Proper etiquette

terryl965

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How do you handle proper ediquette inside your school, do you have them bow in and out? Do they bow before entering the workout area? We still do but alot of people tell me this is to old school to do anymore and it is not proper in today era.
 
we bow in before and after class, and the adults even when they receive their signed attendance card (the kids should, too, but hey, they say 'Yes Sir', you gotta pick your battles.)

We did not bow entering the workout floor, you had to walk through it to get to the restrooms, but we aquirred a couple of new Black Belts who had been taught to do so (and teens, not old fogeys!) So a lot of us adults started doing it, too and it seems to be catching on with some kids.

School moved since and the changing facilities are no longer behind the work out floor.

And who ever tells you you have too much manners...pft! You might catch attention for bowing when nobody does, but that is better than being caught rude.
 
I run a fairly strict school. (Bowing in & out, "yes sir, no sir" etc.) I'm not as strict my 1st or my current instructor are....but I'm much more strict than many schools I know of.

Most of my students are kids (7-15 yrs old). Teaching them the benefits of discipline & respect (rather than just demanding it) is really important. It's not taught (much less demanded) very much in our American society.
 
simple..... don't get your *** kicked with my schools tshirt on...
 
We bow anytime we say hello to another student/teacher/instructor/master etc, and we bow on and off the mats
 
We are bow happy. You must bow in and out of dojang. Bow to all black belts. Bow on and off the mat. Bow to any senior above you. All children must bow to their parents also.

Also yes sir and no sir to any and all questions. Plus no fist names when addressing any instructor or elder, Mr or Miss Last name.

Pretty strick school in all.
 
We bow in and off the dojang floor and at the start and end of class. We don't say "yes, sir", or anything like that. Technically we should be referring to out teacher as sabomnim, but that generally slides.

Depends on who's instructing that night, but it can range from a couple of warnings to straight away push-ups for breaking any rules. Our rules are pretty easy and simple though.
 
We bow in and out of the 'dojo' area and use small bows of acknowledgement if sensei corrects any flaws in our work. Likewise, we refer to sensei as "sensei".

Maintaining a certain degree of formality and respect is very important in any martial art - I don't know if it is even more necessary with the armed arts but it certainly does not hurt to be disciplined, polite and respectful.

Like Granfire said above, it is far more preferrable to be thought a little 'old fashioned' with your reigi than to cause offense to someone.
 
First, we normally use the tachi-rei, or informal (standing) bow. The formal bow, za-rei, (seated bow) is done only during promotions.

We bow upon entering or exiting the mat, and we generally (though not always) bow to the shomen and senseis at the beginning and end of class. Our shomen includes photos of the founder, his instructors, and our sensei's instructors, as well as a US Flag, so it carries no religious stigma. There is an old photo of our founder, Master Tatsuo Shimabuku, in his dojo in Okinawa, where one can see his shomen in the background, which included a depiction of Jesus Christ - I do not know why it was there, but it apparently was acceptable to both students and our founder.

We also bow when directly instructed by a black belt student, and we address all black belts as 'sensei' and show them proper respect.

Although I have no problems using the term 'sensei', apparently some have in the past, and so the term gender-appropriate 'mister' or 'ms' followed by the sensei's last name is also considered acceptable and I sometimes hear it. Some also refer to our instructor as 'sir' instead of 'sensei'.

There are times when we do not bother with the bowing in and out at the beginning and end of class, but mostly we do.

I do not mind the formality.
 
We bow going in and coming out of the dojo and to all black belts at the beginning of class. If a student needs to leave early, he will come up to each BB and bow out to say good-bye.
 
We bow in and out of the room (there is no separate "mat" area, just tumbling mats we put down as needed), say "yes, sir", "no, ma'am", bow to partners, etc. Some think it's old-fashioned - but if you can't learn to control your behavior enough to be polite in a controlled environment, then I can't trust you enough to teach you ways to hurt people in an uncontrolled environment.
 
We bow in and out of the room (there is no separate "mat" area, just tumbling mats we put down as needed), say "yes, sir", "no, ma'am", bow to partners, etc. Some think it's old-fashioned - but if you can't learn to control your behavior enough to be polite in a controlled environment, then I can't trust you enough to teach you ways to hurt people in an uncontrolled environment.

I agree. I also tend to believe it shows a level of maturity and dedication.

People who are masters of their subject, willing to teach it, and able to do so effectively are not that common. They have a limited time to teach, and a limited amount of students they can reach. I can understand why they would wish to insist that their training be received by those willing to remain and learn, rather than those who rebel against tradition and may be here today, gone tomorrow, with that time, space, and effort wasted by the master.

In most cases, teachers no longer insist that prospective students chop wood or carry water for a year to prove their dedication before training can begin. What little is requested - a bow, traditional signs of respect - seem a very small price to pay.
 
We bow in and out of the main training area. Will also wait to be invited on the mat if late for a class or something. Salute the American flag before class and bow to the instructor before and after class.

Pretty standard in my experience.

Peace,
Erik
 
Personally,it bothers me when they call a TaeKwonDo instructor "Sensei" seeing that sensei is japanese for teacher and taekwondo is a korean art.
Our class calls him sir (With the occasional Mr. Kim)

We bow before and after sparring,bow before class,bow afterwords.
 
On the off chance that your comment was inspired by my earlier post, CS, I thought it pertinent to point out that I don't practise TKD but muso jikiden eishin ryu iaido.

However, I thought that as etiquette is something of a universal concept in martial arts that noone would object to my throwing my tuppence into the hat.
 
We have to bow when we enter or exit dojang, also we bow at least twice (once to the instructor once to the flag) at the end of class, we bow more if there are higher up instructors present in the dojang at the end as well.
 
Personally,it bothers me when they call a TaeKwonDo instructor "Sensei" seeing that sensei is japanese for teacher and taekwondo is a korean art.
Our class calls him sir (With the occasional Mr. Kim)

We bow before and after sparring,bow before class,bow afterwords.

Well young grasshoper before the term in korea came about sensei was used alot for a Korean Karate Master but then once again I am old and can remember something YEA!!!!
 
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