Originally Posted by
Tripitaka of AA
There is an altogether more serious set of reasoning that comes into this situation, which hasn't really been mentioned yet.
Trying to see it from the instructor's point of view; when you welcome a beginner to the class, you assume a total lack of knowledge and base the training on that condition. Once you have been able to assess their abilities, you can progress their training according to some prescribed criteria - the kamokyuho - which is structured to promote safety and grdually introduce the more risky techniques after familiarity has been achieved with basic concepts.
If a kenshi arrives at your door and says, for example, "I am a 2-Dan, from XXXville, please may I join your class today", then some of the assumptions will need to be verified. A responsible instructor will need to devote a fairly significant amount of time to assessing the kenshi's abilities before allowing him to either a) something that might hurt him if it is beyond him, or b) do something that might hurt someone else. Just saying your rank, doesn't really say everything about your abilities, does it!
Some dojo are very different from others (even with the rather unique quality control system that operates within WSKO), and we are all aware that some kenshi are harder/faster/stronger/weaker/slower/brutal/timid than others. The members of a dojo grow and learn together as a group, with the seniors within the club being well aware of each other's capabilities and showing a great deal of care to their juniors. A stranger from another place will inevitably take a little while to become familiar with the surroundings and whatever differences might exist in training. From a safety aspect alone, it is important that the visiting kenshi be a careful, courteous and keen student.
Being a stranger in a club is quite different from a seminar/gasshuku that collects different clubs together, where everyone is sharing that novelty and the instruction is being given accordingly. The instruction at such events is often modified from a regular session, specifically to account for the variation in ability and how things are done in different clubs. So if, as a kenshi, you have been to a dozen seminars and had a great time training with kenshi from other clubs, it would be natural to want to train at new dojo when the opportunity arises. It just takes a bit of forethought to realise that it might not be the same as a gasshuku.
Training at other dojo is a fantastic thing. But you need to think about it in advance and make whatever preparations that you can, ahead of time. I'll never forget the welcome I received from the Kenshi in San Francisco, and the effect it had on my attitude toward training in general. I felt part of the family and that was really good. It was a little inconvenient for the hosts as I had come when their main instructor was away in Japan, and I had no way to identify myself other than the WSKO membership card - a letter of introduction from a "known" instructor would have gone a long way to help. Fortunately for the club, I was a novice white belt newbie and they really didn't need to entrust me with anything more than the lowest techniques.