Nothin' but a dobok

[andyjeffries]

FWIW if you consider the Dobok to be a "uniform" then the word is self evident as to any "customization" being allowed.

That's a good point. Does anyone know what 도복 is literally translated to? Is it simply "Clothes for wearing during training in The Way" or something similar? We tend to use the word uniform, because even customised versions still have more in common than they do apart, but maybe "outfit" would be a better term.

As far as short or rolled up sleeves go, in the olden days and in someopen tournaments today, grabbing was / is allowed. You'd grab a guys sleeve to keep him from backing up while you "Scored".

Very interesting, thanks for that Earl.

 

[andyjeffries]

We wear plain dobok with no patches on them, other than the ones that are already on there. We only wear white dobok, top and bottom. I do not allow students to roll up their sleeves. You cannot roll up your sleeves at a tournament and you should train how you fight.

That's a fair point. We don't compete much at our club (we used to but not so much over the past 10 years) so don't tend to think in those terms. I think our ruling is more along the traditional lines (we never rolled our sleeves up, so you shouldn't do it now).

Also in Hapkido we need the sleeves to do certain self defense techniques.

That's a good point, I was forgetting about the Hapkido thoughts when I posted the questions.

People can wear monogrammed belts, but generally they wear the ones I make for them, which I give them for free. The only thing on the belt is their name on one side and the school name/organization (in two rows) on the other. The monogram is totally in hangul. No stripes on the belts to denote dan rank. I think that looks tacky and none of my teachers ever had any stripes on their belt.

None of my teachers ever did in the past either. Recently my master started doing it and now we all have. I don't have much of a feeling about it either way (but I do like tasteful customisation), it's helpful when other people come to train with the club so they know where to line up (we line up in grade order, most senior front right, working across to the left, then starting on the next line).

Oh, and no training in t shirt or warm ups. Again, you should train in what you have to wear when you fight, which is a white dobok with the sleeves rolled down. And no shoes on the mat. Shoes are bad because again, you cannot wear them at a tournament and it takes away the ability to feel and grip the mat with your feet and toes, which is very important to me.

That's another good point. We train on wooden floors rather than matting, so I tend to naturally think in those terms. If we were using mats, I'd guess we'd do "no shoes" all the time...more for concerns over wearing them out than worries of grip/feel though.

 

[puunui]

it's helpful when other people come to train with the club so they know where to line up (we line up in grade order, most senior front right, working across to the left, then starting on the next line).

I think it is interesting to see how people line up when you don't know who is senior and who isn't. Some people fight for the senior position, whether in class or even in something like a group photo.

TIf we were using mats, I'd guess we'd do "no shoes" all the time...more for concerns over wearing them out than worries of grip/feel though.

Grip and feel of the mat is very important to me. It's something that I emphasize heavily, using the mat to add speed and power to your moves.

 

[Kylz]

My club has doboks with the clubs name embroided on the lower back of the top. However those who have come to our club from others are still welcome to wear other doboks they may have. I am unsure if this changes with gradings however.
We're allowed a plain white t-shirt underneith if we're cold and I haven't seen anyone wear any kind of shoes, it's all bare feet. White belts aren't required to get a dobok until after their first grading which I think is fair. Can't say I've noticed anything about sleeves however I did shorten the sleeves of a couple of mates uniforms a litle while who do ninjutsu that wanted to have half - 3/4 length sleeves.

 

[ETinCYQX]

We do prefer students wear dobaks but quite often I leave my top off and wear a t shirt if I'm not teaching. I also usually wear black t shirts because I like the Adidas Adifit ones, the climate control fabric, and I haven't found any in white.

Uniforms are secondary to us but when we are visiting or we have visitors, it's show up dressed properly or don't bother. (For our students. I don't care what visitors wear.) I teach in shoes sometimes. Gradings, seminars, etc. I wear shoes but I don't train TKD in them, so mainly just if I'm teaching forms, holding boards, or standing around and trying to look professional.

A bit OT, but I was curious if TKD shoes damage to puzzle mats. Anyone know? I know the regular wrestling type mats do fine with MA or wrestling shoes.

I use puzzle mats in my home gym and I work out in TaeKwonDo shoes. Had them since December and they hold up just fine. I even use my running shoes on them sometimes and I've had no problems. My TKD shoes don't hurt my straw Tatami mats either.

 

[Balrog]

We wear the dobok during the week, but Saturday is t-shirt day.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Whoah, you allow people to wear wedding rings? For us, that's a no-no. Any jewellery comes off. If people have an issue with it (oh, I never take my wedding ring off, it's as good as being unfaithful) they don't train with us.

If you don't mind my asking, what about those who's rings have been on long enough that removal = cutting the band?

Not disagreeing with your policy (I instruct my student to remove all jewelry and it has not been an issue), but I actually know someone who tried to remove her band after a divorce and the only way that she could get it off was to have the ring cut. Probably the exception, and she is the only person that I personally know who went through this.

Anyway, just curious how you would handle it.

