Taekwondo Tarts

[Master Dan]

How about the subtle old tatered black belts riped up or faded so with out saying look Ive had my black belt since Moses parted the red sea?

Whats funny is alot of guys use bleach and throw a bag of quarters in the washing machine to rip up the belt and make it look old over night?

I like different uniforms for differnt functions and activities and heavy work outs, colors, styles traditional fold. If traveling out of state national events I like the nationals uniform with my state on the rear top tail and down the leg. only my dojo patch on the front which also shows the shape of the state with a location stake.

For official KKW you better tow the line exactly what they want and no shirts of any kind alowed under the top and no training shoes.

 

[andyjeffries]

My uniform now is pretty clean, but at one point I had four different dobaks. One we wore for demonstrations, one for competition, and two different colors for regular class. I defenitely prefer the cleaner look, although I do have Woo Young's TaeKwon Do written down my left leg and arm.

You see, that still sounds fancy to me I'd like it, I'm sure

That said, I will defenitely have an embroidered black belt. The black belt to me embodies everything I work for in TKD (I know it's only a strip of fabric, but it still means a lot to me) and I would like to have a nice one with my name on it. Hopefully in January!

Best of luck for January mate - a black belt does mean a lot, it's a great achievement!

 

[andyjeffries]

How about the subtle old tatered black belts riped up or faded so with out saying look Ive had my black belt since Moses parted the red sea?

I hate them! I'd rather buy a new black belt every 5 years (or whatever) so it always looked decent than have a tattered old belt.

Whats funny is alot of guys use bleach and throw a bag of quarters in the washing machine to rip up the belt and make it look old over night?

Where I live it's more the Shotokan guys who do that. In our club we all prefer decent new looking belts.

For official KKW you better tow the line exactly what they want and no shirts of any kind alowed under the top and no training shoes.

Absolutely (I never wear a shirt and don't train in shoes), I'd always wear a plainer dobok if training at the Kukkiwon.

 

[Steven Craig]

I have my name in Korean and the club name in English. But others in my club do different. Some have their names in English and use it like a name tag at large club functions.
Some have the club name on the uniform and many of the instuctors have that they are an instructor on the sleave of the uniform.
Our club used to have a large demo team and they went all out with the club name in English and Korean on the back of silk uniforms. The silk uniforms are not really worn anymore (at least I rarely see anyone in them), but are still sold through the club. Personally the silk uniform looks like something from a bad 70s movie.
We also have some in our club who go a black uniform (for training not grading) and mix and match the black and white uniforms for training.

 

[Steven Craig]

I've been blessed to be able to train with one of the most senior Taekwondoin in the world, GM Park, Hae Man. He wears a simple white dobok and a simple black belt-no bling.

Miles a question. How does your club display rank above BB if they don't wear dan stripes?

 

[Tez3]

Miles a question. How does your club display rank above BB if they don't wear dan stripes?

A lot of places don't because it's not important what Dan grade they are. Some consider it 'showing off'.

 

[Miles]

Miles a question. How does your club display rank above BB if they don't wear dan stripes?

We are a small group so everyone knows who is senior. When we go to a tournament or other event, we usually just fall in where we think we belong. We believe it is better to be brought up to the front row because others know your seniority rather than being told to get in the next line because you are junior to those around you.

 

[IcemanSK]

In the dojang where I was a gup student & earned my 1st Dan, no one wore rank stripes on their belts. In fact, what rank someone was beyond BB was not really discussed. The assistant instructor (the guy who opened the the dojang, taught the kids class every night, swept the dojang & did everything else around the dojang) I assumed was a 1st Dan (based on where he stood among the other BB's). I found out 20+ years later that he was a 3rd Dan.

I like Miles idea. "Stand where you think you fit & sometimes you get moved up." If more of Taekwondoan had that attitude, we'd all be better off!

 

[Steven Craig]

We are a small group so everyone knows who is senior. When we go to a tournament or other event, we usually just fall in where we think we belong. We believe it is better to be brought up to the front row because others know your seniority rather than being told to get in the next line because you are junior to those around you.

Thanks for that Miles. It sounds like a fantastic system, unfortunately I come from a large club and even though I have been training there for years I still do not know all the faces.

 

[Sukerkin]

Coming from a different art entirely, Iaido, I have to agree with those that have said that ostentation in martial arts garb is a thing not looked well upon.

Usually, we don't have any signs of rank whatsoever, tho' I have heard of some schools that have a rank restriction in terms of whether someone can wear black or white iaigi/hakama/tabi.

My thoughts are that if you cannot tell how senior someone is by their bearing and skill within their art then no amount of bling is going to make up the shortfall .

 

[ETinCYQX]

You see, that still sounds fancy to me I'd like it, I'm sure



Best of luck for January mate - a black belt does mean a lot, it's a great achievement!

Thanks!

The main reason I have that on my sleeve is because the uniform I still wear was designed for an international competition in 2001. When I needed a new one, our Master happened to still have that template. It's always been my favorite too

 

[ralphmcpherson]

A lot of places don't because it's not important what Dan grade they are. Some consider it 'showing off'.

I can understand that line of thinking but in a club such as where I train where we have thousands of students and at club tournaments, club camps, black belt class, training seminars etc it is very handy to know which people in the room are which rank. Lower belts are always encouraged to ask the higher belts for advice and thats hard to do when you dont know which people are more advanced than yourself.