Martial arts were founded on a
code (“budo”) and etiquette. Today’s
martial arts, especially if they are traditional martial arts, still have
certain protocols and etiquette they follow (e.g., bowing). For the specific etiquettes followed in our
Club, see the best practice HMKTKD-BP1, Class Protocols and Class Etiquette at http://www.hanmookwan-svl.org/best_practices.htm.
But why is it important to still
have etiquette? Some of my thoughts on
why etiquette is still important are below.
- Safety. The protocols and etiquette are critical in creating a safe environment to train in. By bowing before starting a drill or sparring you are indicating to your partner you are prepared and are ready to start. We bow when we are finished with certain drills or after a sparring match to indicate it is over so both partners attacks cease. Without knowing when a drill or sparring match starts or ends, a person can be unprepared, which can easily lead to injuries.
- Creating a Learning Environment. The protocols and etiquette create a learning environment. By raising hands to ask questions, allowing only one person to talk at a time, listening when the head instructor is talking, deferring questions until after class if appropriate or would take up too much time in class, we are creating a learning environment for everyone. By bowing to your partner before a drill or sparring, you are, in part, demonstrating a willingness to learn from each other.
- Creating a Better Training Environment. The etiquette of bowing when entering the dojang and bowing to your partner before drills is a means to prepare for practice. If you are focused and prepared to practice you will create a better training environment not just for yourself but for the instructors and the other students as well.
- Instilling an Art. While martial arts teach students to fight to defend themselves, it is an art requiring respect and control. The skill is used for a specific purpose which can be brutal and very violent. The protocols and etiquette help instill that as an art, it is to be honored, practiced/taught for its specific use and always used in a controlled manner. Without the etiquette and protocols, it could just very well look like and turn into street fighting.
- Retaining tradition. Tradition is important, even if you do not understand its importance at first. Through the traditions, you are tying yourself to the founders, and instructors of the past. Usually, things that are rooted in tradition live longer than those that are not. If that is the case, then tradition is important to the survival of the art form itself.
Regards,
Kelly
"Karate is Budo
and if Budo is removed from Karate it is nothing more than sport karate, show
karate, or even fashion karate-the idea of training merely to be
fashionable." ~ Masutatsu Oyama (1923-1994), karate master who founded
Kyokushinkai Karate
