I wore my original black belt from TKD for a few years, keeping it on and wearing the dang thing out. No embroidery on it, etc. No stripes, through my 2d promotion etc. I changed schools as I worked my way through college and when I got my promotion to 3d in Hapkido along witht he TKD my buddy bought me a new belt and gave it to me in class as part of the promotion part of the completed demo. The Korean embroidery sort of threw me off for a while as I had this old, sort of gray-ed out one. But, it really was wearning out - there was a tear going across the grain right where it got knotted for class all the time that was probably weeks or maybe days away from tearing off. Thus, the gift to keep me presentable I think. He had the embroidery say both taekwondo and hapkido on opposite sides with the dual 3 stripes at the tips. It looked a bit brazen to me after the plain old one, but nobody else did, apparently. *shrug* I still have that belt though ti's out of date by rank and art now.
When you get a degree black belt is it a new belt or do they add stripes?
- Thread starter FlamingJulian
- Start date
Both my Modern Arnis black belt and my TKD black belt are plain no stripes and no embroidery. I've seen the different embroidered belts, stripes, names of the school, style or what have you. One that I just saw recently was a black belt that was signed by the GMs that promoted the instructor to his new high grade dan rank. That was the first time I had seen signatures on a belt.
I think we're saying essentially the same thing. The only point I'd maybe disagree with is that many instructors don't assume folks know the protocol for their next promotion if it is different from previous ones, so they take a minute and pass along the info. In the case of this thread, that would likely happen when the instructor has to think about the logistics of the promotion; they either need to borrow the person's belt to have it embroidered/striped, or they have to order a new one for them. At some point, the instructor will usually think to pass along the protocol to them, unless there's a strong culture of senior students ensuring that's passed along.
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FlamingJulian
Blue Belt
Apparently it is. He didn't explain it to my friends that go there who got their black belt. But I'll know soon enough when I et mine if he's gonna explain it or not
-Julian
Did they ask? Or is it just something that didn't come up. Mind you, it's not really relevant until you get your 2nd dan, so there's no reason he'd bother to mention it until then.
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FlamingJulian
Blue Belt
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FlamingJulian
Blue Belt
I'm still opening boxes, unpacking from a relocation. What a mess. Starting stuffing my workout closet today.
You know what's important about those workout belts? Not a God Damn thing.
Ur funny
-Julian
That's going to make it difficult to bend at the waist.
Balrog
Master of Arts
I buy new belts for the students. First Degrees don't have rank insignia and I always put the Korean term Pilsung (victory) on the belt. Second Degree and above get rank insignia and they can choose what they want on their belts. For example, SWMBO's belt has the Korean words for Desire, Discipline, Dedication on it, and mine has the words Success Through Perseverance on it.
I assume you or someone you know is well-versed in Korean, so as to avoid the (often hilarious) mis-uses we see in English-language t-shirts in Asia.
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FlamingJulian
Blue Belt
I have a plain black belt O wear often, then I have 2 belts that I add stripes too after each promotion. One for American Kenpo (red stripes) and Christian Kempo (white stripes).
In BJJ we don't even get embroidery - just a strip of white tape.
Balrog
Master of Arts
Our supplier has Koreans on staff who do the translations for them.
That's a good thing. I was just imagining what Google Translate might do..."Success Through Perseverance" might come out as something like "Winning by Stickiness".
SahBumNimRush
Master of Arts
I've had my black belt since 1991, so every so often I HAVE to get a new belt, or it would fall apart. That being said, we do not present a new belt at each dan rank. However, anytime you wish to purchase a new belt, you can do so, as long as it accurately represents your rank. I've been wearing my current belt since around 2006, and it's starting to get some serious wear to it. I expect to need a new one soon.
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BuckerooBonzai
Orange Belt
When I received my 1st Dan at Kukkiwon in 1995 I was given a blackbelt with gold embroidery on it that had my school (Chung Do Kwon) and my Kwan Jang Nim's name (GM Lee, Tae-Sung) on the left side and my name on the right all in hangul. I never added any strips to it as I received my higher dan ranks and it is now pretty worn out but so very special to me as GM Lee passed away in 2012.
For my last rank testing two years ago, my current GM, GM Kwon, Hee-Yung, presented me with a new black belt that I currently train with all the time. My original black belt has a very special place in my house and I even hand carry it with me whenever I move to a new Army post or even travel anywhere that it is needed. I never check it in baggage or ship it with household goods.
So I guess it is safe to say that it is different wherever you train and can be a very individual thing.
For my last rank testing two years ago, my current GM, GM Kwon, Hee-Yung, presented me with a new black belt that I currently train with all the time. My original black belt has a very special place in my house and I even hand carry it with me whenever I move to a new Army post or even travel anywhere that it is needed. I never check it in baggage or ship it with household goods.
So I guess it is safe to say that it is different wherever you train and can be a very individual thing.
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