its been my observation that people bow in class because they are told they have to. people will bow due to the requirements and expectations of the class which is far different than having a feeling of sincere gratitude or respect in your heart and having that express itself as a bow. by this i mean people will bow as an empty gesture.
Judging one's sincerity from a bow is a very difficult thing to do. Regardless, that's a failing of character, not the act of bowing.
wouldnt it be more appropriate to shake hands or bump gloves like in boxing. why is it that we bow and not shake hands?
What's appropriate is relative. If I took a boxing class and there was a gesture to show respect and they didn't understand what a bow meant then I would learn their gesture. However; if they did know what a bow meant then I would bow. For example; the training facility I'm at teaches multiple styles and we spar different classes sometimes. Each style has their own gesture, but each person uses the gesture of their style. We do so because each person knows the gesture of each class and understands what is meant by the gesture, respect. Its what's conveyed, not how it's conveyed.
i could point out that for a long time in America and still continues that bowing is a religious problem for many people. i actually know of one American 8th Dan master of Okinawan Goju ryu that had to give up his karate and dojo when he married a born again Christian women and converted to her church and religion. many Christian, Jehovah and i think Muslim people find it a sin and intolerable to bow or meditate.
I'm not criticizing how literally and closely some may follow their beliefs, but if they are that devout they might find other conflicts in training as well. For the sake of argument let's say there were some that devout with their beliefs, they would be an extremely small minority. FYI, there are quite a few "Christian Martial Arts" schools and I've personally known Muslims that study traditional MA without issue.
i also understand many styles other than Judo and karate do this. i just felt that it would be "understood" that i dont need to make a list of every art and that those two would be representative of the general concept.
The point is that many MA schools of varying styles throughout the world still refer to the techniques in foreign terms, yet they still generate students that are capable of defending themselves.
Please refer to your comments below
i never said it was invented as a marketing tool. you are reading into things that were never said or implied. i am well aware of the origins of the Gi probably much more so that you are.
its called cultural appropriation and was used as a marketing gimmick.
it is a superfluous distraction and the only reason why it is there was because back in the 1950's and 60's when Judo and karate became popular it was seen as exotic and something mysterious and special and that special feeling helped its marketing and kept the students and money rolling in.
You're directly stating it was used as a marketing gimmick, which isn't true. They simply taught it the way they were taught(GIs and foreign terms). If people were attracted to the GIs and use of foreign terms, that doesn't mean they were used as marketing gimmicks. They were already existing components of the style that some people were drawn towards.
it would be a little odd for someone to travel to France to learn to be a chef and upon their return insist that the restaurant staff use French names like cuillere and couteau, for all the utensils and kitchen tools when they reside in Ohio.
That's a great example for my point. Wouldn't they still refer to the French entrees(French word) in French? It wouldn't "detract" from his culinary skills by remembering french entree terms.
people also choose to do Shodo, Kyudo, Ikebana to name a few.
Great example, let's use Kyudo. You've said that Foreign terms are "distracting" and "detract" from training. Are you saying if I studied Kyudo under the more traditional style(Japanese terms, Traditional Uniform) that will make me less accurate as a marksman?
if your doing martial arts as a cultural activity then the bowing and gi and language is central to the purpose and focus of the activity, the self defense aspect is ancillary.
Here is the central problem with your premise. You think the more traditional style of training somehow equates to less emphasis on self-defense. The priority of self-defense isn't diminished because I'm taught the importance of bowing, some foreign terms and wear a GI.
they are in effect detracting from the focus since anything that is not working toward the same goal is a waste of time and energy.
Basic things like bowing are usually taught in the first class, foreign terms are gradually thrown in throughout training. People don't have a harder time learning Mawashi Geri(round house kick) because of the name taught to them. The quality of my roundhouse kick isn't diminished by being taught the meaning of Mawashi Geri. Bowing doesn't detract from SD component of MA either. Unless you consider the 1 second it takes to bow to a new training partner, the 3 seconds to bow to the instructors at the beginning of class and the 3 seconds at the end is "detracting" from the SD emphasis? I can take your premise and say the same about stretching, if it's not "SD training" then it's a waste of time.
it would be a better option to train in street clothes and shoes to know what it is like and how your choice of clothing will effect your performance.
The same can be said for SD courses as well. People usually wear "loose fitting" clothes to SD courses and not the usual clothes they might wear out and about. For example; people up North don't usually wear thick winter clothes when they train SD, nor do doctors train in Scrubs.
speaking in a foreign language only slows the comprehension of the system.
No it doesn't. Learning the foreign terms for the style won't slow down comprehension. Practicing, drilling and executing the techniques are one thing, knowing the foreign term won't diminish it. Meaning, I won't hesitate to execute techniques simply because I know the foreign term for it. In summary, learning foreign terms will not diminish the SD component of MA.
