Hello everyone. Thank you for reading this article. I’m Shogo from Let’s ask Shogo, the interpreter of the online lessons and owner of this website.

We wear obi belts when we train in katana martial arts, too. We often receive questions about whether the belts’ colors represent that trainee’s rank, like in karate or judo. The answer is yes and no. I’ll explain what I mean.

First of all, generally, the inner obi that you wear inside your hakama has nothing to do with your rank. Most dojos have their students freely choose whatever color or design they prefer. Maybe some strict dojo/sensei might make their students choose a certain color, like black or white, but I personally have not heard of such a place before. 

However, the colors may matter for the outer obi. Outer obi are the obi you tie over your hakama, under the strings. In the past, when samurai went to the battlefield, they would wear an outer obi and insert their katana there. This is because the inner obi has some restrictions and was meant for the samurai’s everyday life. In our Ryuha, Asayama Ichiden Ryu, the students who have reached the Okuden level will be allowed to wear the black outer obi. Until then, you can only wear the white ones. The black outer obi is a sign to prove that you are at an instructor level. However, please note that this is just a rule recently made in our style, and it isn’t something that has been carried down for centuries and such.

If you are a trainee of Iai/Kenjutsu, please let us know what the rules are like at your dojo/Ryuha for obi belt colors.