8 Oct 2010

Dorky Belt Wearing

When I recently wrote a gi review and mentioned that I thought all my gi skirts were too long on me, my good online buddy Andre, who writes the Portuguese White Belt blog, pointed out that I seemed to prefer to tie my belt above my iliac crest (hip bones) whilst other folk prefered to tie theirs around their iliac. I had never really given it much thought before. Surely one would tie their belt around the narrowest portion of their body? Obviously not.

Cobrinha_134
Wha?
See the photo above: that's me on the left and World Champion Rubens Charles 'Cobrinha' on the right. We're both roughly the same height and wear the same size gis, so how come I look dorky with my seemingly longer skirt and he looks far cooler with an apparently shorter skirt? The answer, as Andre kindly pointed out, must be my belt placement. That picture alone was like a slap on the face...and this is what I did about it...




Well, what I did was to Photoshop a picture of myself with various belt height configurations. As you can see, it also turns into a handy cool guide for how to wear your BJJ belt:



And, as further proof, here's a few more famous low slung belt wearers you may know...

Roger Gracie and Victor Estima rocking the newly formed Masaru Fight co BJJ Kimono, which I'll be reviewing at some point very soon.


Andre Galvao rocking a low slung belt on a Storm gi - coincidentally, a gi I also will be reviewing soon



The upshot of this is that for the first time ever, I am sucumbing to vanity and have begun tying my belt lower. It feels really weird. Like the belt is going to slip downwards or fall apart easier. I literally feel like my trousers are falling down. Having said that, the belt doesn't seem to come undone any more than when I tied it above the hi bone, so I guess I'll soon get used to it.

So how do you wear your belt?


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About the Author

Meerkatsu

Author & Artist

Meerkatsu is the artist name for BJJ black belt Seymour Yang.

27 comments:

André said...

you wouldn't believe how hard I lol'd at the guide image, really!


and does this mean I'm famous now? :D

Loganius said...

Long time reader, finally compelled to comment. It's funny, because I really love your gi reviews, but with each one I think to myself, blimey are all the gis he's reviewing that long or is he wearing his belt like a....well, a dork?

This if of course not meant as an offense to you Meerkatsu, please don't take it as one. This is a really great entry though, it's like when a robot in some movie gains self awareness :)

Meerkatsu said...

No, you are not famous until you have your first blog stalker/hater.
Meg has a good one and Slidey has had one for years.

AndrewWrites said...

How do I wear my belt?

Like the rest of my jiu jitsu... its low and slow Baby!

As BJ Penn points out in his autobiography 'Why I Fight' - the belt is just an accessory, and for me, it doesn't even hold my gi jacket closed long enough to worry about (partly because I'm overweight and partly because I untuck my skirt to use in the grapple!).

Another funky topic, Seymour. Thanks!!

Liam H Wandi said...

Ah yes! Finally someone took the "German pensioner vs Italian pensioner" belt-line syndrome and translated it into JiuJitsu-ish.

Awesome post!

@Andre. I'll stalk your blog for a handsome fee :o) Fame costs you know!

Anonymous said...

hahahahahahahahahaha

That was the most awesome blog post ever. I LOVED IT.

I usually wear it in the dorky zone, where you used to.

Meerkatsu said...

To be fair Julia, ladies do have hips and curves that naturally lend themselves to wearing the belt a bit higher.
Myself, being a skinny rake, have no such excuse.

Matt said...

SHAT AP YOUR ARTICLEZ R RUBBISH AND YOU STINK.


Happy now?

Dude, I always thoughtyour dorky belt wearing was due to your traditional jiu jitsu background... ?

I have the uncanny ability to look like a dork no matter what convention I attempt to follow, so don't worry. Dorks are taking over!

Meerkatsu said...

Excellent, LOLZ talk plus insult, the best hater attempt yet!

I'm not really worried about my dorky belt wearing - only when beng photographed with a non-dorky World Champ would it become an issue with me. Other than that, the belt comes apart nearly always anyway, so it's a moot issue.

thanks for comment!

slideyfoot said...

