The Unwritten Law

After my belt etiquette post, one of the Jiu-Jitsu students said that he thought he knew all the belt rules, but he had never heard "Don't carry your belt around your neck."  I think that's because not all of the rules are written.  That particular etiquette was an unwritten one that I chose to write down, because it is a pet peeve of Shihan's.  The student asked the purpose of the rule, and I said "Well, if you have your belt around your neck and Shihan sees you, there's a good chance he will break the rule about not choking people with belts."  Shihan just doesn't understand why someone would voluntarily put a noose around their own neck (and the same rule applies to nunchaku).  A Judo Sensei said "So, you have a collar around your neck, and I can choke you with that, too."  True, but only a trained person can usually do that, while any idiot can choke someone with a belt.  A collar has to be around your neck, but a belt doesn't.

An additional reason for this rule is that generally if you are not wearing your belt, then you should not be displaying it.  You are also not supposed to toss your belt over your shoulder, or carry it dangling in your hand.  Technically, it should be folded up and tucked discreetly under your arm (or inside your gi).  If you carry your gi with the belt tied around it, and it's not in a bag, then you should also tuck the gi under your arm, so that the belt is not displayed.  Showing your belt in any manner except while wearing it to train, compete, teach, or demo your art is considered bad etiquette.

There are even more unwritten belt rules that I didn't mention...if you have to fix or remove your belt, turn away from your partner and/or the class (unless you are in a competition-never turn your back to your opponent-and don't fix your belt or gi unless told to by the ref)...do not ask a black belt what dan rank they are...don't touch someone's belt without permission (except in the course of training)...etc...etc.

In the following video I broke etiquette at the beginning when I let my belt touch the floor, and at the end when I turned my back to Shihan (I was supposed to just walk backward).  They still let me keep my black belt!