Daniel

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Just wondering this morning how strict your classes are on just wearing a normal/standard dobok?

At our club, the master is very fussy about people not rolling their sleeves up. I know in the states you can buy short sleeved doboks, I don't think he'd be happy about that either. Are they common in the states/other countries?

Our doboks can be as embroidered as we like (some prefer plain, some prefer logos/stripes/badges/brand names). Our belts can also have embroidery to our tastes, providing the colour is correct (having a pink belt with 1st Dan embroidered on it would get us kicked out of class I'm sure ;-) )

We can wear a white T-shirt/rashguard under our doboks if we like, as long as it's plain (i.e. doesn't show through the dobok).

We sometimes wear lightweight coats/tracksuit tops to warm up in - only if it's a "warm yourselves up" type of warm up. If we're in normal lines and warming up as a class, it's doboks only. And those extra tops come off before the "class proper" starts.

Taekwondo shoes (no regular trainers) are optional. Personally I prefer to have bare feet. My master prefers to wear shoes. Everyone else is a mixture.

So, how is it in your club?

Where I have trained for the past several years (Korean Martial Arts, Inc.), all students are issued a plain white vee neck dobok for taekwondo or a black crossover for hapkido.

TKD has the school logo printed on the back and black belts may wear either a white vee with a black collar or an all black vee neck at their option.

HKD has the federation logo printed on the back. Until this month, mudanja wore a white crossover with a black diamond pattern and yudanja wore a black dobok with a white diamond pattern. Now, all students and staff wear the black; no pattern.

Kumdo students wear an indigo dobok (uwagi and hakama) with nothing printed on it; yudanja may wear a white dobok at their option).

No shoes are allowed and a tee is allowed in the summer so long as it is a KMA tee.

There is no policy regarding dobok customization and aside from mixing and matching. (white top, black bottom), the issue rarely comes up. Students who practice both HKD and TKD may wear their HKD doboks to TKD class. The reverse is not officially banned, but it is discouraged, as the HKD dobok is more durable and more appropriate to practicing HKD.

With my own students, there is no tee shirt option, as I do not have a 'Daniel Sullivan's' garage tee shirt. That, and I will not allow tee shirts. Tee shirts get soaked with sweat and are actually more uncomfortable in the heat than the dobok due to being tighter fitting, much, much thinner, and being of a weave that does not breath particularly well.

Daniel

 

[IcemanSK]

For us it's v-neck white doboks (black collar for BB's). Women wear a t-shirt that coresponds to their belt. I say "no rings" on the floor because I've seen enough problems with the damage the can do to the wearer & the target.

No shoes.But I have been wearing them lately due to a foot problem

My org. requires a screened org. patch on the back of the uniform & several patches. There are black pants, & other items on the doboks for instructors. I wear this dobok only for official events (student belt tests, conferences, etc) although some instructors wear them for every class. When BB's/instructors test, we wear white doboks. In my home dojang I wear all white dobok with a belt embroidered with my name & Taekwondo Chung Do Kwan all in Korean. (No rank stripes)

The official org. black belt has rank stripes & embroidery on it.

 

[Earl Weiss]

If you don't mind my asking, what about those who's rings have been on long enough that removal = cutting the band?


Daniel

These should be covered with a circle of adhesive cloth bandage tabe so the circles the ring and extends over both sides.

 

[andyjeffries]

If you don't mind my asking, what about those who's rings have been on long enough that removal = cutting the band?

Not disagreeing with your policy (I instruct my student to remove all jewelry and it has not been an issue), but I actually know someone who tried to remove her band after a divorce and the only way that she could get it off was to have the ring cut. Probably the exception, and she is the only person that I personally know who went through this.

Anyway, just curious how you would handle it.

Hasn't happened yet, so this is hypothetical. I would imagine we would say it had to be covered with X layers of micropore (surgical) tape where X is probably 3+. We wouldn't be that harsh to say you had to destroy your property, but they would really have to prove that a little oil/etc wouldn't get it off.

 

[zDom]

Skipped most of this conversation, but what little I did read brings up a story I'm very fond of.

Seems once upon a time, there was a new guy in our hapkido class (I was working out at a different branch at the time).

After a few classes wearing the hapkido dobak (judo gi) he asked,

"So when (as in which month) do we go to wearing just T-shirts?" Everybody just laughed and laughed.


We wear regular thick judo tops year round, with no air conditioning, in Missouri heat and humidity and do our regular workouts — except on the very hottest day of the year.

On that day, we do an especially hard workout

 

[ETinCYQX]

Hasn't happened yet, so this is hypothetical. I would imagine we would say it had to be covered with X layers of micropore (surgical) tape where X is probably 3+. We wouldn't be that harsh to say you had to destroy your property, but they would really have to prove that a little oil/etc wouldn't get it off.

One lady in our Judo class always wears her wedding ring and that's what she does. I've never asked why she leaves it on, but even she admits it's far from ideal. She's a real sweetheart too, actually