Uniform and Customs
Jitsuka wear a white keikogi, usually referred to simply as a gi, which can either be a standard judogi or something slightly lighter. Very light gis such as those used in karate are not worn as they are susceptible to damage during groundwork or when using certain throws. A coloured belt is worn according to grade, as described above. Kyu grades wear a square badge with a white background, black surround, and the word 'Jitsu' in black, on the upper right arm. Dan grades wear different colour badges as described in the Dan grades section above.
It is customary to rei (bow) towards the middle of the dojo (training hall) as one enters or leaves it. When stepping on or off the training mat the jitsuka rei to the highest grade currently on the mat or the middle of the mat if it is empty. Also at the beginning and end of the session students line up facing the sensei (teachers). The sensei calls out kiba dachi (horse riding stance), su dachi (standing with feet together), and suwaru (kneeling position). The highest non-teacher grade calls out sensei ni rei, whereupon students bow. The use of sensei ni rei is used as the highest grade currently attainable within The Jitsu Foundation is Tertiary Fellow. Since a Third Dan Tertiary Fellow is still referred to as Sensei, sensei ni rei is used. However, when Shihan Brian Graham was present on the mat, the call of shihan ni rei would have been used in respect of his sixth Dan grade and title of Shihan. The highest-ranked teacher then calls otagai ni rei and the teachers bow. Before and after training with each other during the session individual pairs of jitsuka also bow to each other. It should be noted that this bowing is not a bow of submission, obeisance, or homage. Rather it is one of mutual respect, forgiveness for any discomfort caused and thanks for the learning experience (Instructors learn too).
Read more about this topic: The Jitsu Foundation
Famous quotes containing the words uniform and, uniform and/or customs:
“He may be a very nice man. But I haven’t got the time to figure that out. All I know is, he’s got a uniform and a gun and I have to relate to him that way. That’s the only way to relate to him because one of us may have to die.”
—James Baldwin (1924–1987)
“Iconic clothing has been secularized.... A guardsman in a dress uniform is ostensibly an icon of aggression; his coat is red as the blood he hopes to shed. Seen on a coat-hanger, with no man inside it, the uniform loses all its blustering significance and, to the innocent eye seduced by decorative colour and tactile braid, it is as abstract in symbolic information as a parasol to an Eskimo. It becomes simply magnificent.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“The customs of some savage nations might, perchance, be profitably imitated by us, for they at least go through the semblance of casting their slough annually; they have the idea of the thing, whether they have the reality or not.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)