Anyone who has watched a student of karate (also known as a karateka) during their training sessions or at a martial arts competition has possibly had a few questions about the unique karate uniform that he or she was wearing and why it looks the way it does. There are actually a few different styles that these uniforms come in and some specific reasons for why they look the way they do, so anyone looking to find out more about why these outfits are worn may actually end up learning a thing or two.

For starters, these uncommon looking outfits were first worn during training sessions in Japan many long years ago, where they are referred to using their traditional Japanese name, karategi. This piece of common attire is composed of 3 separate parts that are pretty very well recognized, these pieces include the jacket, the lose pants, which typically have a tie in the front, and a thick belt, which comes in a variety of different shades.

A karate belt is officially known as an obi and the shade of the belt is one of the most important parts of the traditional outfit, as it represents the rank and skill level of the practitioner, thereby providing a time table of success as a student continues to achieve higher and higher ranks through their training. The specific colors that a dojo uses in their ranking system, as well as what sort of feats or challenges must be completed to move from one rank to the next, is completely up to the instructor who is responsible for teaching the students everything he or she knows.

These ensembles are intended to be lose fitting, practitioners who buy a prepackaged suit are often encouraged to select one that is one or two sizes larger than the size they wear in street clothes, the purpose of this is, of course, to provide a full range of movement. For the sake of having the capacity to complete a high kick, a flip, a shoulder toss, or any similar move, the student\’s clothing must not restrict how far they can stretch or bend their limbs and body.

Another reason that the jacket of the karategi and the obi are formed the way that they are is so that they can be removed easily when a student would like to fight with more freedom and less risk of overheating. This is just a basic idea of what part of the purpose behind the karate uniform design may be, certain attributes, such as the color of the belts, are deeply rooted in rumors that may be little more than urban legends and stories that have been passed down for generations.