Re: Perhaps the tide is changing.
When I lead my small "low impact aikido" class, I am the only one in a gi. I feel it makes my role as class leader more apparent - though I admit the day when it was really cold and I was migraining a bit and stayed in my street clothes, it was just fine...we do quick informal standing bows only at start and end of class and don't line up for demos. I'll mention the Japanese name for an attack and a technique but don't really use much Japanese otherwise.
Mind you it is a small class - no more than 3 or 4 of us on the busiest night - but I could see it working just fine w/ a somewhat larger group.
The main thing I keep in mind is that these students are not likely to train in other classes or go to seminars, so it is not that important they know the etiquette that is standard both in our own dojo's regular classes + elsewhere - I do demo or mention it from time to time. I'd think this is more of a concern in a regular aikido class where students ARE likely to get out to visit other dojos or go to seminars. Thoughts?
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