17｜The Origins of the Dōgi and the Belt — Borrowing the Judo Format and What It Meant

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The Origins of the Dōgi and the Belt — Borrowing the Judo Format and What It Meant

👘Scope of this chapter: The white dōgi (道着, training uniform) and the colored belt that marks rank are often taken to be archetypal symbols of the karate practitioner. Yet both are early-twentieth-century borrowings from judo, not native inventions of karate. This chapter traces the origins of the karate uniform and belt, and asks why this borrowing is still maintained today.

1. What Did People Actually Wear in Nineteenth-Century Okinawa?

Let us begin with the most concrete question: what did practitioners of te (手, ティー — the Okinawan vernacular term for traditional fighting methods) wear when they trained in nineteenth-century Okinawa?

The answer is that there was no standardized, dedicated training uniform of the kind we know today. In nineteenth-century Okinawa, practitioners trained in their everyday clothes, or in simplified clothing that allowed free movement. Later photographs and oral tradition show people training nearly bare-chested, in something close to a loincloth, or in ordinary Okinawan dress — but in none of these cases is there anything resembling the modern, standardized karate uniform.

A unified “dōgi” simply did not exist in Okinawa at the time. This is consistent with the fact that te in this period was a pre-modern practice — not yet institutionalized as a network of formal dojos or a nationwide competitive body. Practices that have not yet been organized do not need a uniform.

2. The Judo Dōgi — Kanō’s Invention

The “dōgi format” we recognize today was developed in parallel with the institutionalization of Kōdōkan judo.

  • In 1882 (Meiji 15), Kanō Jigorō (嘉納治五郎, 1860–1938) founded the Kōdōkan (講道館).
  • At first, the uniform used at the Kōdōkan was close to the existing jūjutsu training jacket — shorter in the sleeves and skirt, and relatively thin.
  • From the late Meiji into the early Taishō period (roughly the late 1900s and 1910s), under Kanō’s direction, the form of the training uniform was gradually adjusted to suit judo. The longer-sleeved, thicker-fabric form that we recognize as today’s jūdōgi is generally said to have been standardized in the second half of the 1900s decade.
  • The result was a thick jacket (designed to withstand throws and grappling), trousers, and a belt.
  • White was adopted as the standard color. Later, for international competition, blue jūdōgi were also introduced (gradually adopted by the International Judo Federation from the 1980s onward).

The jūdōgi was a reorganization of earlier jūjutsu training clothing into a modern, standardized uniform. A thick jacket with a firm collar was a rational design for an art premised on being grabbed.

📘Glossary: Jūdōgi (柔道着) The training uniform that was standardized in step with the development of Kōdōkan judo. Its hallmarks are thick cotton fabric, a white upper jacket, loose-fitting trousers, and a belt. The design is engineered to withstand grappling and throwing. This pattern later exerted a powerful influence on the uniforms of other modern budō, including karate and aikidō.

3. The Belt and the Rank System — Another of Kanō’s Inventions

The second major invention attributed to Kanō was the use of belts to indicate rank (dan-i 段位).

  • In 1883 (Meiji 16), Kanō introduced a dan ranking system at the Kōdōkan. According to tradition, his first awards of shodan (初段, first dan) went to two senior disciples, Saigō Shirō and Tomita Tsunejirō.
  • The early system centered on dan grades (shodan, nidan, and so on).
  • By the second half of the 1880s, the convention of having dan-holders wear a black belt had emerged, and the visual contrast between white belt and black belt began to take hold.
  • The brown belt for kyū (級, sub-dan) grades was introduced at the Kōdōkan around the early twentieth century. The wider palette of colored belts used for children’s classes was developed somewhat later, largely through the work of Mikinosuke Kawaishi (川石酒造之助, 1899–1969) and other instructors who taught judo in Europe from the 1930s onward. The Dai Nippon Butokukai and overseas judo federations also played roles in standardizing these intermediate ranks.

This visual ranking system was easy to read at a glance and dovetailed neatly with the assessment culture of modern education. The framework of dan and kyū that Kanō codified would go on to influence not only judo but the entirety of the modern Japanese martial arts world.

