To Obi or Not to Obi

In today's kendo wearing an obi is rare. Most people will just say it's unnecessary or we don't do that. For whatever reason, the school I started at everyone wore obi, perhaps because we all trained iaido too, so you needed a place to stow your bokuto. We did not use iaido obi, but just regular cheap karate obi. As my sensei put it, they worked well enough. 20 years later the debate about should one wear a belt for kendo is something I've had many times over. I'm not going to be reviewing specific obis, but just the general idea of wearing them and the basic types.

To start with as a mother of two I have a perpetually dome shaped abdomen that no amount of strength seems to change. My waist is 90cm, almost the same as my bust. With an iaido obi on it's 85 and with a karate obi 80. In other words the belt helps give me a more standard kendo shape. The iaido obi I have is a gift from a larger man and I have to wrap it three times, which makes it harder to tighten. I consider this a feature. With the karate obi it is easy to over tighten and then you need to do a big exhale to find the right fit. The iaido obi is less fussy as well as much more comfortable.

Appearance wise the big difference between the two obi is how the himo tie on the hakama. With no obi, the himo ride up up. With a karate obi there is more of an anchor to get everything in the right place, but as I've seen from my students, it still can become unruly and not stay in place.

However with the wide iaido obi, the himo are forced down to the ideal placement.