"what order do we line up in at the beginning of class?"

This question was asked last night , “what order do we line up in at the beginning of class?”

 

we line up by rank, easy  in other dojos that have colored belts ,Easy to do if we all know each other . What about when new people come in from another dojo ? What if we visit another dojo ?

 

We have three categories that are identified in our dojo . 

 

Yodansha (balck belt,ones that wear a hakama)

Brown belts (1 kyu   2 kyu)

White belts  (3,4,5,6,7,8, kyu)

 

This part is simple . Sit with your own . If your a white belt ,sit with white   . Brown belt with brown , black with black belt 

 

Now comes the hard part . (Not for me really )As the first brown belt of shingane its pretty easy to see i will sit on the shimozeki side of the dojo ,with no one on my left, except for any black belts  . 

 

If i visit another dojo , I would always sit to the right of all the Brown belts as a show of respect Even if i found out I made rank before them . The same for  Brown belts that visit our dojo . 

 

Here comes the respect part.If i know that a brown belt from another school made Rank before me or just good at aikido  . i would just sit on their right .

 

This would usual come after knowing and see them preform . Actions speak louder than words . Just because some one has a brown belt or states they are higher rank ,doesn”t  mean they know what they are doing . This will be found out in class rather quickly . Still its always best to be humble and sit on the right side.

 

This is just for the beginning and end of class. When sensei states “line up ” during class, it just means get to the line and sit down quickly ; never mind the order .The faster this is done ,the more can get taught .

 

Please  respond if you have any thoughts or more to add . 

 

thanks 

Joseph Gowen, 2 kyu