organization and represent a certain level of knowledge and skill.

Some schools may have looser requirements as to acceptable uniform (gi) colors, but never letting students pick a belt color.


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## Bill Mattocks (Mar 2, 2017)

You guys know we're getting trolled, right?  I mean really.


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## Gerry Seymour (Mar 2, 2017)

MartialArtist666 said:


> Hi I've started training in Karate and had to buy a white belt. I like the color black though, how do I turn my white belt into a black belt?


Several years of training is the usual recipe.


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## Gerry Seymour (Mar 2, 2017)

Bill Mattocks said:


> You guys know we're getting trolled, right?  I mean really.


Yes. I'm just waiting to see what the follow-up is.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Mar 2, 2017)

gpseymour said:


> Several years of training is the usual recipe.


How about several days and a couple thousand dollars?
I would need a certificate stating how awesome I am as well, though.


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## Midnight-shadow (Mar 2, 2017)

Bill Mattocks said:


> You guys know we're getting trolled, right?  I mean really.



If we know the intent of the OP and don't take it seriously (as most of us haven't) are we still being trolled?

See for me personally, dyeing belts can be a messy business, so my advice would be to sneak up behind someone with a black belt already, and take it from them. If they see you just use the good ol' "look over there" ploy. If it works and you get the belt, you have earned the right to wear it


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## KenpoMaster805 (Mar 2, 2017)

you want your white be,t to be black heres what you do 

1 come to class atleast 3 to 5 days a week
2 pracatice hard
3 train hard 
4 put your whole dedication to karate
5 and enjoy it

with in 3 years or so you will get your black belt in no time  just takes patient lots of training practice you also have to be motivated 

ive been practicing for 3 years 7 months im a 3rd brown right now so i havr this year and next year before i get my black i just need my 2nd degree and 1st degree brown this year


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## Headhunter (Mar 2, 2017)

MartialArtist666 said:


> Hi I've started training in Karate and had to buy a white belt. I like the color black though, how do I turn my white belt into a black belt?


You want a black belt they're easy to buy no problem...doesn't mean your any good...and yes everyone I know this guys trolling


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## Blindside (Mar 2, 2017)

Bill Mattocks said:


> You guys know we're getting trolled, right?  I mean really.



Hence the serious replies.


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## PhotonGuy (Mar 2, 2017)

Dirty Dog said:


> Lots of training.



I suppose that could work over time if the belt gets dirty enough from the training but as Blindside mentioned, dyeing the belt is much quicker and much easier.


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## drop bear (Mar 3, 2017)

Its like prison.  You fight one of the other guys for their black belt.


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## wingerjim (Mar 3, 2017)

MartialArtist666 said:


> Hi I've started training in Karate and had to buy a white belt. I like the color black though, how do I turn my white belt into a black belt?


Hard work and a few years it just turns black on it's own provided you do not wash it.


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## Dirty Dog (Mar 3, 2017)

wingerjim said:


> Hard work and a few years it just turns black on it's own provided you do not wash it.



Well, no, that will result in a smelly greenish-gray belt.


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## hoshin1600 (Mar 3, 2017)

Dirty Dog said:


> Well, no, that will result in a smelly greenish-gray belt.


that there sounds like a man of experience to me.


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## JR 137 (Mar 3, 2017)

wingerjim said:


> Hard work and a few years it just turns black on it's own provided you do not wash it.



Isn't that the BS people were saying years ago?


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## PhotonGuy (Mar 4, 2017)

So as the OP wants to turn a white belt into a black belt, training and not washing it won't really do it so dyeing it black would be the way to go.


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## JR 137 (Mar 4, 2017)

How about selling the white belt on Craigslist and buying a black belt?  You could even get it embroidered all fancy-like.  Have cool stuff written in Japanese so no one (other than people who can read Japanese) will know what it actually says anyway.


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## PhotonGuy (Mar 5, 2017)

JR 137 said:


> How about selling the white belt on Craigslist and buying a black belt?  You could even get it embroidered all fancy-like.  Have cool stuff written in Japanese so no one (other than people who can read Japanese) will know what it actually says anyway.



That would be replacing the white belt with a black belt, not turning the white belt black as the OP stated.


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## JR 137 (Mar 5, 2017)

PhotonGuy said:


> That would be replacing the white belt with a black belt, not turning the white belt black as the OP stated.



Yeah, but it's easier and probably cheaper than dying it.  Unless of course he's buying a high end black belt like a $100 Shureido or Tokaido and getting it embroidered.

And yeah, I'm playing along with the ridiculousness of this thread.


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## Gerry Seymour (Mar 5, 2017)

JR 137 said:


> Yeah, but it's easier and probably cheaper than dying it.  Unless of course he's buying a high end black belt like a $100 Shureido or Tokaido and getting it embroidered.
> 
> And yeah, I'm playing along with the ridiculousness of this thread.


I've never quite gotten the point of the $100 belts. Nothing wrong with those who prefer them, but I think I spent $40 on my black belt, and that seems about the tops of what I'd spend. When it wears out (a bit slow, because I often wear hakama over it), I'll just buy another. Of course, we don't do any embroidery (except potentially the stripes), so that's a factor.


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## PhotonGuy (Mar 5, 2017)

gpseymour said:


> I've never quite gotten the point of the $100 belts. Nothing wrong with those who prefer them, but I think I spent $40 on my black belt, and that seems about the tops of what I'd spend. When it wears out (a bit slow, because I often wear hakama over it), I'll just buy another. Of course, we don't do any embroidery (except potentially the stripes), so that's a factor.



When it wears out you want to keep wearing it. Once you get a black belt you've just completed your initiation into the martial arts. Now the real training and progress begins. How much you wear out your black belt shows how much you've progressed. The idea is to get the belt worn to the point that it turns white, just like your first belt.


