Nothin' but a dobok

[andyjeffries]

Just wondering this morning how strict your classes are on just wearing a normal/standard dobok?

At our club, the master is very fussy about people not rolling their sleeves up. I know in the states you can buy short sleeved doboks, I don't think he'd be happy about that either. Are they common in the states/other countries?

Our doboks can be as embroidered as we like (some prefer plain, some prefer logos/stripes/badges/brand names). Our belts can also have embroidery to our tastes, providing the colour is correct (having a pink belt with 1st Dan embroidered on it would get us kicked out of class I'm sure ;-) )

We can wear a white T-shirt/rashguard under our doboks if we like, as long as it's plain (i.e. doesn't show through the dobok).

We sometimes wear lightweight coats/tracksuit tops to warm up in - only if it's a "warm yourselves up" type of warm up. If we're in normal lines and warming up as a class, it's doboks only. And those extra tops come off before the "class proper" starts.

Taekwondo shoes (no regular trainers) are optional. Personally I prefer to have bare feet. My master prefers to wear shoes. Everyone else is a mixture.

So, how is it in your club?

 

[jthomas1600]

In the summer when it's hot and the A/C won't keep up school t-shirts are allowed instead of the dobok top. Other than that it's pretty much doboks only. Students can buy and wear the cheap (I think$20) uniform through the school or can up grade as long as it's a plain white dobok. Black belts can wear a black color if they want. T-shirts are fine under the dobok. TKD shoes are fine but only 1 or 2 people wear them.

 

[andyjeffries]

In the summer when it's hot and the A/C won't keep up school t-shirts are allowed instead of the dobok top. Other than that it's pretty much doboks only. Students can buy and wear the cheap (I think$20) uniform through the school or can up grade as long as it's a plain white dobok. Black belts can wear a black color if they want. T-shirts are fine under the dobok. TKD shoes are fine but only 1 or 2 people wear them.

Whereabouts do you live/train and what area/building do you train in? I live just north of London, England (so the weather is rarely that hot) and we train in a Leisure Centre so it's got decent A/C.

We've certainly never been allowed to wear a T-Shirt (even a club one) nor a black dobok, so that's cool.

 

[terryl965]

Well I am in Arlington Texas and we are a dobook school, now with that being said we do allow color ones as long as they are V-necks. I also have allowed a t-shirt in the summer time when the A/C just cannot keep up with the summer heat. I only allow a white t-shirt under any type of dobook. As far as shoe's nobody wears them, I do not even mention them to anybody.

 

[andyjeffries]

Well I am in Arlington Texas and we are a dobook school, now with that being said we do allow color ones as long as they are V-necks.

When you say color ones, do you mean a limited set of colours or is it open season? I've seen red and blue ones and I have to say that I'm not a fan. But as long as you, that's all that matters.

Out of interest, what uniforms do you wear?

I also have allowed a t-shirt in the summer time when the A/C just cannot keep up with the summer heat.

I can imagine your summer heat being considerable more than ours ;-)

I only allow a white t-shirt under any type of dobook. As far as shoe's nobody wears them, I do not even mention them to anybody.

What would your reaction be if someone did wear them? Would you ask them outright to remove them? Drop hints? How do you feel about them?

 

[dancingalone]

A bit OT, but I was curious if TKD shoes damage to puzzle mats. Anyone know? I know the regular wrestling type mats do fine with MA or wrestling shoes.

 

[jthomas1600]

I live south of Houston Texas. It's more a combination of heat and humidity. With all the traffic in and out of the school (so there door is open all the time) it's pretty warm for the afternoon classes July through September. I don't personally find it necessary to go with just a t-shirt, but it's an option and maybe 15-20% of the students will go with only a t shirt for those months. Always around the end of Sept. they will start reminding everybody that summer is winding down and full uniforms are expected.

 

[StudentCarl]

A bit OT, but I was curious if TKD shoes damage to puzzle mats. Anyone know? I know the regular wrestling type mats do fine with MA or wrestling shoes.

On topic first: We're dobok only in class unless you are a guest or are at team practice. At practice anything goes as long as it's functional workout clothing and covers what should be covered. T-shirts and shorts rule, and most people bring a change of shirt.

