Aikikai Hombu Dojo - ABC for visitors

By Michelle Feilen Rigol
5th dan
Aiki Feilen
Barcelona, Spain

[Ed.: Items in bold are great etiquette tips for home, too!]

• Remember to bring a 100 yen coin for the lockers.
• Be on time for the class.
• You should pay the fees on the first day, so make sure you arrive there early.
• Don’t forget to take your membership card and leave it at the front desk, you’ll take it back after the class.
• Take off your shoes at the entrance.
• Men’s changing room is on the 2nd floor and women’s is on the 1st floor.
• Men must access the tatami straight from the changing room. Women, on the other hand, use the main entrance, just like the Senseis.
• Bow twice: first towards the kamiza and then towards the tatami/room.
• There’s a tiny cabinet for the keys by the men’s changing room entrance. Locker keys must be left there. Don’t practice with the key inside your gi.
• Never cross your arms during the class because it means you don’t want to learn.
• Never stand backwards to the kamiza.
• Never dry your sweat during the Sensei's explanations.
• If you're practicing in a group of three and you're neither tori nor uke you must wait for your turn in seiza.
• If you hurt the Sensei by mistake or if you want to ask something, you must say 'sumimasen'. There are other ways to say 'sorry' but this one is the most polite.
• When you bow at the person you want to practice with, you should say 'onegaeshimas', just like you say at the beginning of the class.
• When all the aikidoka are in line to finish the class, you must say 'domo arigato gozaimashita'
• Once the class is over, you must bow at the people you've trained with. Then you should say 'otsukare des' or 'otsukare sama des', which means 'we sweated well together'. You can also say it when leaving the changing room. Also, keep in mind that the person with the lowest rank should wait for the other to lift his/her head.
• Whenever you bow at anybody inside the tatami and this person is on his/her knees and you doubt whether you can stand up or not, you should always kneel down, because it's more polite to be at the same level as the other.
• Remember to bow twice before leaving the tatami.
• Don't forget to remove your membership card from the front desk.

In case you want to ask someone to practice with during the following class, you should say 'tsugi no keiko issho ni ii desuka', which means
- Tsugi - next
- Keiko - practice
- Issho ni - together
- Desu - do

If you take a drink from the vending machines don't sit on the wall in front of the Aikikai Hombu Dojo because neighbours generally complain.

Here's a few sentences that might come handy:

When you enter the Aikikai Hombu Dojo (or any other room):
- Ohayo gozaimasu (before 10:00 am) - good morning
- Konnichiwa (from 10:00 am to afternoon) - good afternoon
- Kombanwa - good evening
- Sayonara - good bye
- Hajime mashite - Nice to meet you

- Ohisashiburi - Nice to see you again
- Onegaeshimasu - you are willing to receive from the other person
- Doitashimashite - you are welcome