Obi Tying

I find we spend a fair amount of time teaching students to tie their obi and hakama correctly. (And admittedly, I don't tie my hakama quite correctly myself). If you are going to practice in the traditional costume, it's worth understanding all the knots.

This is by far the clearest set of directions I've seen. It's all in Japanese, but the pictures are very good: http://kimonoo.net/kituke.html. FYI, hit the green button at the bottom of each page to see the next steps.

If you can stand butchered pidgin, here's Google's translation


We teach students the "mountain knot" (page 2; p1 transl; p2 transl.) This is relatively easy to tie, and has the advantage for jujutsu that it is flat and thus doesn't hurt when you fall on it. (Note, this is the 2nd obi knot pictured)

I myself prefer the"clamshell knot" (transl.), which is a little tighter of a knot and is still pretty flat if you tie it correctly. Note that the beginning steps are the same as for the mountain knot. (Note, this is the 1st obi knot pictured)

For tying hakama, we teach the "jumonji" (cross-shaped) knot (p2. p3. p4. p5.; trans 1 trans 2 trans 3 trans 4 trans 5) It's like a bowtie for your hara.


I've seen clearer instructions for hakama folding that these, but the kimono folding instuctions are pretty good