Why Karate Gis Are Always Left Over Right | ART OF ONE DOJO

Why are Karate Gi's always worn left side placed over the right? We never see right over left. Why is that? Is there a special dojo etiquette or does the reason go deeper into history and the development of Gi and formal Japanese clothing?

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[geoffreyfletcher]

Actually when training in Kajūkenbõ recently, the explanation the Instructor gave for this was that left side over right side pertained to a living person, but when the person died their burial robe was placed right side over left side. And while the code of bushido taught samurai to not fear death, it was believed that by going into battle with the right side covering the left side of the kimono, was bad luck that would lead to a dishonorable death. Even though, the samurai wore white kimono under their other kimono to symbolize that they were ready to die. The Japanese just like any culture has a certain superstitions woven into their warrior etiquette.

The practicality of right hand versus left hand dominant, in classical schools (at least of samurai traditions) everything was right hand dominant, thus even if you were born left handed you trained to become right hand dominant. Nowadays, such is not that important, as you should train to use both sides equally, and even in historical battles, the samurai wound up fighting with whatever side or hand was not injured. However, in instruction of tradition certain etiquette had its place.

[blacktigermartialarts]

I was told that this is as you said in line with formal etiquette when wearing clothing.
I was also told that wearing the Gi right over left was representative of respect for your Sensei passing on or a family member etc passing on. So a symbol of death.
"White" Gi's were also to symbolise being ready for death to die in honour on the battlefield etc. As White is what samurai wore underneath their armour and when committing Seppuku. A white Kimono was worn.

[jons]

Hi Mr Dan! After nearly 20 years away from Kenpo and nearly 10 years away from Martial arts, I returned to American Kenpo last month. I can’t believe how good it feels to be on the mat again!
I just wanted to thank you as your videos helped to keep my interest in the Martial Arts burning. And that continued interest finally led me to resuming my training.

[JuliannaHolmes]

Once again... an answer to a question that I didn’t realize I was curious about!! But once I saw the title... I couldn’t click fast enough. Thank you!!

[jfearless]

7:24 was the explanation i was given for the reason for left over right but its cool to listen to all of the philosophies on it.

[Von_D]

When I was about 13, I lived in a tiny town with no Japanese, Chinese, or Korean natives. There was a Japanese restaurant where the employees wore pseudo-kimonos/yukatas. The problem was that every last one of them always wore it right over left. I was tempted to ask whether they knew about the whole... corpse... thing. It was probably for the e better that I didn't,

[seanledig]

Great video. When I was on the fencing team in college, my coach explained that during the European Renaissance, men's shirts button with left-over-right to facilitate drawing weapons, like in Japan. Women's blouses buttoned on the right over left because women were not expected to take part in duels. Also, left-handedness was considered effeminate at the time and the use of a weapon in the left hand was considered sneaky as right-handers would have to change everything to adapt to fighting a left-hander.

[peterkhew]

A very clear presentation for the cultural and practical reason for wearing left over right. Also, the heart is located slightly left to the body, so the left side is considered "yang" regardless of which side your dominant hand is.

[mattbugg]

The thing that strikes me about this is that it seems pretty consistent I'm thinking it has to do with people living in the northern part of the world. Like a tolit when it flushes in the northern part of the world circles clockwise and a topic in the southern part of the world when it flushes is counterclockwise. This was probably something that people observed so the left to right was adopted as natural order based on geolocation.

[Soldier-of-God.]

A great historical and insightful, background and cultural application, regarding the origins of the Karate gi, stemming from the traditional kimono attire.

