Wearing Gi outside of Dojo?

[KarateEd]

I'll wear the pants going to and from but I put the top and belt on at the dojang and take it off before I leave. Our instructors have always told us not to wear the complete uniform outside of class (this is due to the attention that it can draw, as others have stated).

[Rateh]

I wear the bottoms and a t-shirt to and from class, and at the gas station or somewhere I have to stop off on the way home. If its cold sometimes I'll have the top on untied for driving but not if I stop off somewhere.

When I was younger I would go to class in the bottoms and a t-shirt, and then my mom would say "oh I have to stop off and get some groceries on the way home" or something like that, and I'd just wear the uniform in.

When I was training at a school that was right by a Target (like 30 steps across a parking lot) I would often just take off my belt and walk there to grab something to eat between classes. Most of the students went there in the uniform occasionally. Then again everyone knew who we were, after all we were practically next door.

[Ozpunker]

You know that is one thing I love about my black belts. Unless you KNEW them, you'd have no idea they were black belts.

lol, I'll do you one better. A 4th Dan at our dojo (2nd highest ranked person we have) is a catholic school principal.. off topic but the thing that I find funny is that he just transferred to a local school which is attended by a fellow orange belt. I used to give some of my teachers trouble when I was at school.. I'm sure it'd be different if I knew that they were a 4th degree black belt. lol.

As for uniforms outside of class, I'm pretty sure just about all of us wear gi pants into training and put our tops on inside.... The kids in our class tend to wear their whole gi. We do have black pants so you generally can't tell that they are karate pants. On occasion I have worn my gi home because I've been too tired to change before hand. But I go straight from the dojo to my car and then straight from car inside my house.

Recently we held a demonstration at the local McDonalds to help raise money to send some students to a tournament in America this year. I was asked to help. I was reluctant to wear my gi in a place like that just because it only takes one person who thinks that they are tough or one person from school who I didn't get along with to start trouble.

[Seija]

subject to disciplinary action

Out of curiosity what type of disciplinary action are you talking about?

For the most part disciplinary action means pushups, pushups, pushups, and more pushups. However, if a student doesn’t respond to pushups then it is more of an attitude and behavior issue in which case probations and suspensions would be the disciplinary measures.

We are very “old school” traditional and the wearing of the Gi outside is strictly forbidden and even written down in our rules manifesto. I have made an exception on occasion of wearing the Gi pants and a t-shirt to class as some of you have mentioned, but that is only for novice students wearing the cotton blend, full length, elastic waist type of gi pants as they can kind of blend in with today’s eclectic fashions. However, I don’t feel that traditional 12-16 ounce duck canvas trousers with traditional drawstring waist that hit your leg about mid calf can blend in at all and therefore are not allowed to be worn outside of class.

[Erin]

Tying with wearing your gi to and from class time...

do you have a locker room in your dojo that you can use as your own?

We have changing rooms with lockers for temporary storage for kyu belts, but we have to take our gis home with us every time. The black belts have their own locker room and their own labeled locker as well. They can store whatever in theirs. Just wondering how everyone does this.

[Traymond]

subject to disciplinary action

Out of curiosity what type of disciplinary action are you talking about?

For the most part disciplinary action means pushups, pushups, pushups, and more pushups. However, if a student doesn’t respond to pushups then it is more of an attitude and behavior issue in which case probations and suspensions would be the disciplinary measures.

We are very “old school” traditional and the wearing of the Gi outside is strictly forbidden and even written down in our rules manifesto. I have made an exception on occasion of wearing the Gi pants and a t-shirt to class as some of you have mentioned, but that is only for novice students wearing the cotton blend, full length, elastic waist type of gi pants as they can kind of blend in with today’s eclectic fashions. However, I don’t feel that traditional 12-16 ounce duck canvas trousers with traditional drawstring waist that hit your leg about mid calf can blend in at all and therefore are not allowed to be worn outside of class.

Ahhhh ok that sounds fun...pushups haha. IM pretty sure that would stop them from wearing their Gi outside of class. If not...then....their crazy haha.

Something off topic...I like my Judo uniform all tethered...it looks cool haha.

Back on topic.

The only thing my school frowns upon with wearing the Gi outside is that it gets dirty to quick...and thats probably the only pet peeve of my instructors because our creed states that out GI must be pure white....But its never taken seriously since the instructors can wear black or blue uniforms even red if we prefer...

[tori]

I agree that wearing your obi outside is only looking for trouble, but kids coming from mom and dad's car with their gi on is not really an issue for me. When we had changing rooms available for all students, alot of horsing around in the changing area and late students became a problem. Now kids come in their uniforms, no belt visible. Adult students have their own changing area on another floor and are able to change quickly and get out and start practicing.

As for traditional, have you ever watched some programs of traditional schools in Japan? They drop their obi on the floors, something we were told never to do. They wash their obi. Also told not to do that. They come to the training area already in a gi. Sometimes we westerners take traditional too far.

[quinteros1963]

No belts outside the dojo where I train. Its okay to wear you gi. I don't wear it any place else.

Edited January 29, 2009 by quinteros1963

[Rateh]

We don't have changing rooms or lockers. We have one bathroom. So if someone is going to change at the dojang then they have to make sure they arrive plenty early or they might be late for having to wait for other people.

Pretty much everyone wears a t-shirt under their uniform top though, so its just a matter of throwing the top on over it. T-shirts are to be the color of the uniform (either white or black).

[bushido_man96]

As for traditional, have you ever watched some programs of traditional schools in Japan? They drop their obi on the floors, something we were told never to do. They wash their obi. Also told not to do that. They come to the training area already in a gi. Sometimes we westerners take traditional too far.

I agree. Sometimes, it is taken too far.