Obi - Belt
(Extracted from Iaido-L)

On Mon, 18 Mar 2002 22:56:34 The Dojo

>Some folks prefer the wider, softer kaku obi sword folks use. It's
>much more comfortable than the narrow, often stiff belt that many
>wear. It's also much more traditional than the more modern ones that
>are so common.
>
>With the sword-type obi, if you tie the knot right, it's flat, not
>intrusive at all. I wear a very nice wool obi, tied flat, with the
>knot in back, most of the time.
>
>The flat knot causes no trouble with most ukemi.

Confirm from a sankyu perspective: I use a plain white cotton iaido obi, because it is both softer and gives better support. The knot I use is like a sheetbend, rather flat.  However, for ease of tying and safety, I tie it in front, not in the back.

Regarding the traditional iaido knot: Does anybody know whether there is any good instruction available in the web?   (The pics in Tamura's book did not help too much, whenever I try to tie that knot I can't keep it from coming untied.)

Best-
Joachim

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On Tue, 19 Mar 2002

Try cutting sune from overhead or from hasso with a naginata, and you will. JC

In short, no one wore their obi knot in front until late in the 20th century. And I can't see how wearing the knot in the front would interfere with any sword cut.

Peter "the Budo Bum" Boylan

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On Tue, 19 Mar 2002

Hey guys, any pictures?  I'm getting curious now.

--Cindy, who has not seen anything besides standard hakama

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Date:    Tue, 19 Mar 2002 10:50:52 -0500
From:    Chuck
Subject: Re: Obi (was E.W)

On Tue, 19 Mar 2002 14:56:27 +0100, Joachim Hensel-Losch wrote:

>Regarding the traditional iaido knot: Does anybody know whether
>there is any good instruction available in the web?   (The pics
>in Tamura's book did not help too much, whenever I try to tie
>that knot I can't keep it from coming untied.)

Try this one:

http://www.bunbun.ne.jp/~sword/Obi1.html

Chuck

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Date:    Tue, 19 Mar 2002 10:57:18 -0500
From:    Giancarlo DiPierro
Subject: Re: Obi (was E.W)

> Regarding the traditional iaido knot: Does anybody know whether
> there is any good instruction available in the web?   (The pics
> in Tamura's book did not help too much, whenever I try to tie
> that knot I can't keep it from coming untied.)

http://tozando.com/eng/iaido/obi.html

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Last updated on 13 Sep 2002