Hakama as status symbol?

[ichibyoshi]

I was wondering whether it is the case that all Aikido organisations outside Japan enforce the rule that hakama are only to be worn by yudansha.

My only aikido experience in Australia was with Aikikai and Yoshinkan, and both organisations were strict about yudansha-only hakama wearing. However my one Japanese experience with aikido was with the Kagoshima branch of Sudanomari sensei's Manseikan Aikido, and they couldn't have cared less whether I, as a rank beginner, wore a hakama or not. As it was, coming from kendo I wore it because it felt most natural. There's something about practicing hiraki ashi in hakama that gi pants just can't match! Problem was, no-one bothered to show me to wear it differently, so having tied the mae-obi at the back a la kendo, the first ukemi I did hurt like hell!

I was also interested to note that all the Manseikan aikidoka wore cotton indigo hakama, whereas nearly every non-Japanese aikidoka I've ever met since wears those cheap, ugly, (albeit hard-wearing) black polyester numbers.

Then after my return to Australia I read that Ueshiba sensei late in his life considered practicing aikido in anything other than a hakama to be an insult to the art.

Given that, I'm curious to know whether the majority of aikido orgs around the world have this rule of hakama=black belt, if so then why, how it came about if the above attitude of Ueshiba sensei is true, and why everyone seems to wear black ones?

A trifle that's been niggling at me for about 15 years...

b

[Dave Humm]

I myself really don't like the yudansha & hakama custom but, that is all that it is.

I clarified with Goldsbury Sensei (IAF Chairman) on this very subject not so long ago, he kindly confirmed that the wearing of hakama at yudansha is not a ruling or statue of Hombu dojo at all, merely a custom which was adopted and has essentially stuck.

Indeed if you care to check the Aikikai website, specifically the section on visitors to Hombu, you will see that they will allow anyone to wear hakama if they so desire, remembering of course that you cannot train at Hombu Dojo without first becoming a member.

As someone who studies and promotes both Koryu Iaido and Aikido to almost the same students, in the same dojo; the custom really does seem quite daft, to be able to wear hakama whilst learning the craft of the Japanese sword yet, as soon as that class is over, those students remaining for the aikido are required to remove it.

It is after all just a bit of cloth and IMHO the current custom can create an elitist, status driven environment where those wearing it are seen as better than others and, everyone else coveting the sacred garment.

I'd like to see the custom abolished and this supported publicly by the IAF/Hombu.

Kind regards

[paul manogue]

It really depends on the dojo and how they view higherarchy. My dojo in Osaka was very loose about hakama, we would train sword or jo and then aikido and just kept the hakama on, all the women wore hakama from day one, only kids didnt wear hakama. It was a small local dojo, everybody knew everybody so who was above who was never in question. But at the yoshinkan honbu only 3rd dan and above wore hakama.

I have heard a similar dislike for the nafuda kake, that it breeds arrogance and a sense of elitism.

[climbthis]

...Problem was, no-one bothered to show me to wear it differently, so having tied the mae-obi at the back a la kendo, the first ukemi I did hurt like hell!
b

hey ben,
hakama question has been knocked around here since forever...

anyways, i've always tied my front himo around back (kendo style) hasn't bothered my ukemi yet...so my ukemi either sucks, or i've lost all feeling in my backside from landing on it too much...

jerome cervantes

[ichibyoshi]

hey ben,
hakama question has been knocked around here since forever...

anyways, i've always tied my front himo around back (kendo style) hasn't bothered my ukemi yet...so my ukemi either sucks, or i've lost all feeling in my backside from landing on it too much...

jerome cervantes

Wow, I can hardly believe that. Where I tie it, the bow sits right in the small of my back, and it was right where I rolled. Ouch! Actually after that I started training in a style of aikido that was started by an ex-karate sensei, so no-one wore hakama, it was everyone in gi pants.

Thanks for the responses everyone. It seems the hakama=yudansha rule is not as widespread as I thought. Aikikai in Melbourne seems to be fairly much in that mold though.

b

[yoj]

You'd do well to do some research and look into the historical reasons for the variance in hakama wear. It's not that exciting, just practical responses to conditions....

[Ron Tisdale]

Yoshinkan in general tends to train without hakama; I think it is felt that it get's in the way of hard training. In most of the classes I attend at the Doshinkan in Phila., I do not wear hakama (not 3rd dan, I'd like my instructors to be able to see my form for correction, it can get in the way of hard training for me).

At other places where I visit, the traditions are different, so I do as they do. I should also say that they have no problems training VERY hard with the hakama. When I first reached shodan, the hakama felt kind of important, so I placed more emphasis on wearing it. Now, not so much. I realized with time that a garment is just a garment, and has little to do with the overall quality of waza.

Best,
Ron

[aikidoc1]

We have a dual policy:
1. Dojo custom-being a former ASU student and a student in an independent organization where hakamas were worn after the first test, I have adopted a dojo policy allowing those who want to wear the hakama to wear it. We also have a colored belt custom in the dojo.
2. Aikikai official events-since the custom is to not wear the hakama or colored belts, when our master instructor visits or we attend his or other seminars then we follow their customs-no hakama for non yudansha and white belts.

I feel removing the issue takes the ego out of it.

[Dave Humm]

..I feel removing the issue takes the ego out of it.

Indeed my senitments exactly.

[DDATFUS]

http://www.aikidojournal.com/?id=44

this is a rather interesting piece explaining why hakama were orginally reserved for yudansha.

[Woody]

And then there's that folding thing.

[yoj]

It's not the status symbol, or the folding that worries me, it's all those aikidoka in their underwear that scares me! ;-)

[Woody]

It's not the status symbol, or the folding that worries me, it's all those aikidoka in their underwear that scares me! ;-)

only the male one's scare me.

[Andrew S]

It seems the hakama=yudansha rule is not as widespread as I thought. Aikikai in Melbourne seems to be fairly much in that mold though.

I believe that Aikikai Australia allows women to wear hakama from 4th kyu. However, when I was training in Adelaide, none of the women wanted to wear it before shodan. I guess for them it had become a kind of status symbol, but no more than a black belt.

[Prince Loeffler]

I believe that Aikikai Australia allows women to wear hakama from 4th kyu. However, when I was training in Adelaide, none of the women wanted to wear it before shodan. I guess for them it had become a kind of status symbol, but no more than a black belt.

I think short skirt hakama would look kinda sexy...Don't you think ?