The rationale behind the plain white dobok of Japanese Karate and of Traditional Taekwon-Do, has its roots in martial tradition. One of the goals of martial arts training is to come to terms with the rather unpleasant aspect that all humans face, death. And in another sense to aid in the understanding of suffering (not that we can shed ourselves of suffering but rather to come to grips with an understanding of how our attachment to the body or "I", the universal "I", can be better understood).
This is accomplished in part by attempting to abandon the ego through martial training. Freud said, "The ego is a body". And to quote martial arts author Peter Payne, "The nature of the ego, the ordinary sense of "I", is intimately bound up with the physical body".
We have a difficult time as humans extending past the egotism of the body and feeling a greater connection to the universe around us. This is evident in virtually every aspect of our life's.
One of these ways is through the clothes we wear (which is, in reality, a mere extension of the body. We have physical contact with our outer garments and therefore much interconnectedness). When we put on a plain white dobok, bereft of superfluous piping and trim, we are creating an outward sign of our humility, or should I say "attempted humility". It is one very small way that bring us closer to the never obtainable perfection that is the journey in Martial Arts. As Master Hee Il Cho said, "One can go on forever developing perfection within the frame work of the Martial Arts".
Noted Ninjutsu expert Stephen Hays tells of seeing a Gi / Dobok in a Japanese museum. He attempted a joke by saying people in olden times must have been much shorter because the uniform had shorter sleeves and pant legs. If you get a pre-World War 2 martial arts book you will see this is the norm. Apparently longer sleeves and pant lengths were due to later Western influences . Anyway the host was not amused and explained that what he was seeing was really underwear, what was worn under the silk kimonos.
Apparently, the Samurai, when practicing removed the nice silken outer garments and stripped to their underwear for practice. This may have been the origins of our uniforms with the white color a natural result of heavily cleaned undergarments that had no need for colors that would also not stand up to harsh washing. This also gives an insight into training without shoes, since shoes were not worn indoors, and the slippers would have been difficult to train in.
The short sleeved kimono or "armor robe," of the samurai, was both symbolic and highly functional. According to Edwin Reischauer, former professor of Japanese history at Harvard and U.S. Ambassador to Japan from 1961 to 1966, in his book "Japan, the story of a Nation", tells us the under garment worn by the samurai was multi-purpose.
On a symbolic level, the white kimono symbolized "purity and beauty in death." But the silk under garment was also a vast technological improvement over medieval western European armor.
Schienbeinschützer; mit/ohne Spanschutz, Marke + Unterarm
Und Unterarm kaufe ich dann gleich mit.
Zitat von elcarus
Aber ich glaube, heutzutage müssen die Schützer unter dem Dobok getragen werden, oder? Dann wäre das ja egal.