It might seem as though learning how to tie your Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu belt would be simple at first, but it’s something that a lot of beginners struggle with at first. It can often take weeks or even months to figure out how to do it properly, and some colored belts have gone years without learning the best method. Although it’s not exactly the end of the world if you never learn the best way to tie your belt for BJJ, constantly having to re-tie it in the middle of class can become very frustrating. Worse still, if it comes undone when you’re sparring with a partner then it can be annoying for both people involved.
How To Tie Your Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Belt
There is more than one way to tie a BJJ belt, but not all of those methods are equally useful. The basic knot that’s instinctive to most people won’t hold out for long at all before it comes undone, but there are several other methods thst don’t work all that well either. A lot of them have come over from striking martial arts like Karate or Tae Kwon Do and although they can withstand a lot of movement, they aren’t meant for the heavy amount of use that the belt sees in grappling arts. Learning how to tie your belt in the strongest knot is genuinely one of the most important things for a beginner to learn.
Step-by-Step Guide to Tying Your BJJ Belt
1. Position The Belt On Your Waist
Start out by putting your belt flat across your stomache, making sure that the label is facing away from you. The two ends if the belt either side of you should be the same length, and the belt should be right in the middle of your belly-button and hip bones so that it can sit comfortably.
2. Wrap The Belt Around Your Waist
Hold both ends of the belt and pull it tight to your body, as you pull both ends behind your back. Cross one over the other and pull them tight to your body once again, before passing each end into the other hand. This is how you pull both ends to the front of your body and you’re ready to tie your Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu belt.
3. Cross The Belt
With both ends at the front of your body, cross one end of the belt over the other in the middle of your body. Switch each end of the belt into the other hand again, so the end that was in your left hand is now in your right and vice versa.
4. Tuck One End Underneath
Take whichever end of your belt that is now on top of the rest, and feed it underneath every layer of the belt at the front of your body. It should be going underneath from the bottom and now sticking out of the top, so that you can pull the belt tight to your body once again.
5. Create A Loop
Take the end of the belt that was just fed underneath, and now feed it back downwards through the gap between where the two ends are crossed. It should be behind only one layer of the belt, and it should now be going in the same direction as the other end of the belt. Leave some slack in this, so that it creates a loop.
6. Pass The End Through The Loop
Take the other end of the belt that has not yet been fed underneath, and pass it through the loop that was just created. As you pass it through the loop, make sure that it is fed underneath every layer of the belt on the other side of the loop.
7. Pull Tight And Adjust
Now that you’ve just learnt how to tie your belt for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you need to make sure that it’s comfortable. Pull the two ends and tighten the knot that you’ve just created, and then move it up or down so that it sits nicely around you.
Hints And Tips For Tying Your BJJ Belt
1. Start Out With Even Ends
Always make sure that each end is even right from the start. The first step lays the foundation for the knot itself and getting this wrong will make the final steps much harder, if not impossible.
2. Keep Tightening
There are several points along the process where you need to pull the belt tight to your body. Skipping over one of these points can lead to the belt being loose, and eventually coming undone. Tighten it every time, and that won’t happen.
3. Comfort Is Important
Even though the belt needs to be tight in order to stay on your body, it also needs to be comfortable. That means that you need to be able to breathe freely while the belt is tied, and you need to make sure it doesn’t sit too high or too low.
4. Practice Makes Perfect
Just like everything in BJJ, you’re always going to make some mistakes at the start. There’s never going to be a substitution for time and learning how to tie your belt is no exception to that. Keep trying and eventually it’ll become second nature.
Conclusion
It’s important to learn how to tie your belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for a number of reasons, and it’s a skill that all BJJ practitioners should develop over time. No matter how long it takes you to remember the movements off by heart, treat it just like tying your shoelaces. Keep doing it and eventually you’ll be going through round after round of hard sparring without it coming undone. Once you get to that point, it’s time to help the next generation of BJJ competitors do the same!
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