aikido etiquette

1. Bow towards the portrait of o sensei (kamiza) in seiza (sitting position) when first entering and when last leaving the mat.

2. Bow towards kamiza in standing postion after the first entering bow and before last exiting bow when leaving and entering the mat.

3. Remove shoes and place then neatly along the mat.

4. If entering the mat with weapons raise them parallel to the floor when bowing.

5. Please keep your fingernails short as not to hurt anyone and remove all jewelry.

6. White Gi should be kept clean and presentable -- Hakama for yudansha only please.

7. Belt should be properly tied with knot pointing to the right.

8. If you come and practice has started, please wait at the edge of the mat in seiza (sitting on knees) for sensei to aknowlege you and say "hai dozo" (please come).

9. Please pay your dues promptly.

10. Line up at the start of class by seniority.

11. Never walk between two people bowing or practicing, it's rude and dangerous!

12. If sitting in seiza becomes too much for sit cross-legged (agura). Its much more polite to sit cross-legged than to be squirming around all class.

13. Never lean against the wall or cross your arms, it's rude and says you're bored, don't care and have nothing to learn.

14. Don't walk between sensei and the Kamiza, or sit with your back to the Kamiza.

15. If you have an injury be sure to let sensei and your partners know. Rolling up a sleeve or pant leg indicates where you are injured. Example -- if you're left elbow is bothering you, roll up your left sleeve an inch or two.

16. It is polite to ask Sensei before leaving the mat for water.

17. When sensei is demonstrating a technique it is polite so sit and watch even if he's just showing you and your partner. After the correction, bow to the instructor, then to your partner, and resume practice.

18. If you need to straighten up your Gi, bow to your partner and turn away from the kamiza to fix it.

19. None of us are perfect, we're all just here to learn - please let that be reflected in your attitude. We're not here to compete and we're all expected to be teachers as well as students.

The Art of Being Uke:
When two people are practicing the person attacking is called "uke" and the person doing the technique is called "nage". Being a good uke is more of an art than most people think. Uke must give nage a sincere attack. In Aikido most of the techniques utilize the attacker's movement and redirect it. If uke doesn't give a committed attack nage doesn't have much to work with. That being said uke is not supposed to fight, struggle, squirm, or try to evade nages technique. A lot of people feel that it isn't realistic if they don't try to escape but that's not the case. In real time there would be no opportunity for the attacker to evade given that the whole thing will be over in a couple of seconds. We practice at reduced speeds so that we can fine tune our technique and keep it safe for aikidoka of all levels. Aikido is learned through repetition, repetition of techniques teach our body how to move and react in real life situations. As uke you are lending someone your body so that they may practice, not learning to evade or block techniques - we do that sepratly. All this being said, it's just fine to ask your partner to grab really hard or give a forceful attack to see if your technique holds up as long as you're both comfortable. Try to flow with nages movement instead of anticipating the movement and moving accordingly.

A quick note about being an uke for a shodan test -
When a pin is being applied to you don't wait until the pain is unbarable to pat out, pat out as soon as you feel the pin applied properly. Even though uke is being observed as well as nage, the test is not about building your own tolerance, it's about nage being able to perform proper technique. Beyond that, it keeps an hour long test from becoming an hour and a half.