Instructor's dobok different from students?

IcemanSK

El Conquistador nim!
MT Mentor
MTS Alumni
Joined
Nov 7, 2005
Messages
6,482
Reaction score
181
Location
Los Angeles, CA
I went to a demo a few weeks ago were the instructor wore a different uniform than his students. It helped make him stand out as the leader of the team. In class my 1st sa bum wore a white diamond dobok while we all wore white or black collar v-necks (depending on rank).

I'm wondering if your instructors wear a dobok that is very different from your students. A black dobok, trim that's unique, etc. Either for class or on a demo uniform.

Do you want to be instantly identified as the instructor, or do you wear what your students do to identify with them?
 

igillman

Purple Belt
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Messages
320
Reaction score
8
Location
Rockford, IL, USA
Our place looks like an explosion in a paint factory...
We have black tops for 5th Dan and above.
Red tops for instructors 4th Dan and below.
White tops with black trim for all other black belts.
White doboks for coloured belts.
Red doboks if you are in the Hwa Rang Do group (sparring).
Blue doboks for anyone in the Black Belt Club.
 

ArmorOfGod

Senior Master
Joined
May 31, 2006
Messages
2,031
Reaction score
39
Location
North Augusta, SC
Granted, I am not a tkd school, but I always wear something with a little color to it. All of the pants I wear are black with a red, white, or blue stripe, then my gi top will match that color. Most of those pants have cargo pockets on the side. I don't like the pockets, but I do so many seminars, demos, and other public things that I need somewhere for my wallet.
My students are required to either wear a black karate gi, or a black v-neck doback. I am considering a brown belt exception, which would be a black uniform with color trim, but that hasn't happened yet.
I do stay a little colorful to differentiate myself from the students. Also, I believe that regardless of what the teachers wear, the students should all wear the same uniform. This prevents cliques from forming and a general feel of "being in it together."

AoG
 

hkfuie

Purple Belt
Joined
Apr 20, 2008
Messages
371
Reaction score
23
Location
USA
Students are asking me all the time to wear different colored doboks. We just use white. At around green belt students are expected to wear a heavyweight. :)

I have trained with people who wear all sorts of colors, even going so far as to cut off sleeves and stuff. Maybe someday we'll go out on a limb and wear black. ;)

Edited to acknowledge that I did not answer the question! No. Instructors wear the same as students. Not a bad idea, though.
 

dancingalone

Grandmaster
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
5,322
Reaction score
281
Your belt alone should be enough to distinguish yourself from the students unless you have a lot of yudanja attending your school. The last time I read something semi-official on the topic in TKD, it was argued that a uniform places everyone on the same footing in the dojang, where social status or personal wealth should not matter since everyone is wearing the same garb. If you follow that premise, you should wear the same uniform your students do.
 

dancingalone

Grandmaster
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
5,322
Reaction score
281
Students are asking me all the time to wear different colored doboks. We just use white. At around green belt students are expected to wear a heavyweight. :)

I have trained with people who wear all sorts of colors, even going so far as to cut off sleeves and stuff. Maybe someday we'll go out on a limb and wear black. ;)

If I had to be brutally honest, I'd admit that I would like a blue uniform myself. Alas, it's a vanity I choose to deny myself in the interest of building character.
 

ATC

Senior Master
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
2,664
Reaction score
70
Location
San Jose
All color belts were a white dobok with white trim. All black belts were a white dobok with black trim.

Our 4th Dan and up sometimes were a black dobok but for the most part they were a white dobok with black trim also.
 
OP
IcemanSK

IcemanSK

El Conquistador nim!
MT Mentor
MTS Alumni
Joined
Nov 7, 2005
Messages
6,482
Reaction score
181
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Your belt alone should be enough to distinguish yourself from the students unless you have a lot of yudanja attending your school. The last time I read something semi-official on the topic in TKD, it was argued that a uniform places everyone on the same footing in the dojang, where social status or personal wealth should not matter since everyone is wearing the same garb. If you follow that premise, you should wear the same uniform your students do.


I appreciate this point of view & agree in large part with it. I wear a plain black v-neck most days. I only wear my dress uniform for belt tests & important events. And yet, there are times (demos for one) that a crowd &/or "outsiders" need to know who in in charge. A different dobok would help with that. And, as you said, when there are many yudanja around, it helps to distinguish the senior from the juniors.

