Late For Class

There's an interesting conversation over at Iain Abernethy's forum (here) on the subject of being late for class.

Sometimes it is inevitable that you just can't get to the dojo on time, whether its heavy traffic, domestic issues or hassle from work. But when it is a regular occurance something must be amiss....

To me, training is a discipline. It is good discipline to turn up on time. It's good etiquette too. Not only that, but the first 10 minutes of class is potentially the most important. You might miss an announcement, and you're almost certain to miss the warm up.

Warming up gets you into the right frame of mind as well as adjusting physically to the coming session. Good warmup exercises are a vital part of training. There's no point turning up late and then rushing through a couple of exercises in the hurry to join in. (Imagine what its like in tai chi where they do chi kung exercises to warm up!)

There is another problem that interruptions cause distractions for the whole class. The energy of people training together is broken which takes something away from the group / tribal ethic of what's going on.

It might not be important to some, but you also miss the formal bows at the start of class. Again this is a symbol of group togetherness and acts as a mental trigger to help get you in the right frame of mind. Martial arts are not the same as messing about down the gym (I mean the leisure centre/treadmill-type gym, not boxing/martial arts gym!)