OT to shoes--I haven't seen damage but I know they grip more than bare feet. I particularly don't like them for spin kicks and will only wear them if assisting with instruction. With six nights a week on the foam floor for 2-3 hours, sometimes the shoes are nice to give my feet a break--usually to let the skin recover a little (gets dry and cracked).

 

[SahBumNimRush]

We are a dobok only class. No shoes, no rolling of sleeves, no colored doboks, all traditional. We have some leeway with the brand of uniform as long as it's a traditional wrap around uniform (no V-necks). Patches are limited to our school patches, U.S. and Korean Flags, USTW, and recently "demo team" (not sure how I feel about that one yet.. .)

Yudanja may have embroidered belts with your name and stripes on one side (right side) and our KJN's name on the other side.

 

[sfs982000]

Our school we wear our uniforms all the time, we do have the option to wear t-shirts during our sparring class, but the t-shirts have to be either plain white or an ATA shirt. Our instructors also do not allow us to roll our sleeves up for classes either. We've had a couple of folks wear Tae Kwon Do shoes during class, but that was only because they were dealing with foot injuries, every one else is bare foot.

 

[Manny]

My sambonim is very stricted about this, the only uniform you can wear is a white dobok with the v collar in the same color of the belt, he does not like the sleves rolled, the sleeves must cover the wrist, he allow us to wear a white t shirt only below the dobok, forget about colored t shirts or stamped t shirts only plain white tshirts, doing examination you can't use the white t shirt , about TKD shoes you can wear them on class but not in examination.

You can wear any brand of dobok aproved by sambonim but it has to have the dojang's patch and the dojang's trade mark in the back this means one must buy directly to the sambonim/dojang's org the doboks or give the new dobok to sambonim so he can send it to the person who put the patch and the trade mark.

About belts, colored belts sambonim give us the brand he buy (asiana) about the black belts he bought adidas send them to embroid and it's part of the black belt examination, in on side the name of the person in the other side in korean the name of the dojang's organization.

When someone has no dobok he/her can wear sport white sport clothes.

Manny

 

[auxiliary]

Students wear a white uniform. We allow white shirts underneath. We supply them with a uniform when they first join as a part of their trial program. Most students will have the same uniform for a while until they out grow it or it just gets dirty/old. After that they just get another one from us. $29 for the uniform.

I don't allow to roll the sleeves up. Maybe a little if the uniform is just a little to big. I don't allow watches, silly bands, bracelets, and the only jewelry is a wedding ring. And no shoes.

I don't tell anyone about them or mention them. I do have one black belt adult who wears mat shoes but it's because of a physical condition. However, he's the only one in the school.

 

[auxiliary]

Oh ya! T-shirts. We allow t-shirts on Saturdays and then also during the summer. We're in the south and it gets hot fast.

They must wear a "karate" shirt, something they got at a tournament, through century, or at the school. This is to make sure that any questionable material isn't on it. It has to be tucked in while they wear it.

 

[Earl Weiss]

A bit OT, but I was curious if TKD shoes damage to puzzle mats. Anyone know? I know the regular wrestling type mats do fine with MA or wrestling shoes.

No issues with damage. Issue is with pivoting. Soles seem to make this difficult.

 

[andyjeffries]

I don't allow to roll the sleeves up. Maybe a little if the uniform is just a little to big.

We allow the sleeves to be rolled up in that case, but that applies more to the children than adults (adults are expected to buy the right size uniform or have it adjusted).

I don't allow watches, silly bands, bracelets, and the only jewelry is a wedding ring. And no shoes.

Whoah, you allow people to wear wedding rings? For us, that's a no-no. Any jewellery comes off. If people have an issue with it (oh, I never take my wedding ring off, it's as good as being unfaithful) they don't train with us.

Occasionally if people have just had an earring put in, they MAY get away with a plaster covering a simple stud (during the initial healing), but that's it.

 

[chrispillertkd]

Just wondering this morning how strict your classes are on just wearing a normal/standard dobok?