I'm interested in other's points of view & what is done at other schools: not just sharing my own.
 

terryl965

<center><font size="2"><B>Martial Talk Ultimate<BR
MTS Alumni
Joined
Apr 9, 2004
Messages
41,259
Reaction score
340
Location
Grand Prairie Texas
I wear the exact uniforms that my students wear, if people do not know I am the head instructor than a uniform will not help.
 

Omar B

Senior Master
Joined
Nov 6, 2007
Messages
3,687
Reaction score
87
Location
Queens, NY. Fort Lauderdale, FL
I'm sorry but I don't get the (almost) rainbow of colors you see in many of the martial arts. If your belt and your conduct does not set you apart from the students then you should not be teaching. No black, blue, diamond embroidered (I'm looking at you Hapkido) top is gonna help.
 

ACJ

Blue Belt
Joined
Mar 28, 2009
Messages
223
Reaction score
5
All the colour belts in our club wear a white dobok. All the cho dan bo and black belts wear a white dobok with a black collar, including the instructors.
There are quite a few choices for black collar uniforms compared to the one white collar choice. In particular there is a "grandmaster" uniform (just nicer material and stripes down the legs and arms), but contrary to its name we don't have any minimum belt requirement to wear it other than cho dan bo. So if I'm teaching you'll often have the cho dan bos and bbs I teach looking more ostentatious than the instructor (I like the simple uniform and only pull out the "grandmaster" for gradings and such).
 

chrispillertkd

Senior Master
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
2,096
Reaction score
107
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
My instructors don't wear anything to differentiate them from their students.

I should point out that we are an ITF school, so there are some slight changes in the uniform depending on rank to beghin with. Gup level students wear a plain white uniform. I-III dans wear a white uniform with black trim on the bottom of the jacket. IV dans and up wear a white uniform with black trim on the jacket bottom and on the arms and legs. Since my instructors are a VII dan and a V dan they wear this latter type of uniform along with the students that are IV and V dans, of which there are several.

Pax,

Chris
 

ACJ

Blue Belt
Joined
Mar 28, 2009
Messages
223
Reaction score
5
My instructors don't wear anything to differentiate them from their students.

Frankly, the way you emphasise this could make this work oh so differently. That was the first though in my head when I read it.
 

ACJ

Blue Belt
Joined
Mar 28, 2009
Messages
223
Reaction score
5
Especially if you don't read the whole sentence or the context in which it's said ;)

Pax,

Chris

If you were to read carefully I mentioned the emphasis of the sentence, the way the sentence is written now, it could still clearly and easily mean what I implied it to mean.

To keep this (kinda) on topic, why do instructors need to stand out? Don't you know who they are? Or are people stuffing their schools with so many students it's like a giant crowd?
 

ACJ

Blue Belt
Joined
Mar 28, 2009
Messages
223
Reaction score
5
Which is why I mentioned context, really.

Pax,

Chris

Trust me, that would make the instructors stand out.

The way the sentence is written now (in context), it could still clearly and easily mean what I implied it to mean.
 

Laurentkd

Master Black Belt
Joined
Jan 2, 2007
Messages
1,376
Reaction score
43
Location
Kansas City
My instructor has a "leadership team" of black belts and some 1st and 2nd gups. When they are in a class to assist or teach they wear a red top to distinguish themselves as such. This way other students and parents know who to go to for questions. It also allows other senior students (even leadership team members) to be able to focus on just themselves when they are in a class for training (which is nice!) My instructor just wears whatever he is in the mood for for that day, but I think this system aligns to your original observation Iceman. It is fairly new, but seems to be working well right now.
As far as the need to distinguish an instructor- for the seasoned marital artist sure it is easy to point out a senior rank. But I don't think that is the case for people unfamiliar with the arts, especially if the instructor doesn't have the stereotypical look of one (for example, a female, someone small, or someone large). I think anything you can do to make students feel more confident or comfortable to ask questions to the right person is a good thing, especially for nervous new students, or even potential students (like at a demonstration).
 
Last edited:

Latest Discussions

Top