Rules and Guidelines

Dojo Rules
  1. Personal Hygiene: Please note that you will be working within someone else's personal space. Foul body odor, bad breath, strong perfumes and such can be unpleasant to endure. Also, as we do a number of things that involve grabbing or striking with finger tips, please keep your fingernails trim and clean.
  2. Listen and Learn: When the instructor is teaching, please listen and refrain from talking except to ask questions.
  3. Questions: Questions are welcomed, but please keep questions relevant to what is being taught at the time. Any additional or unrelated questions may be discussed before or after class or over e-mail.
  4. Lateness: Please try to be at class, in uniform and ready to train a few minutes before class starts. If you have to be late, please call the instructor at (361) 563-2354, If there is no answer, please leave a voicemail. Please note that in the very, very rare case that no one shows up for class, unless otherwise notified, the instructor will stick around for about twenty minutes and then leave.
  5. Absence: If you know in advance that you are going to miss a class, please let the instructor know. If you find that you have to miss a class and have not previously told the instructor, please call the instructor at (361) 563-2354, If there is no answer, please leave a voicemail.
  6. Outside the Dōjō: Please be conscious of how you represent yourself and the  Bujinkan Dōjō when you are not training, especially at martial arts events, on the internet and in front of the media. Please do not engage in any martial arts activities where video recording or other types of media may occur without first consulting the instructor. Additionally, do not take on any "challenge matches" without first consulting the instructor.
  7. Drugs and Alcohol Policy: Please do not bring illegal drugs to classes or seminars. Additionally, please do not come to class or seminars under the influence of drugs or alcohol. If you have a prescription that you must take and it may impact your ability to train, please consult the instructor before training. Going against this policy is grounds for being asked to leave on a temporary or possibly permanent basis.
  8. Respect: The way we train is a very cooperative process. Yes, we do techniques that sometimes involve pain. When doing such techniques it is important to be respectful of your training partners and what you are applying to them. Remember: it their turn next.
  9. Appropriate Bodily Contact During Training: In the course of training, bodily contact is inevitable. However, depending on gender, certain areas of the body are not appropriate for contact. Respect of such bodily boundaries is mandatory.
  10. Leave the Teaching to the Instructor: It is natural to want to help your training partner. However, unsolicited teaching can become problematic. Unless you are shodan or above, it is probably best to leave the teaching to the instructor.



Safety Guidelines
  1. General Notes: A necessary component of our training it the physical interaction between training partners. Therefore it is important to careful in how techniques are applied. When one first starts training it is best to apply techniques slowly and with minimal force. As one continues training a sensitivity to what a training partner can and cannot take will develop.
  2. Tapping Out: "Tapping out" is one way one training partner can let the other know that the amount of pressure or force being applied is too much. When one has a technique is being applied to a person, it is important for that person to communicate to his or her training partner when the force or pressure is too much. It is unwise to try to "tough it out" as this will eventually lead to injury. Tapping out can be done with the hand or feet. If the hands and feet or locked up then vocal communication is both acceptable and encouraged.
  3. Muscling and Speeding Up: There is a tendency with beginners to either speed up or use more muscle when a technique is not working. This can not good technique and can lead to injuries, either to your training partner or to yourself. If you are feeling that you are needing to speed up or put more muscle into a technique, stop and determine what is not working.
  4. Existing Injuries: Depending on the injury, one may be able to continue training or one may need to take a break from training to let that injury heal. If you are injured, it is your responsibility to determine how best to cope with that injury. If you have an existing injury it is your responsibility to let your training partner know so they can take extra care not to make that injury worse.
  5. Medication: If you are taking any medication that severely impacts your balance and sense, you may want to consider simply watching the class or staying home.
  6. Hydration: In the course of training, it is likely that you will sweat a lot. It is important to keep yourself hydrated so that you do not become a heat casualty.
  7. Know Your Limits: While yes, sometimes it is useful to push one's self beyond one's normal limits in order to grow, one should be smart about doing it. Especially in regard to some of the more acrobatic activities in this art, make a careful assessment of you abilities and the task at hand before proceeding and use good judgment.