4. Karate’s Borrowing of the Judo Format

Karate adopted the judo format during the process of its transplantation from Okinawa to mainland Japan.

  • In 1916 (Taishō 5 — some sources give 1917), Funakoshi Gichin (船越義珍, 1868–1957; originally Tominakoshi 富名腰) is said to have performed a tōde (唐手) demonstration at the Butokuden (武徳殿) in Kyoto, the central training hall of the Dai Nippon Butokukai (大日本武徳会). Contemporary primary sources confirming the event have not, however, been firmly established.
  • In April 1922 (Taishō 11), Funakoshi presented tōde at the Ministry of Education’s Athletic and Physical Education Exhibition (運動体育展覧会) in Tokyo. A few days later, at the invitation of Kanō Jigorō, he is said to have performed again at the Kōdōkan (then located in Shimo-Tomisaka, present-day Bunkyō Ward, Tokyo).
  • It is around this point that Funakoshi is reported to have begun wearing a training jacket resembling the jūdōgi — by one well-known anecdote, he borrowed one directly from Kanō for the Kōdōkan demonstration. This is often cited as the prototype of the karate uniform.
  • In 1924 (Taishō 13), at roughly the same time as the founding of the first university karate club (the Karate Research Society at Keiō University), Funakoshi is said to have awarded the first karate dan ranks (black belts) to a handful of senior students. From this point on, belt-based ranking spread through karate’s mainland diffusion.
  • From the 1930s onward, as schools (ryūha), university clubs, and dojos became organized, a “karate uniform” in the jūdōgi mold became broadly established.

What deserves attention is that this borrowing was not driven purely by technical necessity. Modern karate is not, fundamentally, a contact sport built on gripping the opponent’s collar. A heavy jūdōgi was not in itself necessary for karate.

The reason karate nevertheless modeled itself on the jūdōgi format was, as discussed in Chapter 6, to secure recognition as “a legitimate budō on par with judo.” It was, in other words, a borrowing of form for the sake of social legitimation.

5. How the Karate Uniform Changed

The karate uniform was gradually modified to fit karate’s own needs.

  • Thinner fabric. Karate did not need the thickness of a judo jacket; freedom of movement for striking and kicking took priority.
  • Lighter weight. Specialized competition uniforms were developed.
  • Differences by style and use. Cuts vary across uniforms designed for kata, kumite, and full-contact karate — in fabric weight, sleeve length, skirt length, and overall silhouette.
  • Color diversification. White remains the norm, but black or other colors appear in some federations and dojos.

Nevertheless, the basic format still resembles the jūdōgi: a cross-over front jacket, loose trousers, and a belt. These structural elements are inherited from judo.

6. Customizing the Colors of the Belt

Belt colors, too, were borrowed from judo and then customized in karate’s own way.

RankStandard in judoStandard in karate (varies by style)
BeginnerWhiteWhite
Kyū (sub-dan) gradesWhite, brownWhite, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown (by style)
Dan holdersBlackBlack
High danRed-and-white, redVaries by style

Karate’s kyū-grade color belts vary considerably across styles, federations, and individual dojos. Judo itself uses a fine-grained color-belt system for children, so it would be inaccurate to say that “only karate has refined its color belts.” Still, in karate each organization has tended to design its own grading curriculum more freely, and color belts have played an important role as a step-by-step incentive — especially for young students, giving them a visible “next belt” to aim for. The expansion of commercial dojos and the elaboration of color belts have advanced hand in hand.

7. Why Is the Borrowing Still Maintained?

If the karate uniform does not match karate’s technical needs particularly well, why is the borrowing still in force today?

7.1 Visual Identity

The white dōgi and the belt together form karate’s visual identity as a martial art. Discard them, and karate visually slides outside the category of budō.

7.2 International Recognition

In an internationalized karate, the white dōgi functions as the global visual symbol of “KARATE.” That is important commercially and for public communication as well.

7.3 The Tie to Etiquette

Putting on the dōgi is part of the reihō (礼法, ritual etiquette) of training. Changing into the uniform is itself a ritual that marks the shift from everyday life to training mode.

