the importance of uniforms

[DelicateSound]

Budokan spelt "wail" incorrectly. He is no-longer a "winner", and so had no chance of getting his head cut-off by a Ninja.

[Mr Nunchaku]

Great topic. I have never given uniforms or belt/sash ranks much of a thought. I do know that people egos can be boosted when they are wearing a higher color uniform or belt/sash. However, such people will always be like that regardless.

I think one thing about uniforms and belts and such that has not been mentioned is simply the fact that it's a tradition. All my classmates wear the uniform and belt, my instructor and his classmates did, as well as their instructor and so on and so forth. It is just a nice tradition that I wish to uphold when I become an instructor one day. I do not think about creating a sense of unity or that uniforms are a marketing strategy or anything like that. To me uniforms are just what we wear when doing martial arts. Always has been, always will be. Simple as that. This goes for ranking system as well. Which leads me to my next point.

If you think you are hot stuff because you got a black belt then you are missing the point, that goes without saying. A true master with his black belt knows that his black belt is a piece of cloth and nothing more. It's like my instructor told us. We might think that there is something special about that stripe he just stuck on our belt but in reality it is a piece of eletrical tape he bought at the hardware store. Sometimes that needs to be said because we forget that the only reason we wear this stuff is that it's just a tradition.

[Twistedstance]

In my style, the uniform is integral to the training.. well.. not INTEGRAL... but it's still a Big Deal.

The collar cuffs are there to provide some protection from lateral strikes to the neck, as well as remind students, that this is a Part of the Body that should be protected. The centreline of the jacket (where it buttons) aids us in remembering our centreline for punches and balance. The cuffs have a line a few inches from the bottom, similar to where a monk might wear iron rings, these are for remembering/guaging where our deflections and blocks should be going on our forearms.

The colours simply identify who's a sifu and who isn't, there's another significance, but it escapes me. The pants of course are loose, as is the jacket, to provide (as stated earlier) a full range of motion.

Even the spacing of the buttons outline striking points in our uniform... it's effectively a road map.

My sigong is not big on materialistic things, but he has put the uniform together with the idea of making learning good kungfu easier, and it works.

Hey, it looks good too. And that's what counts..

In my old style, most people practiced in mufti. Pants wouldn't let them kick right, or they were too long, some of the ladies wore tops that were hard to work out in....

Aargh. In the end, the uniform makes training easy by making clothing one less thing to worry about. It's functional. On the street you have to move in what you have, but while training, you might as well get the most out of your time there.

Better go... getting... too.... SERIOUS......

[rogue]

It's the only time us guys can wear satin and silk PJs in public and not get laughed at. Well those nasty BJJ guys in their kimonos laugh, but they have their own issues to deal with.

[Twistedstance]

So, wanna tell me about your PJs?

I love them, myself. I've got my black, white and red satin getup. It feels awesome to train in. The sifus have the same thing, but in full black with gold dragons.

Classy.