Tips?
 

I am planning on going to my local dojo to watch and see how practice all works and meet poeple. Anyone have some tips on how I should accomplish this without any embarrasment?(Sp?)

Call or write beforehand to ask for permission, unless their website says that visitors are always welcome. Arrive early. Leave your shoes outside the door. Introduce yourself to the sensei, if he is not busy with something else. Ask where you should watch from. Watch the whole practice, do not duck out early. Stay alert, especially if it is a small and/or crowded space - someone may come flying your way by accident. If you have questions, save them for after practice.

If you haven't already you may want to contact the dojo and find out if they have a preference for what practice you come to (if they have more than one per week) and make introductions to them etc. They might not mind if you just show up, but it would be courteous of you to contact them first (as I said, if you haven't already).

Thanks for the tips, any more?

Neil pretty much covered it.
The only thing I might add is that some dojo's only accept beginners at specific periods during the year. It would make sense to visit a week of so before the inscription period and to make sure beforehand that you can join (your schedule vs training times) if you like the dojo. I would also tend to visit only legit kendo dojos "http://www.kendo-usa.org/statedojolist.htm" . If you are lucky enough to be in a region with several dojo's try to visit them all in order to pick the best one for you. Some people travel several hours to get to class, don't be surprised if you end up doing the samehttp://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif
Enjoy.

I'm assuming that's the Sacramento dojo practice you'll be watching. Shirai-sensei has moved to Japan but there are several other sensei there, including Harada-sensei - a Canuck ex-patriate, but we don't hold that against him - he was the NCKF Team coach at the 2002 USA Championships. I can't say what arrangements they have for newcomers, but Mr. Gendzwill's advice seems appropriate. They are a great group to practice with. You'd be in good hands.

Excellent advice. So many people turn up to a dojo, watch half an hour of practice (or less in many cases) and then leave. What they think they have gained from watching less than half a session, I don't know. I think this applies to most martial arts.

Thank you for the advice. I will keep this all in mind when I go to my local Dojo's.

Every dojo I've practiced at long-term, I've never visited beforehand.

Now that I have more experience, I would advise against this (not visiting). It just always worked out, and I was each time so ignorant that I didn't really know how to judge anything.

I would only advise to show up early in case you can talk to an instructor, or stay late.