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## JR 137 (Mar 5, 2017)

gpseymour said:


> I've never quite gotten the point of the $100 belts. Nothing wrong with those who prefer them, but I think I spent $40 on my black belt, and that seems about the tops of what I'd spend. When it wears out (a bit slow, because I often wear hakama over it), I'll just buy another. Of course, we don't do any embroidery (except potentially the stripes), so that's a factor.



Some people/schools keep their original black belt through the dan ranks and just add embroidered stripes with each promotion.  They'd probably be the ones most interested in the $100 belts.  Others get a new belt with every promotion.  They may not be as interested.

As far as the belts that shred and turn white pretty quickly, I think those are those fancy silk belts rather than the cotton ones.

I'm not 100% convinced that the $100 ones are that much better than the less expensive ones.  My organization uses KI belts, and those last quite a long time.  My CI claimed his current belt is about 25 years old (I think he got a new one at 3rd or 4th dan, and he's currently 7th dan).  Our 4th dans are wearing their original belts as well.

And while faded and frayed at the edges, they're nothing like the ones I see in pictures.  Not nearly as destroyed looking, and yes, they train hard.

My only criticism of the belts our yudansha wear is the embroidery; you can see the embroidery on the reverse side.  IMO either have both sides embroidered, or have the reverse side plain black (the more expensive embroidery doesn't show through).  Yes, I'm OCD like that.


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## Buka (Mar 6, 2017)

Remember when you got your first bike as a kid? How cool that was, how much freedom it gave? You would go miles, everywhere, your world was different than it was just a day before. You were on the road!

Flash forward some years. You now have your first car. Life becomes way different. You can go anywhere, and you probably do. Sure, there's expense and responsibility, but it's just fricken' awesome. You're probably more concerned with how cool it is and how fast it might go than how long it will last or how your gas mileage is.

Getting your black belt is like getting that first bike.


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## Gerry Seymour (Mar 6, 2017)

PhotonGuy said:


> When it wears out you want to keep wearing it. Once you get a black belt you've just completed your initiation into the martial arts. Now the real training and progress begins. How much you wear out your black belt shows how much you've progressed. The idea is to get the belt worn to the point that it turns white, just like your first belt.


Meh. It's a belt to me. I like it showing some wear (at least in part because the damned thing is hard to keep tied before then), but I don't feel attached to it. At some point, it will get frail, and I will want a new one. That point would come long before it ever got looking white.


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## Gerry Seymour (Mar 6, 2017)

JR 137 said:


> Some people/schools keep their original black belt through the dan ranks and just add embroidered stripes with each promotion.  They'd probably be the ones most interested in the $100 belts.  Others get a new belt with every promotion.  They may not be as interested.
> 
> As far as the belts that shred and turn white pretty quickly, I think those are those fancy silk belts rather than the cotton ones.
> 
> ...


I just checked, and the Bujin Design belt I bought is still under $40. I've had the same belt since 2003, and it shows little wear (mind you, I've mostly been an instructor in that time, so not as much wear and tear). I'm with you on the embroidery, and I think the only way to get both sides embroidered is to embroider before it is sewn (so the "back side" is inside the belt), so that probably has to be one of the expensive belts. I only knew one instructor in NGA who got one of the silk belts (I think it was silk - it looked like it, anyway), and it never showed any wear, though Larry didn't train a lot after getting his black belt (change in priorities), so it may just have not had a chance.


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## wingerjim (Mar 6, 2017)

JR 137 said:


> Isn't that the BS people were saying years ago?


I was answering it in a


JR 137 said:


> Isn't that the BS people were saying years ago?


Yes, it was a metaphor for turning a white belt to black.


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## BigJavi973 (Mar 6, 2017)

MartialArtist666 said:


> Hi I've started training in Karate and had to buy a white belt. I like the color black though, how do I turn my white belt into a black belt?



Its actually fairly easy.... DO NOT QUIT!


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## hoshin1600 (Mar 6, 2017)

i know a guy who is so advanced his belt turned white and fell apart just like you guys are saying. now all that"s left is a single string he ties around his finger... 
but seriously my black belt actually faded to a brown. when i went to visit other dojo's they thought i had a brown belt, but then as it began to fall apart it was blue on the inside. i have no idea what rank i am now.


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## Gerry Seymour (Mar 6, 2017)

hoshin1600 said:


> i know a guy who is so advanced his belt turned white and fell apart just like you guys are saying. now all that"s left is a single string he ties around his finger...
> but seriously my black belt actually faded to a brown. when i went to visit other dojo's they thought i had a brown belt, but then as it began to fall apart it was blue on the inside. i have no idea what rank i am now.


Rank regression!


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## PhotonGuy (Mar 7, 2017)

Buka said:


> Remember when you got your first bike as a kid? How cool that was, how much freedom it gave? You would go miles, everywhere, your world was different than it was just a day before. You were on the road!


When I got my first book there wasn't much coolness or freedom for me as I couldn't ride it. I wasn't good enough with bicycles and so when I tried to ride it I would fall. When I finally developed the skill and coordination to be able to ride it (without the training wheels) that's when I experienced the coolness and freedom.



Buka said:


> Flash forward some years. You now have your first car. Life becomes way different. You can go anywhere, and you probably do. Sure, there's expense and responsibility, but it's just fricken' awesome. You're probably more concerned with how cool it is and how fast it might go than how long it will last or how your gas mileage is.


Yes, you're right about that.



Buka said:


> Getting your black belt is like getting that first bike.



Yes you could say that. Just like getting your first bike and being able to ride it, getting, or I should say earning a black belt is a rite of passage.


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