I also liked your explanation, of why we mostly tie the jacket, with the left side, overlapping over the right side. I also like how it traces its deeper and more ancient origins, to the Chinese social elite, of the aristocracy. I was not aware that the man's kimono, was mostly the one chosen in terms of its more simplistic, less ornamental, also not rounded at the shoulders and sleeves, instead more square and linear. Thank you Sensei Dan for dedicating your time, to throughly research these historical anecdotes, concerning the cultural and customary practices of martial arts. Looking forward to your next segment, Osu!🥋🇲🇽🇦🇺🤟👍✌👊

[jenniferhammons]

I have 3 gis and I am testing for my purple belt on December 12th 2020

[camiloiribarren]

I totally grew up wearing the gi, karate especially since it’s what I specialize in most. This was even more informative than what I knew so thanks for this

[williamw]

In traditional Judo, and in old school Miyama Ryu Ju Jutsu, Females obis have a white line down the middle of the obi...this was evident in every rank except for white belt. All other ranks in Miyama Ryu utilized this mark to signify female ranks. Only in 2017 were the white stripes abolished for Judo females, was also the first time a female Judoka was promoted above go-dan to roku-dan. 👍
Awesome video you cooked up Dan Sensei!

[ShaunCKennedyAuthor]

One of the things I liked about the series Avatar The Last Airbender was that the clothing was based on a lot of real martial arts uniforms. When I went as Sokka a few years ago for Halloween, I got a blue short sleeved gi as the top.

I have always appreciated the frog-loop, mandrin style shirts in my Kung Fu tradition. I used to wear my uniform as a light jacket when it wasn't raining or too cold. Until I started branding them, no one even noticed.

[SengokuStudies]

There is some evidence that the keikogi more directly comes from the shitagi and kobakama. Shitagi and kobakama were clothing (the layer above the fundoshi "loin cloth") worn under the armor by the majority of samurai (wealthy samurai did have other kind of clothing for wearing under the armor).Since Kano Jigoro was born into a samurai family, this is plausible since he probably knew about this clothing, and could have used it as the basis for his jugogi. The look is also evidence that it is possible as original judogi had pretty short sleeves and pant legs like the shitagi and kobakama.

[kurtsteiner]

It's similar in UK why we drive on the left and not the right had side. To do with keeping your sword arm free in the days of coaches and highwaymen of the time. I note Japan drives on the left as we do.

[mattbugg]

It's actually from ancient times pre flood. The clothing was called a vestiture. And was symbolic to the sun and moon. And was worn by people of the temples around the globe. The sun starts its course in middle gate on the left side of the body. And sets in the same gate on the rear of the body. However no matter which month or gate it rises in it always returns to the frount Going through the north. So if you face east bottom of torso and top of torso middle and 45° marks are the 5 parts of the day that separate the 6 gates. Day time in the frount night time in the rear. So the moon always comes from the rear or the cover or darkness so the cover from the rear would always come from the left side. However there are time periods of the same body of knowledge with different rules and regulations as well as applications the current book is the dao te ching. The pre book was nei jia su when, and the pre book to that was the books of Enoch. All of them are peices to a puzzle the puzzle has been documented as acupuncture and they have switched rules and points and use different things but it's not a complete picture it's still just fragments of knowledge. Each of these books will give you an idea about how some of it works. The book of Enoch used to work but the world changed during the flood probably something to do with the moon. And revival of the practices to make them modern was done with the nei jia su wen. And the modern philosophical and medical books on acupuncture hardly make mention that these texts contribute any more than ancient theories. So there you have it its left over right because it's religion.

[darkapostate]

Gi means "shirt", so it does not include the obi or the trousers. Traditionally the Japanese wore hakama, the pants are a more modern adaptation in line with Judo as I recall.

Also, getting your gashera stuck in the gi would be near instant death. It would foil a preemptive strike and make a counter impossible. Excellent point, combat efficiency is usually at the core of most of these idiosyncrasies.

[AkaAka_AkaAka]

Super interesting these are the small things that I love... I get engrossed in things be it martial arts or my favorite game and it's not enough for me to just enjoy the thing. I like getting into the minutia.. Thanks for the breakdown and keeping nerds like me engaged in martial arts by expanding out up from just This kick superior to this other kick that looks similar but is completely not the same thing. Keep up the great work.

[ajshiro]

Interesting stuff. I didn't know that gi were worn left over right. Our uniform is a uniform you slide into like a shirt.