7.4 Making Rank Visible

Using belt color to visualize rank is effective for sustaining the motivation of students. To abolish it would mean a major restructuring of the training system.

8. A Thought Experiment: “What if There Were No Karate Uniform?”

As a thought experiment, consider what karate would look like if its uniform format did not exist.

  • A karate trained in T-shirts and shorts, like boxing.
  • A karate trained in shorts only, like Muay Thai.
  • A karate with no dress code at all, like yoga.

Each of these is technically possible. Yet the moment any of them were adopted, much of what makes a practice feel like “karate” would be lost. The karate uniform carries a cultural and symbolic function that exceeds its technical necessity.

9. The Full-Contact Exception

In full-contact karate and adjacent karate-derived combat sports, it is not uncommon to set the dōgi aside in training and competition: bare-skin exchanges, T-shirts or rashguards in training, or kit closer to glove karate or kickboxing in matches. This is, in part, a stylistic distancing from the symbolism of the dōgi.

Even so, in full-contact organizations the uniform is typically still worn at traditional tournaments and at grading examinations. The karate uniform continues to function as a uniform that signifies karate’s identity.

10. Conclusion: When a Borrowing Becomes Native

This chapter has traced the origins of the karate uniform and belt. One conclusion stands out.

The karate dōgi and belt are not unique karate inventions; they are formats borrowed from judo. The borrowing was carried out not for technical necessity but for social recognition. Yet once a borrowing has been sustained for a century, it ceases to feel like a borrowing at all — it becomes part of karate’s identity.

The line between borrowing and native invention dissolves over time. For today’s karate practitioner, the white dōgi and the belt are not “things we borrowed from judo” but “symbols of karate.” Historically the origin is a borrowing; in present-day meaning, it is karate’s own.

This double valence is itself an index of karate’s modernity. Karate’s identity is not a pure tradition but a modern composite. But that composite now functions, in practice, as “tradition.”

📝Note for non-Japanese readers　Consider an analogy: the Japanese school uniform. It was created in the Meiji period (late nineteenth century) modeled on Western military uniforms, but is today firmly experienced as “a Japanese school tradition.” Its origin is a foreign borrowing. The karate uniform is much the same: a format borrowed from judo that is now experienced as “the karate tradition.” The boundary between borrowing and tradition softens with time.

Key References

  • Kanō, Jigorō (1932). Jūdō Taii (柔道大意, “The Essentials of Judo”). Tokyo: Kōdōkan.
  • Tōdō, Yoshiaki (2008). Jūdō no Rekishi to Bunka (柔道の歴史と文化, “The History and Culture of Judo”). Tokyo: Fumaidō.
  • Irie, Kōhei, ed. (2003). Budō Bunka no Tankyū (武道文化の探求, “Inquiries into Budō Culture”). Tokyo: Fumaidō.
  • Funakoshi, Gichin (1935). Karate-dō Kyōhan (空手道教範, “Karate-dō: A Master’s Text”). Tokyo: Ōkura Kōbundō.
  • Kinjō, Hiroshi (2011). Tōde kara Karate e (唐手から空手へ, “From Tōde to Karate”). Tokyo: Nippon Budōkan.
  • Kimura, Kichiji (2002). Kindai Nihon ni okeru Taiiku no Seiritsu (近代日本における体育の成立, “The Formation of Physical Education in Modern Japan”). Tokyo: Fumaidō.
  • Bennett, Alexander (2009). Kendo: Culture of the Sword. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Okinawa Prefectural Archives, “October 25, Karate Day” — https://www.archives.pref.okinawa.jp/news/that_day/14555
  • English Language Education Council (ELEC), “The Father of Modern Karate-dō: Funakoshi Gichin” — https://www.elec.or.jp/research_report/4455
  • Japan Karate Association, Commemorative Greeting for the 150th Anniversary of Funakoshi Gichin’s Birth and the 70th Anniversary of the JKA — https://www.jka.or.jp/jka-news/15070/
  • Sasakawa Sports Foundation, “Judo: History, Rules, and Equipment” — https://www.ssf.or.jp/knowledge/dictionary/judo.html

“What Is Karate?” — A Multidimensional Inquiry Through Thought, History, and Sociology

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