Wearing one organization's apparel to another organization

[Adelaide]

I have moved 1200 miles away from home and have joined a new dojo to do Krav Maga. This place has never heard of my old dojo and is in a different martial arts organization. However, I still have several hoodies, a duffel bag, and shirts from my previous place. Would it be odd or inappropriate to wear them around the new place? (For the record, there's no real "uniform" here. It's just a black shirt w/ the school's insignia and black pants. I don't have a t-shirt for this place yet or anything with their logo on it.) I only ask because my new place is much more into the "etiquette" side of things than my last one. They bow every time they enter/exit, formally address the instructor, and we have specific stances we take when we're listening/watching. I don't want to offend someone within my first few months there. I guess the only analogy I could draw would be if you wore one cheering school's insignia clothing to another cheering school for practice. It's not akin to wearing another football team's practice jersey, because they have specific numbers/colors they're required to wear.

[bonyk]

I think the duffel bags and the hoodies are okay, but the shirts are not.  IMO, the hoodies/duffles are "outside" wear, but the shirts are "inside" wear, so they should not be from another school. 

However, why don't you casually ask your instructor if it's okay to bring gear from a different dojo?  It can't hurt to ask.

[hyzenthlay]

Hoodies and duffle bag should be cool, if they get touchy about it you need to find a new dojo anyway.

The best martial artists train with many people and in many different places, and good martial artists respect what other dojo's and practitioner's have to offer. (I train under a 2 world champs and they freely admit that they try to bring in guest instructors who are good at those parts of the sport they lack.)

I'd say the T-shirts might be fine for a class or two, but if they have a training uniform you should adhere to it.

And man, that's the most formal Krav Maga I've ever heard of!

[Adelaide]

bonyk-the main instructor is out of town for awhile, and also he terrifies me. I thought I'd ask on here first.

hyzenthlay-I don't have one of their t-shirts yet. They were totally out when I went to buy one and won't have any more in for a couple months. Also, I think they're so formal because they all also cross train in another martial art and their formality just sort of carries over.

[hyzenthlay]

all also cross train in another martial art and their formality just sort of carries over.

All the more reason, I think, to suspect they won't mind too much if you wear a shirt from another dojo, especially one that's not direct competition.

Obviously many of them are aware of the benefits of various systems.

[Loruaus]

We are in Australia and have recently (last 8months) changed to a dojo that sounds much like your new dojo. eg; bowing, respect, stances answering uss sensei when spoken to.

We wear our old ghi's (plain white, no markings) to the new dojo and use all our old gear, not dojo branded. We would not wear anything with markings from another dojo to our new dojo.
While I do not believe that our new dojo would have a problem with it, I do think that it would set us apart from the other students/families and may come accross as us not being ready to fit in and support the new dojo.
The gear bag I can understand, but actual clothing that you wear around, its like branding yourself the property of another dojo. Yes, many people cross train between dojo's (we used to) but most do not advertise it.
One thing our dojo really pushes is fellow student support. If this is a dojo you want to be involved with long term, then you need to show your support and let the other students know your not just passing through.

[TootsNYC]

hyzenthlay-I don't have one of their t-shirts yet. They were totally out when I went to buy one and won't have any more in for a couple months.

This would be a reason why you could wear the old shirts with the other, I think.
And if anybody mentions it, you say, "I can't get one from here yet--they ran out."

If you have completely moved locales, then wearing the logo from the old place may say, "I see this place as a continuation of my old place, and I was committed enough there to buy their gear. So I'm committed to the sport, for sure."


The other option is simply to wear a plain T-shirt.

[RebeccainGA]

I know my DD's old instructor in judo said he didn't mind the kids wearing gis from other dojos - in fact, he had a bunch of kids in ATA gear, which is from a whole other sport! I think the more focused on the work as opposed to the personalities involved the place is, the less they need the branding (and it sounds like this may be one of those work focused places, which is great!). I'd double check, but I doubt it'll be a big deal.

[Winterlight]

I see no problem with the bag and hoodies. If you feel unsure, I'd buy a couple cheap plain black tees until you can get an offical one.