I tried a new style of jujitsu last week (Shinto Ryu Po Ju Jitsu) and turned up with a white gi. However the instructor would not allow me to wear it as he said that 'white gis are disprespectful to jujitsu'. He wanted me train in the clothes I was wearing, as I didn't have a black gi like the other students. Anybody else heard of this. It seems nonsense to me. Sure, he can choose what color gi the students should wear, in his style, but he made quite a sweeping generalisation. Also, why not let me wear the white one until I get a chance to buy a black one? Anybody come across this before?
reply... all schools seem to be differnt. In all honesty it is that type of attitude that tends to drive away students. In my school there is no dress code(kenpo school), and we are allowed to wear whatever we want to. Athletic clothes are preffered but no one truly cares wheter you wear them or not. While as at another kenpo school down south of here, the rules are very strict in many areas. These include behavior, what you adress people as, and i believe dress code as well. Now being this "strict" is ok to a degree, but the last time i checked a persons gi never made a differnce as to what kind of martial artist they are!
It's not something I've heard of and, frankly, sounds a little strange. I've heard that some ju jitsu schools can be very traditional and maybe this is an example of that. My school's pretty relaxed and informal and they just said to wear whatever I wanted until I got a black gi
We discussed this one in chat a few days ago actually, and came to the conclusion that the general rule seems to be that styles with weapons use black gi and ones without tend to use white instead. However, there are obviously exceptions to this rule, such as ninjutsu (or even iaido in the summer, but that's an optional one) However, all this aside we agreed that not allowing you to train in your white gi for even 1 session was dodgy to say the least. In addition to this, there is no way a white gi could be disrespectful to jujutsu, as most jujutsu styles and offshoots (including some of the most traditional ones) use the white gi at least some of the time. Be suspicious
*sigh* i wish my sensi would shout at me for wearing a white gi... it makes me look like a sushi chef... i much prefer my black one. same sensi teachs my friend jujitsu and they where white gis all the time until the get black belt then they can wear funky blue tops.. but seems abit wierd shouting at you for it my ninjutsu sensi prefers we wear black but itsn't that strict about it..
If this is the same guy who reported this incident on another forum, he did. Left immediately and didn't seem to be in a hurry to go back
Anyone remember that chuck norris film 'Sidekicks'? (same ***t as karate kid) Remeinds me of the instructor in that. And if I remember right, he had a black gi too. This is spookey.....get his autograph!
See I agree with you thats <<Watch your language please>> it does not matter how you look when training it matters that you learn the art and respect the values and teachings of the Art itself Gis are only a small part of the art.
That's what I was saying (ninjutsu wear black gi), but I guess if you study weapons quite a lot you could slot ninjutsu into the "weapons art" category.
I would definitely place Ninjutsu into the "weapons art" category, as we study quite a few (but do a lot of unarmed stuff, too). I wonder if that Jujitsu instructor ever explained why he thought the white gi was disrespectful. It just doesn't make any sense to me.
dunno. i started at shintoryu quite young so i never questioned it. we wore dark blue ones (with hakkamas when we did bokken and iai). maybe it's the thought that original whites we actually underclothing (like underwear).
Most traditional budo systems in Japan use the white dogi, although some systems may use hakama or some other garment at times, it is only when they become commercialised that they need room for sponsors logos and stuff. The idea behind the dogi was that it is a way of striping back the hierarchal structures of their society. Getting changed into it was also a type of ritual where they could strip of their social identity and cares and become focused on the job at hand. Putting all their efforts and thoughts into training. Every one looked the same; it didn’t matter if you were a high flyer or just a worker, when at the dojo all that mattered was devoting this time to your training. Without this stripping back of social layers it would have been hard to get students to train correctly while they were interacting with other students of a different social level. We generally don’t have the social structures in the west as they do in the east, but I still like putting on my dogi as I believe it helps me forget about everything else and focus on my training.
Hmmm... I guess it's understandable that a club/school should have it's own Gi-code. I can understand too why they prefer you to wear civvies on your first day too, I'm much more forceful throwing/locking red-belts with Gi's then in civvies. <devil's advocate, lol... tis healthy sometimes > This has got me thinking now... can everyone just indulge me and post their Gi colours on this thread, it'd be good to draw up a quick chart if I get time. Cya's all
