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Old 03-16-2006, 08:06 PM   #52
giriasis
Dojo: Sand Drift Aikikai, Cocoa Florida
Location: Melbourne, Florida
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 823
United_States
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Re: Religious Restrictions on Training

I'd love to hear some input from the muslim members of this board on this issue. Those who train in predominately Muslim countries like Egypt, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, etc. What do you do in your dojo when there are more conservative muslims who can't train with the opposite gender because of their religous beliefs? What Islamic tradition do you follow (Sunni, Shi'ah, modernist, conservative, fundamentalist)? Does following a certain tradition make a difference? And how do you rectify the situation when you have women join your dojos especially if they will be the only or one of a limited few? Do men who do not object to training with women train with them? Or do you have separate classes or rooms to train for men and women?

I'm really curious, because we are facing this issue at my dojo as well. I'm asking you because I'm sure you have had real world experience with this matter than mostly theoretic debates of people who are from predominantly Christian/ Western countries. How do you make accomodations or do you?

If you don't want to answer publicly you can send me a private message.

Anne Marie Giri
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