Water during practise

Hi all,

What do you think of letting students drink a zip of water during practise when the day's are hot.

I know etiqutte does not allow food and drinks during practise on the tatami but do you make exceptions?

Arjan

Sure.

Dehydration isn't particularly conducive to learning.

we allow students to take a quick drink while instructor is demonstrating.

we expect them to do it quickly and would take a dim view if they started a gargling competition but if it helps keep them attentive then its not seen as a major issue or disrespectful.

During gradings we prefer them to go straight through and not request water breaks. They should have been correctly prepared for the grading and fitness to complete the grading in one shot comes into the equation. However we do make exceptions when its hot or when there could be health issues involved.

Cheers

D

I don't have a problem if a student asks me if they can step off the mat and take a water break. When I was in Tokyo, it was also fine, but you had to step outside of the dojo. In kobe, it was fine, you could step over to the sink and take a quick swig from the tap.

Personally, some classes I need a quick sip, other classes I don't feel the need. I know some seem to think that it's wrong to take a water break, but I'd rather my students rehydrate when required.

Bryan

When I trained at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Tokyo during one of the hottest summers, at least one of the Shihan would stop the class for a short water break. Many people (including myself) stepped off the mat for a quick sip.

Its a requirement for me if you want me to do anything that requires cardio. I will deyhdrate and then get sick without water. I had a instructor very uptight about this once (not aikido), after getting extreamly sick twice (once almost all over his mats) I decided it was best to seek instruction elsewhere. My personal saftey and health come above respect and honor. This isn't that big of an issue in my aikido class, the instructor provides water and we really only need it in the summer (man I wish there was AC in the dojo), but in my bjj and judo classes I would be hospitalized without water.

If we are training ourselves how to be better than the next person to sit for extended periods of time while not showing the least bit discomfiture, I would suggest that taking water during such practice is counter-productive.

If we are training our selves with the goal of self defense, or perhaps in other words self preservation, then hydration is absolutely necessary. Allowing weakness via dehydration to enter your training opens the door for a fair number of thngs that will deter cognitive and physiological assimilation of technique.

Consider a working lens. It gets dirty while in an operating condition. Its ability to transmit efficiently decreases. It's not sensible to say that it makes the lens tougher for still being capable of transmission, even though a bit of water would greatly help it in its job.

mike.

on a normal two hour class we break 2 mins for a water break then back to it, thats all we ever had since i joined seems enough as well.

I often find that drinking to much is almost as bad as drinking not enough.

Personally, I dont leave the mat to get a drink until class has ended.
Realistically, you should get off the mat if you are in need of water. Dont be a hero when your health is online.

We may stop for a water break whenever we need one.

I really think that people should try to come into class adequately hydrated. When the weather is especially hot, often the teacher will tell people that they can get off the mat for a drink whenever necessary, or announce a short break, particularly durring a class that lasts over an hour. Under normal circumstances, though, when the weather is not too hot, and the class lasts 1 1/2 hours or less, I would rather people not take a break for water. It's distracting. So, I would say that taking a break for water should be reserved for when it's really needed, and not frequently.

i believe people do not give up their autonomy over health in entering the dojo and if a person needs to drink water, pee, rest a sore joint, etc, it can easily be done without impairing other peoples training.

The weather here doesn't really get that extremely hot very often, but in the summer we do sometimes have a water break if it's really warm, and if someone needs to get off the mat to go have a sip of water it's ok. At seminars it's sometimes been a bit of a topic of discussion between the teachers, some people being more old school and all...

For me drinking enough well in time before class works better, a sip of water during class doesn't really help a lot if I'm already dehydrated. If I've had enough to drink before class I can easily go a two hour class without water. We have one night with one hour followed by one and a half hour classes, but those have a break between anyway, and i usually do drink something then.

kvaak
Pauliina

Many of the people in my dojo bring water bottles with them, which they can drink from at any time the sensei isn't talking. Summers are ungodly hot here, and if people weren't allowed to drink during class, we'd probably have a fatality, no matter how much people hydrated themselves before class.

This is a hot button of mine! When ettiquette overrides common sense, it becomes stupid. Heck even in the Army we let students get a drink of water whenever they need it.

It should be done in a manner that is not disruptive to class. It may mean bowing out of a particular exercise or waiting till sensei is done talking or demonstrating a technique to not be disruptive. However, to not allow students to leave the mat on their own freewill to take care of hydration because of some pseudo japanese ettiquette garbage in ridiculous!

Arjan, you can drink water on your own time, but not on mine! ;-)

Water breaks are never allowed in cactus-jutsu.

I suppose you could wear a camelbak under your Dogi! It would even break your fall somewhat!

Even at the Doshinkan, where training is relatively formal, water breaks are permitted, and on especially hot days, suggested by the instructor. Heck, just the other night, he saw me sweating like crazy, and checked a couple of times to make sure I didn't need a water break. I choose not to take breaks during class, but on really bad days, I will between classes. If I felt my health was at risk, I'd take a break during class if I needed to.

Best,
Ron

Where I train you're allowed to get off the mat and drink when people are practicing. This is especially important in the summer when it's hot as hell and dry as a bone, and it becomes even more important if you aren't used to the altitude (nothing kicks off altitude problems like dehydration). I typically drink before class and am fine for the duration, but everyone's different.

When I was in college I trainined in Shotokan karate with my university's club. We were not allowed water breaks. It's hot and humid in upstate NY in the summer, and they even put out heat advisories on the worst days. I came home from class pretty sick a couple times. I'm suprised no one ever passed out.

Wow. Somehow I find the thought of somebody telling me I'm not "allowed" to get a drink when I am thirsty to be ridiculous.

How can we say we are being respectful when we decide for another person whether or not they can quench their thirst? We must, of course, expect that they excuse themselves from the mat respectfully, and wait to respectfully return to the mat. that might mean saying, "Wait until we break from demonstration and people are chossing partners, so that you do not distract what sensei is showing." or "Please wait to leave the mat until sensei is no longer speaking." or "Please let sensei know why you're leaving the mat, so that he/she knows you are uninjured."

But I'll be damned if you can tell me I'm "not allowed" to get a drink.

WMReed

My sensei stresses drinking tons of water during the day, before class. Drinking during class isn't really going to help that much, if you haven't had enough water throughout the day. But he certainly doesn't tell someone they can't get off the mat to get a drink. On extremely hot classes, he has told us to get a drink if we need to.

We never used to allow it, so I do train in the tropics for a couple of hours and don't need a drink of water until after practice. Then my sensei went to Japan and a shihan told him: "That is old style. In my dojo, where you are thirsty, you drink."

Its fine in our dojo, if you need water you need, water, I dont usually drink in the middle of class although I tend to need if after rondori, or some other thing that is done quickly

In 25 years, I have never had a drink during practice. I have only ever had to leave the mat once, and that was because I thought I was going to be sick - I wasn't. The secret lies in being ready for practice, and in being fit enough. But if you want to drink, go ahead.

Good question. I personally don't like it - probably because my instructors never allowed it - but I do think that people should have the right to judge their own body condition and take a break (for water, to sit out a technique, to go to the bathroom, to throw up...etc...) when needed.

And as an instructor I feel that I should give my students the respect and trust that they take these breaks because they are needed and not because they want a couple of minutes break in an otherwise tiring class. So far they haven't disappointed me