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Thread: Judo Etiquette in the West

  1. #1
    boku_wa Guest

    Default Judo Etiquette in the West

    While browsing through Harrington's "Judo: A Pictorial Manual" she mentions some of the Japanese etiquettes of judo. To my surprise, I was violating one of the stated etiquettes.

    One cannot "play" judo and not sweat--unless using heavy doses of anti-perspirant or something. According to the book, it is in bad taste/inappropriate/big no-no to wipe your sweat on your gi (or dogi in case the gi/dogi cops are watching)...or allow your sweat to drop onto the mat for that matter.

    Have most people been as unaware of this as I? Our club senseis never brought it up or instructed us with regards to this matter.

    Or did I misunderstand Harrington's statement? Is this etiquette ONLY for practicing in the Kodokan? Or is it a general judo etiquette but somehow lost its way when judo came to the west? Who carries a little towel to class to wipe off their perspiration?

    Confused as always.

  2. #2
    jeffbruner Guest

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    This is something I am aware of, though it is not necessarily a matter of ettiquette that is strickly enforced.

    However, at my last practice, after our finishing exercises, a lower level player left quite a pool of sweat where the highest ranked sempei in our club was to sit for our final bow. The sempei made sure that the lower ranked player wiped the sweat off the mat before he lined up.

    It is mostly a matter of courtesy in such cases, but if you sweat profusely, it can also make the mat slippery!

    Not a bad idea to have a towel handy for such times.

    JB

  3. #3
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    Many years ago I took a tour of the Kodokan. There was one area that seemed to be used to hang up dogi, and the place really smelled bad.
    John Lindsey

    Oderint, dum metuant-Let them hate, so long as they fear.

  4. #4
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    A solution is to wipe on your partner's gi discretly when doing ne waza randori

    Martin Durette

  5. #5
    MarkF Guest

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    Many players do carry towels, left on a wall-hanger or just off the mat so that is common enough.

    Not sweating and play judo? Not possible. The only area you have to watch is your face, and I've gone through that book (I didn't read much of it, though) and don't remember that. However, your dogi should be thick enough to soak up most sweat. Wipe it on your dogi, I say, it is better than letting it drop. Hell, in the old days, steam baths inside are there for just that purpose, before and after work outs.

    Don't worry about it, make sure you don't leave wet spots were people could slip (it depends on mat type sometimes, but I used to leave years of sweat on a mat in one night). Wearing a tee-shirt under the dogi (which used to be against dojo etiquette, except for women) also helps. Above all, though, the mat needs to be clean to prevent certain types of infections such as ring worm and athletes foot (tinea cruris and tinea pedis). They can be a pain, and if not treated early on can set in for long stretches. If there are showers, make sure to dry well, especially between the toes. Gold Bond Powder is an old and trusty preventative for the feet.


    Mark

  6. #6
    MarkF Guest

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    BTW: Did you know that the bottoms of your feet sweat more than most any other area? Just a thought.


    Mark

  7. #7
    boku_wa Guest

    Default Sweat

    We don't do enough newaza randori for me to get rid of it on my opponent's dogi.

    The mats that we use now are rollup mats with a somewhat fur/carpet feel. This helps to prevent slipping from wet spots.

    I'm in agreement with Mark. I say just wipe your sweat on your gi/dogi. The whole dogi is already soaked with sweat. What would a little more sweat from the face/forehead do? Just do it discreetly.

    A few classes after reading Harrington's remarks, I made a conscious effort to see what the other students in class did. They all wiped their facial sweat onto their dogis.

    Overall, I guess it's an etiquette which just didn't carry itself all the way through to the west. Otherwise, every player would be sporting a towel.

    This is a situation befitting of the old adage: "When in Rome, do what the Romans do."

  8. #8
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    My only problem with wiping the face on the judogi - it itches like crazy! A sweat-stained face rubbed with a judogi tends in my case to wipe off a layer or two of skin. Much better, to me, to find a water fountain, splash a little on my face. Usually I don't rub off after this, but when I do it's sleeve, and it's not nearly as bad as just rubbing off sweat. That tends to do the trick quite nicely.

    Rob Thornton

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