Obi
帯
The belt of the training garment, which holds the jacket and shows rank by its color. It is tied with the koma-musubi knot, similar to a reef knot.
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Obi (帯) is the belt that holds the jacket of the training garment and shows the practitioner's rank by its color. It is most often tied with the koma-musubi knot, which resembles a reef knot. Belt colors begin with white for beginners and lead through yellow, orange, green, blue and brown to black for dan holders, but the order differs by art and organization. In judo, holders of the sixth to eighth dan wear a red-and-white belt and those of the ninth and tenth dan a red one. Kyokushin has its own order of colors with stripes for intermediate grades. The black belt for dan holders was introduced in judo by Kano Jigoro in 1886.