I’m conscious that, at least in the Buj, there are some unwritten rules or codes of conduct that not all members seem to be aware of. Certainly I see many being broken from time to time, hopefully from ignorance rather than any other reason So, whilst I believe that the basis of all these things is to act as a gentleman or lady, it may be a useful to collect a bunch of these into a thread here for people to refer to and/or discuss if appropriate Some are country/culture specific, but probably many are borderless so it might be interesting to see which ones are universal vs local What do people think?
And to kick it off here are a few which I think are universal (certainly they seem to be respected & understood in my area) General - Introduce yourself before training with someone that you don’t know (at our club people tend to shake hands as they pair up, but of course we’re quite British in our approach) - Don’t talk or keep moving when the instructor’s teaching - Ask permission to leave early if you must - If you arrive late then apologise and ask permission before joining in Visiting Dojos - When visiting a dojo it’s appropriate to contact them first &/or introduce yourself when you arrive (although this is not really applied any more in the main Japanese dojos) - When visiting a dojo, you are not really part of the hierarchy - Don’t teach in someone else’s class (even your own students) - Try your best to fit with what’s being shown &/or the dojo’s particular approach to things rather than sticking to what you know/prefer Running a Dojo - If you start up a dojo try to avoid times & locations that conflict with other dojos in the area - Don’t run classes at the same time as your seniors - Don’t grade people if they are training elsewhere and being graded by that instructor
Cheers Dunc. I agree with all of those. These ones highlighted above are the ones that get ignored most (or just make me cringe most), even by people who should really know better. Some blackbelt grades seem to be unable to do what's shown, and so teach their partner (if a lower geade) a henka to hide their flaws. That really winds me up. Why go to a lesson if it's not to try and learn something new. I've even seen people at seminars teaching their own students something other than what is being shown! :dunno: I cannot think of any to add at the moment. But maybe later when I'm in full "grumpy old man" mode I will. (maybe I'm already half-way there!)
So standing there with your arms crossed watching and then walking around "helping" random people probably fits in there too.
So basically don't be a douche. On the visiting dojos, it really depends on the school and IME sometimes people can take things a little too far. We had a really nice gentleman train at our school while away on business. However, he was asking permission for everything and taking things way too far especially with the bowing, etc. even after we told him it was alright to relax and be less formal with us.
How about bowing in if you're late? Personally I bow in wearing civvies then change, if I miss the bow in all together ask permission to join then bow in by myself. Once I was taking a slash and Soke turned up ran to the front and bowed everyone in, I didn't flush Til after I heard everyone milling around...
We don't bow in if you're late at my place However, I noticed that one of the shihan did bow in when he arrived late once. He got changed, bowed in in the corner at the back and waited for Soke's permission to join
no more than usual. PS I had to look it up and believe the slang comes from Divine Wind... Kami Kaze.
Whilst this doesn't apply in Japan, at our club I'm OK with people not bowing for religious reasons It's appropriate to discuss/ask if that applies to you I think
A few more spring to mind: - Don't bow after the technique's been shown or to your partner before practicing what was shown. It's a bit awkward for everyone - even in Japan - Best to pay at the beginning of class if it's an option (not all dojos do this), and if paying after training do it straight away so the guy collecting the cash doesn't have to wait for ages
Don't talk when showing a technique Don't roll onto or off the central mat to demonstrate (this one guy...)
How about: We shouldn't worry too much about what everyone else is doing. It's very possible that there's more going on than we can see and thus properly judge. Basically everything is some variation of, 'don't be a burden'. Listing examples of this is okay, but, at the core, it requires sensitivity to the situation to really properly understand; this takes training rather than enumeration - just as taijutsu does. For example: those people continuing to train while Soke is talking? I'm sure they simply weren't aware of their environment, having gotten caught up in the excitement of training rather then saying to themselves, 'Gee, f' this dude, let's train!' I think it's highly likely that they also couldn't identify the guy who was also visiting who was carrying a knife while outside of training. I'm confident their taijutsu will have the same (lack of) qualities. I don't see this as rudeness so much as lack of awareness, which is most likely either a deficiency in training or capacity. Neither of which do I consider necessarily morally blameworthy. I think the best we can do is offer an 'opening' to those in case they'd like to connect - it's possible that we can help in the first case, not so much in the second. In fact, with a connection, rather than a judgement, we may uncover a third case where it turns out we were the douches, but unable to see it due to our lack of awareness.
Agree with this Maybe 'though people's awareness/sensitivity can be helped by discussions like these. It's also good to understand these things to have an awareness of how others will perceive our actions I do feel that people that get caught up in the "forms" of etiquette miss the point becoming a bit awkward. However, a little help or opening the door for people on these things can't go amiss in my view
The main universal ones for any art are, 1) Do what the more experienced people are doing. 2) Its not all about yourself, be considerate.
