I feel it is important that when we practice our kungfu that we wear suitable atire. Not just sports wear but a kung fu uniform of some sort. I think that this instills a sense of focus in the practitioner and also when you wear it you feel more argghhhhhhhhhhh "into" it. what do you think?
Wearing a uniform instills nothing in me, nor have I seen any difference in anyone else over the years who wore the KF specific uniform compared to comfortable training clothing. Doesn't really matter either way, but all depends upon instructor's choice for what they want. I teach Shaolin Lohan, but the only uniform I require is loose comfortble training clothing, no KF uniform of any type is required, student's can wear it if they choose too, but doesn't make one difference in how well they train/learn.
I don't think you need a uniform to instill those things into you, you should really have them anyway. We do have a uniform but it's nothing fancy, I don't really want a fancy outfit (even though I am a girl!).
We have the school t-shirt and my workout pants. And these great Discipline brand shoes! For $50 a pair, they BETTER be great. I think that qualifies as a very low key uniform. Also, it gives me a great excuse to look horrible while mangling the forms.
We pretty much wear loose black workout pants and the black school tee. Type of shoes are optional and we dont enforce uniforms during training. Demos or performances are a bit different for obvious reasons. And even then it's only during Chinese New Year festivities. I actually wear some black cotton traditional pants from Hong Kong that my Sifu brought back years ago. Also I have these really cool leather kung fu boots from HK also. They kinda make me go aaaaaarrrrggh in a way I guess
I think that's ridiculous. My old kung fu uniform was very uncomfortable and it it took my mind of the training. Of course, that didn't stop the kung fu class from sucking.
I split my pants hoisting the heavy bag from a squat once. Except I said "OH (add expletive of choice) ! Had to train with my boxers showing..........
ok... So what about if you have a sash system like Lau. If the students wear coloured sashes but jogging bottoms and hoddies with their sash. Or if the teacher wears stretch jeans and a wooly hat with his black sash? Would it make any difference to you whether you might join that class?
Still wouldn't matter, we've done such, but more often than not, we don't even bother wearing our sash
The big advantage of uniform is it's typically cheap, so if it gets ripped/split/bloodstained it's not the end of the world. The uniform for my club is just kung fu pants (I've split WAY too many trousers of other descriptions, including some pretty expensive joggers) and the club Tshirt. There is an optional mandarin top for those that want it (good for demos and competitions etc) but I don't really stress it.
I'd rather train there than at a school that forced it's students to wear silk pyjamas or whatever is the norm in other Lau Gar classes. In fact, the sash system at the LG class would put me off period. I don't like sashes, and I don't like uniforms. I don't look at either of those things. I look for sweat on the mats and sweat on the participants of the class. Who really cares about uniforms and gradings anyway? They are a meaningless representation of something that should be immediately obvious to anyone who has the eyes for it. If the class is working hard and the instructor/coach is pushing hard and teaching properly, you don't need the belts, sashes, or uniforms to show the fruits of the respective labors of the participants. A man/woman is the measure of him/herself, not the shirt on their back or the belt on their waist.
Pragmatism? Fine with me. If my instructor can hook me up with cheap pants that work for the class, I'll sure buy them.
Herbert is your real name Trinny or Susannah? I’m only asking because we don’t get many Fashionista’s in the Martial Arts community/.
Gi bottoms are just about the best trainning pants I think you can have, short of maybe shorts. They are tough and durable for grappling in and it's easy to see when you get blood on them. Also, I happen to have a very nice shirt on my back and belt.
Seeing as we practice at the park or in a garage (oh how the mighty have fallen!), it wouldn't make any difference at all to me. Perhaps it's because I've been a victim of smooth-talking Lotharios in tight pants and their own car, but I tend to have a .. different set of criteria.
Skinny trinny....she's kinda hot! No. I was just wondering, because i'm very easy on what people wear in my class, but students keep asking me for kung fu kit and such like.
I have been using a pair of gi pants in my grappling class forever. They ripped at the knee so I tore them off and made them into cutoff gi pants. The only downside is I look like a bag lady in class It's time for a nice pair of sprawl shorts.
