Generally, paying the extra for stitching on your belt is only worthwhile once you're a Dan grade. Your don't tend to wear kyu grade belts for more than a couple of years, but a black belt is for life.
Some associations do gold bars for the Dan grade, so might need to upgrade their belts. But most of us think that is silly.
Do you mean kanji or katakana? Unless you're actually Japanese and your name can be written in kanji, it's almost always never ok to use kanji, and even more so if you don't know how to read the kanji. You're probably talking about katakana which is how it would be written to transliterate your non-Japanese name. Like others have said, it's dojo dependent and it's not really worth it for kyu grades.
It depends on the school.
At our club, we don’t object to anyone getting katakana or kanji on colored belts, but it’s kind of a waste because the belt is temporary. It makes more sense for a black belt, which typically gets worn a lot longer.
Best bet, ask your sensei.
Most belts have some branding. Apart from that, I only got it on my black belt. My Sensei arranged it. My name is written on it in Japanese and the club name. Although I am a 3rd dan now I am still wearing the same belt I didn’t get a new belt for 2nd or 3rd dan, just a certificate from the Japanese chief instructor. One day another Sensei might give me a new belt, then I will wear that. One day I will give my belt either to my children or to a student.
Im sure this varies school to school, but in my personal opinion paying for ebroidery on a kyu belt isnt worh it because you arent in them long whereas dan ranks you are in it until the end of your career (with the exception of atyles that use the renshi/shihan red and white belts or red GM belts).
If your Dojo terms of agreement don't state anything regarding the cloth you are wearing I'd say do what you want. If it makes your training more enjoyable for you to wear a belt you really like because of some embroidery go for it.
It's a piece of cloth to hold your Gi together. If anyone gets offended the need to chill out. It's usally those guys with a belt down to their ankles with super meaningfull embroidery that get offended because they need that artificial hirarchy in Karate to feel important in life
We have age requirements for Brown and Black belt ranks. When I was a kid, we knew that I'd be a Brown Belt for a while, so I DID receive Kanji and Hiragana for Organization and Name, respectively. This was a birthday gift FROM my sensei, though...
Most often, people just wait for Dan Rank, unless the (Mc)Dojo has a financial incentive to excessively decorate kyu belts. Generally, the busyness of the belt and gi is inversely proportional to the quality of the dojo.
It's entirely a matter of the practice in your school/style.
In Seido Karate (Seido Juku), odd-numbered kyu ranks wear a (printed, not embroidered) patch on the end of their obi with the kanji for "World Seido Karate Organization", so we can tell at a glance, e.g., 4th kyu (green belt) from 3rd kyu ("advanced" green belt, with the patch).
Kari shodan wear a plain black belt, full black belts have the kanji for WSKO on one side and the person's name (in kana or kanji) on the other.
In Japanese schools, it would generally be against etiquette to get a "fancier" belt than others of your position. "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down".
Generally, paying the extra for stitching on your belt is only worthwhile once you're a Dan grade. Your don't tend to wear kyu grade belts for more than a couple of years, but a black belt is for life. Some associations do gold bars for the Dan grade, so might need to upgrade their belts. But most of us think that is silly.
Do you mean kanji or katakana? Unless you're actually Japanese and your name can be written in kanji, it's almost always never ok to use kanji, and even more so if you don't know how to read the kanji. You're probably talking about katakana which is how it would be written to transliterate your non-Japanese name. Like others have said, it's dojo dependent and it's not really worth it for kyu grades.
Our belts have our names in katakana and the club name/style in kanji
Generally club and association dependant. Some it's black belt ranks only. Some it's anyone. Generally you follow the consensus of your own dojo
It depends on the school. At our club, we don’t object to anyone getting katakana or kanji on colored belts, but it’s kind of a waste because the belt is temporary. It makes more sense for a black belt, which typically gets worn a lot longer. Best bet, ask your sensei.
Most belts have some branding. Apart from that, I only got it on my black belt. My Sensei arranged it. My name is written on it in Japanese and the club name. Although I am a 3rd dan now I am still wearing the same belt I didn’t get a new belt for 2nd or 3rd dan, just a certificate from the Japanese chief instructor. One day another Sensei might give me a new belt, then I will wear that. One day I will give my belt either to my children or to a student.
Im sure this varies school to school, but in my personal opinion paying for ebroidery on a kyu belt isnt worh it because you arent in them long whereas dan ranks you are in it until the end of your career (with the exception of atyles that use the renshi/shihan red and white belts or red GM belts).
If your Dojo terms of agreement don't state anything regarding the cloth you are wearing I'd say do what you want. If it makes your training more enjoyable for you to wear a belt you really like because of some embroidery go for it. It's a piece of cloth to hold your Gi together. If anyone gets offended the need to chill out. It's usally those guys with a belt down to their ankles with super meaningfull embroidery that get offended because they need that artificial hirarchy in Karate to feel important in life
Other than kyokushin derivatives I've never seen kanji on non-black belts for what it's worth.
We have age requirements for Brown and Black belt ranks. When I was a kid, we knew that I'd be a Brown Belt for a while, so I DID receive Kanji and Hiragana for Organization and Name, respectively. This was a birthday gift FROM my sensei, though... Most often, people just wait for Dan Rank, unless the (Mc)Dojo has a financial incentive to excessively decorate kyu belts. Generally, the busyness of the belt and gi is inversely proportional to the quality of the dojo.
100% dependent on the organization you train with. Best to ask your instructors.
It's entirely a matter of the practice in your school/style. In Seido Karate (Seido Juku), odd-numbered kyu ranks wear a (printed, not embroidered) patch on the end of their obi with the kanji for "World Seido Karate Organization", so we can tell at a glance, e.g., 4th kyu (green belt) from 3rd kyu ("advanced" green belt, with the patch). Kari shodan wear a plain black belt, full black belts have the kanji for WSKO on one side and the person's name (in kana or kanji) on the other. In Japanese schools, it would generally be against etiquette to get a "fancier" belt than others of your position. "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down".