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Old 04-04-2001, 05:41 AM   #10
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Dojo: Vestfyn Aikikai Denmark
Location: Vissenbjerg
Join Date: Jul 2000
Posts: 803
Denmark
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Hi everybody!
I used to practice Kendo and Iaido. In Kendo the Hakama is usually blue but in Iaido it is usually black, but nobody could explain why it was so. In Kendo the Gi is usually dark blue as well but sometimes white. We once had a english kendo instructor teaching at a summer camp and one day he was wearing a crisp clean all white hakama with matching gi. I asked him if this had any importance and he giggled and told me that white was okay to wear if you were so good at Kendo that you wouldn't get hit by anybody since a Shinai makes really nasty marks on a white Gi. I guess he was actually showing off....
By the way: in both Kendo and Iaido it is custom to have the hakama go allmost all the way down to the floor to hide your foot-work. Sometimes it causes people to fall flat on their faces, but it looks really cool when they sort of 'float' across the floor. Sometimes I see Aikido-ka's who wear the hakama very short and it allways make me think off the cartoon character Dilbert and his skimpy pants. A couple of inches above the floor is okay, but 10-15 inches seems funny to me due to my background.
That's all folks!

- Jørgen Jakob Friis

Inspiration - Aspiration - Perspiration
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