Showing Respect To Each Other In Martial Arts
In any kind of martial arts training it is very important to pay respect to your instructors, your partners, and yourself. Training in Brazilian jiu jitsu or muay thai require a lot of respect because you must work with others to make progress. To succeed in martial arts, you need other quality people to help you so it is important to respect them..
At my Columbia MD martial arts school, we are a family and we all put others goals in front of our own at some points; always willing to help each other however and whenever we can. One thing I have noticed since I’ve started training at my school is that respect is paid in many different ways, but all with the same intention. At the beginning of class, everyone lines up facing the instructor. This is where paying respect begins. Everyone stands tall and straight, quietly listening for instructions from their instructors. The instructor tells the students to bow in, at which time the instructor and the students bow to each other, paying respect. This is how each class begins. How students line up in class is dependent on which martial art is being taught. For example, in muay thai, the instructor stands at the front of the class and all the students make three lines, in no specific order, but in jiu jiusu, the student lines form based on the students’ belt color. The higher the belt you, are the higher you stand in line. This shows respect among the students, as well as to the instructor. The students are paying respect to each other because the higher belts stand in front of the lower belts.
The end of the classes are similar, but different depending on the class and the people. At the end of each class after students line up and bow out again, then shake everyones hand. For instance, at my Columbia MD Martial Arts school, in muay thai class we pay respect to each other in line by putting our hands in the praying position bowing our heads and then shaking hands. In our jiu jitsu class all we do is shake hands and in our mixed martial arts class students punch fists. As we do these movements we also congratulate each other on a good class by saying something like good job, nice work, good class, or good roll if you sparred with them. I have come to notice that in each class respect is paid differently, but it is all for the same purpose. No matter what happened in the class, who won and who lost, all the students at my school consider themselves part of a family that is growing and improving together.. In the martial arts, you should always interact with people in a respectful manner.. It comes at different times and different ways, but it is always done.