Looking through pics of myself wearing a gi, I think I'm definitely at the dorky edge of the belt spectrum. I also seem to be unable to tie it properly when taking pics for gi reviews, which doesn't exactly help with the belt dork factor. ;)

Meerkatsu said...

Yeah sorry Slidey, you're defo in the dorky belt zone. Nice review of the Zero G btw.

Meerkatsu said...

Yeah sorry Slidey, you're defo in the dorky belt zone. Nice review of the Zero G btw.

Ryno said...

I had to double check the pictures of me on my blog to make sure that I was in the cool zone. All of the pictures I have of me on there are right after training so it looks like even if I tied it high, it loosened up and slid down enough to look cool. I will now be much more mindful of my belt placement and secretly laugh at those that tie their belts above the waist :)

Meerkatsu said...

@Loganius
I am a titch awakened HAHA!
Unfortunately, my next two gi reviews will still feature my old dorky belt height as I took the photos before my epiphany. Rest assured, this will be corrected at some point soon.

A.D. McClish said...

Hahaha, nice chart. Very helpful. ;)

Nick said...

If Simon Cowell did BJJ...

Meerkatsu said...

I am the Simon Cowell of gi reviewing!

Art said...

Best post ever! I'm no longer a dork because of you. Thanks!

Meerkatsu said...

I'm glad to have been of service Art. Thanks for checking out the blog!

Jiujitsunista said...

I LOL'd so hard at this blog post. Thanks!

I am hyper aware of looking totally nerdy. Because,

A. I AM totally nerdy, and as proud of my nerdery as I am, I like to keep it closeted until a time of my choosing. The more you get to know me, the more of my nerd I reveal.

B. I am very tall, and have always been generally thin for my height, which as a child meant if my pants fit in the waist I was well prepared for Noah, and his flood. And of course my parents were oblivious to my plight, so I was always that girl in high waters. Long sleeved shirts had the same effect. Fit in the body, sleeves too short.

So, I have always tied my belt around my hips... until I got tired of my belt being 10 miles too long and cut it. I tied it on and cut it to the perfect length, sewed up the frayed end right nice, put my gi on and retied my belt only to realize I tried it on WITHOUT my gi, thus making it too short. Now, I have to tie it higher so my knot doesn't look like a bow.

Fail.

Andrew Deacon said...

Interesting. I noticed this belt height thing myself just the other day. Mind you, that was only Gi class #3 so I claim ignorance. Thing is though, the low belt look makes even the slimmest guy look a bit paunchy. As I actually am a bit paunchy I might have to keep the belt high and claim ignorance! Interesting though.

training bjj said...

I wear my belt under my belly...

Great post and great blog...

Unknown said...

Great article Meerkatsu.

I have been reading your reviews for a while now and just thought I would finally comment on how much I enjoy your blog.

Also I have just ordered a Masaru rash guard their customer service has been great so far :)

Elyse said...

I have yet to find a BJJ fighter that is more nerdy than me, for many many undisclosed reasons.

But that small point of honor is besides... well... the point.

I tie my belt in different places depending on the situation. For example - when you're just hanging around the gym, low and loose is the way to go. It's way cooler like that. For normal training though, tighter/higher is better so it doesn't fall off.

Jonna said...

Hahahaha! I knew it! I've always been conscious about where I tie my belt, because I noticed a few guys in my gym who wore it right on their waist and they looked...blah. I guess being a girl helped me figure out the right *cool* way to do it! Great post, probably my favorite among all that I've read throughout my BJJ years haha :)

Anonymous said...

Rereading this article made me laugh just as hard as the first time I read it. Your blog is HIGHLY re-readable!

Still wearing it in the dorky zone, Julia.

Jimmy Jam said...

I've not considered height before but yes I'm obviously cool with the low slung option. It also touches on the belt coming undone, often see people in a class losing their belt at every opportunity and I think 'am I not trying hard enough?' Well maybe I'm not but locking the belt in as per the attached clip, all I've had is the knot loosen, but never had a belt loss (only 5 months in tho)

http://youtu.be/ksKl1ptKUV8

 

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