礼儀・作法
Courtesy of the Yale Shotokan
Karate Club. Revised by JKA of NY/NJ
○ Standing bow ○ Kneeling (Seiza) ○ Bowing in seiza
○ Entering_and_exiting ○ Lateness ○ Opening sequence
○ Closing sequence ○ Clean_up ○ Kiai ○ During training
立礼（立った姿勢での礼）
Stand with your heels together, feet pointing
slightly outward (like a "V") Musubi-dachi 結び立ち. Keep your knees
straight, elbows straight and relaxed, hands open and at the seams of your
pants (the outside of your legs), and fingers together. Bend at the waist,
about 20 degrees forward. Unbend. The whole bow takes about a breath's length.
江戸時代、坐礼が正式の礼で、立礼は略式の礼と云われた。
The Edo period also called Tokugawa period
(1603~1868), bowing seiza was official manner rather than standing bow as
temporal and informal.
正座
Place your left knee on the floor, then right
knee. Sit down on your feet. The big toes of your left and right feet should
overlap (either one on top). Keep your back straight and shoulders relaxed.
Rest your left hand (hand open, fingers together) on your left thigh and your
right hand on your right thigh, so that your fingers point inward. For
anatomical reasons, men should have about a fist or two's width between their
knees, and women should have their knees together.
座礼（座った状態での礼）
Slide your left hand from the thigh to the
floor immediately in front of the left knee (not too far in front, i.e., your
left elbow shouldn't touch the floor). Do the same with your right hand, so
that the right hand motion is slightly behind (in time) the left hand motion.
Your palms should touch the floor to show deep respect. Bow at the waist, taking
a little longer than for a standing bow (forehead comes close to the floor, but
does not touch it). Slide your hands back up to their initial position on the
thighs, this time with your left hand slightly behind the right hand.
出入（道場への出入り）
Bow, standing at the entrance, facing the
dojo or towards the front of the dojo, whenever you are entering or exiting the
dojo.
遅刻をした場合
Lateness: First of all, try not
to be late. But if you are late, bow in, then quietly kneel near the entrance.
Wait until the instructor acknowledges you. Then bow while kneeling, get up,
and quickly join the group. If you arrive just as everyone is kneeling during
the opening sequence (see below), don't move or make any noise -- just wait
until class begins warming up, and bow in as when the instructor acknowledges
you, in the manner described above.
始儀（始りの儀）
When you hear "Line up!" or
"One line!" (or however many lines is necessary for everyone to line
up), stand shoulder to shoulder facing the front of the dojo, in rank order.
Try to line up so that the instructor, standing before your line, is right in
the middle of the line. If class is so big that the senior student says to form
more than one line, try to line up so that the lines are approximately the same
length.
"Seiza! ": Sit down in seiza, so that knees are
aligned with the person on your left.
"Mokusoh! ": Quiet meditation -- just lower your gaze, relax, and
breathe. "Mokusoh yame!": End meditation. "Shomen ni rei!": Bow to the
front of the room (which shows respect for your training space, to the
institution of karate, and to the line of instructors who brought it to your
instructor). "Sensei ni rei!": Bow to the
instructor. When you're bowing, you can say "onegaishimasu," which, roughly
translated, means "Please," i.e., please teach me, please help me,
please hold class, etc. (You may also say "oss," the ubiquitous sign
of respect in karate. However, there is other interpretation: one is to say
its short cut of Onegaishimasu, or Ohayougazaimasu) At the signal of the
instructor, get up quickly, without necessarily waiting for the person on your
left to rise.
終儀（閉めの儀）
Same as the opening sequence, except that
after the meditation ends ("mokusoh yame!"), the class recites the dojo
kun. (Click here to see the dojo kun.) Repeat what the senior student says, loudly
-- but not so loudly that your voice stands out -- and in unison. During the
bow to the instructor ("sensei ni rei!"), you may say "arigatoh
gozaimashita," which means "Thank you." "Thank you" in
English is fine, too. At the end, the instructor will get up. Wait until the
person on your left bows and gets up before you do the same.
清掃
Before class starts, there is usually some
sort of dojo-cleaning process. During this time, actively participate to the
extent you can. Don't sit back and stretch when others are still cleaning.
気合
Don't say any words when you kiai. "Kiai" itself, being a
Japanese word should NOT be a kiai. Common kiai include "Ya!" and "Ei!"
Don't be afraid to kiai! In general, people
tend to kiai too softly rather than too loudly. If you have a strong kiai, it will
often spur others to work harder, as well. The overall tone of a class is set
by the level of spirit of the class, which can be raised with better kiai. On
the other hand, if your spirit is poor or your kiai weak, you might bring down
the class spirit.
General etiquette during training
稽古
The moment class starts, your mind should
be on karate and on trying to improve your own technique. Concentrate, give
spirited kiai, don't talk unnecessarily, and practice hard! (This is under
"etiquette" because doing otherwise would be disrespectful to the
instructor, as well as to yourself.)
Don't wear jewelry, watches, etc. Don't chew
gum.
Whenever you're told to move from one part of
the room to another, do it quickly (i.e., run or trot, at least). Also, don't
pass in front of anyone -- go behind and around.
Whenever you're asked to stand back or sit
back and watch, do so in a normal standing or kneeling position, silently, without
leaning on walls or distracting others.
If you're ever in a kneeling position and
you're uncomfortable, it's generally okay to bow and then switch to sitting
cross-legged.
Whenever you stand from a sitting position,
switch to kneeling, bow, then stand.
If you ever need to leave a class early, let
the instructor know beforehand.
Every time you get a new partner for any
exercise, bow. Every time you're about to switch partners, bow to your old
partner before moving on to the next.
Don't make overt displays of how tired you
are, no matter how tired you are.
If you're ever asked to count, count in
whatever language you feel comfortable with, but make the counts short, sharp,
and spirited.
Do not hesitate to ask senior students and
instructors for help before or after class. Time permitting, you should try to
learn kata outside of class so that during class, the instructor can spend more
time making comments about your technique rather than what move comes next.
Follow the normal rules of etiquette that
apply.
Finally, these aren't strict rules followed by every dojo. Some
don't follow them exactly, in which case, you should start off erring on the
side of being overly courteous but avoid doing anything to stand out, since
that in itself can be interpreted as rudeness