How to Tie a Dobok Belt

The "dobok" is essentially the uniform used by practitioners of Korean martial arts, such as Taekwondo or Subak. It's modeled after the Japanese "Gi," another martial arts uniform that originated with the Judo martial arts and was eventually adopted by other practitioners. The dobok uniform consists of loose-fitting trousers and a tunic held closed by a simple cloth belt. Tying a dobok belt is something of an art form and has strict rules.

Instructions

    • 1

      Place the center of the belt over your belly button, then wrap the two ends behind your back so that one end crosses over the other.

    • 2

      Bring both ends back around to the front. Tuck the lower length of belt under the top length as you bring the ends around the front so that only one layer of belt is visible from behind.

    • 3

      Pull the end that's on top over until it's about three inches past your belly button, then tuck the end under both layers of belt and draw it all the way out again. Make sure that you pull the length out starting from the bottom and going through the top of the belt, rather than tucking the belt in from the top and pulling it out the bottom.

    • 4

      Place the top length of belt over the bottom length to make a small loop. The motion is similar to beginning to tie a square knot but without actually drawing the end through the loop.

    • 5

      Reach your hand through the loop, grab the end of the top length, then draw the end back through the loop. This creates a loose knot.

    • 6

      Pull on both ends of the belt to tighten the belt knot around your waist.