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Old 02-25-2008, 10:46 AM   #61
Keith Larman
Dojo: AIA, Los Angeles, CA
Location: California
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,604
United_States
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Re: the hakama,why cant we all get along?

Quote:
Jack Sharp wrote: View Post
its just that i ahve been to a few other dojo here in seattle and was told that only shodan and up wear that hakama and when i said that i dont feel comfortable without mine on the yodan ...
Why are you so hung up on wearing the thing? Is all your ability really just stored in your magic hakama? I don't get it.

What your hakama means where you started is obviously different from where you're visiting. To be blunt, get over it, suit up the way they ask, and get out there and train. It hurts your feeling to be asked not to wear your hakama? Geez, they're just a pair of pants. It's not like they're asking you to wear a tiara along with a giant pink sash saying "total noob". They're simply asking that you dress according to the style they practice at that school. Wearing a hakama in that school is reserved for those at a certain rank. Why would it hurt your feelings - you don't have that rank. Heck, I've been in a hakama for a lot of years but I have visited other schools and on two occasions stepped onto the mat in my gi, white belt, with no hakama. Frankly its kinda nice to occasionally go without the "magic pants of aikipower"...

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