Doboks are worn, standard ITF uniform. The black belts get the embroidered variety (silk screening for color belts because of the cost unless they specially ask for embroidery) with the piping, ITF logo, school patch, ITF "tree" and piping all sewn on. No one gets to "customize" their uniform. They get the standard for their rank (gup, I-III dan, IV dan and up). Same with belts. Only thing on a black belt is your name in Korean and English and your rank. My instructors have also recently started getting their school insignia embroidered on black belts. It looks good, but I prefer just the name and rank look, personally. Nothing on a color belt except a rank stripe (when it's applicable).

For a while my instructors would allow students to wear club t-shirts instead of uniform tops in the summer but none of the black belts ever did. It's been so long since I've seen anyone do it I'd almost forgotten about it, in fact.

No rolling up sleeves in class and no short sleeved doboks. Truth be told, I've never seen any short sleeved doboks. My instructor had a few back in the day when he started training but I was under the impression that this was something adopted from karate back in the day (sleeves and pant legs didn't reach all the way down) but that got changed by the early 1970s or so. Maybe some of the "korean karate" guys still use such uniforms.

T-shirts can be worn under the dobok if they're plain white. Mostly this is done by women, not men. No one wears track suits or anything like that to warm up since once they get into the training room for class they need to be in uniform.

Kicking shoes are sometimes worn, but that's usually by people who have foot and/or knee problems and want a little extra support. I've seen some people train in athletic shoes but the kicking shoes are more common (and are still out of the ordinary).

Pax,

Chris

 

[SahBumNimRush]

We allow the sleeves to be rolled up in that case, but that applies more to the children than adults (adults are expected to buy the right size uniform or have it adjusted).



Whoah, you allow people to wear wedding rings? For us, that's a no-no. Any jewellery comes off. If people have an issue with it (oh, I never take my wedding ring off, it's as good as being unfaithful) they don't train with us.

Occasionally if people have just had an earring put in, they MAY get away with a plaster covering a simple stud (during the initial healing), but that's it.

We always put it this way, "what's more important to you? Losing your finger or your ring if that finger gets injured in class, or taking it off for a couple of hours a week?" It's purely a safety issue with us. If the finger gets caught in a dobok, or gets stoved or broken, then you risk the ring cutting off circulation, which may lead to A). losing a finger or B). having an EMT cut your ring off to restore adequate circulation.

Most people don't have a problem with that.

 

[Earl Weiss]

FWIW if you consider the Dobok to be a "uniform" then the word is self evident as to any "customization" being allowed.

As far as short or rolled up sleeves go, in the olden days and in someopen tournaments today, grabbing was / is allowed. You'd grab a guys sleeve to keep him from backing up while you "Scored".

 

[ralphmcpherson]

We must wear a white wrap around style dobok, strictly no v-neck, if a shirt is worn underneath it must be white. We cannot roll our sleeves up, shoes can be worn but very very rarely have I seen someone actually wear them. Wedding rings are allowed, but no other jewellery. When we train black belt class on an oval we are allowed to wear a black uniform to avoid grass stains, dirt etc wrecking the uniform. My instructor lets his black belts wear black uniforms in class (not gradings), but he is the exception to the rule on this.

 

[puunui]

Just wondering this morning how strict your classes are on just wearing a normal/standard dobok?

We wear plain dobok with no patches on them, other than the ones that are already on there. We only wear white dobok, top and bottom. I do not allow students to roll up their sleeves. You cannot roll up your sleeves at a tournament and you should train how you fight. Also in Hapkido we need the sleeves to do certain self defense techniques. People can wear monogrammed belts, but generally they wear the ones I make for them, which I give them for free. The only thing on the belt is their name on one side and the school name/organization (in two rows) on the other. The monogram is totally in hangul. No stripes on the belts to denote dan rank. I think that looks tacky and none of my teachers ever had any stripes on their belt. Oh, and no training in t shirt or warm ups. Again, you should train in what you have to wear when you fight, which is a white dobok with the sleeves rolled down. And no shoes on the mat. Shoes are bad because again, you cannot wear them at a tournament and it takes away the ability to feel and grip the mat with your feet and toes, which is very important to me.