School Rules

Dress Code

All participants: students, guests and instructors will adhere to the following dress code requirements without exception:

Shoes

  • No street-shoes, running shoes, or sandals on the mat.
  • Accepted Shoes Include:
    • Wrestling shoes
    • Martial arts shoes

Absolutely no street clothing of any kind is allowed on the mat.

Accepted Clothing for Adults:

Tops: Only workout apparel is allowed on the mat.  Workout apparel includes gi tops, sweatshirts (no hoods or zippers), t-shirts (long or short sleeved), and tank tops (fitted only).  All tops must cover the entire torso from shoulders to the waist line.  Tops that expose the abdominal region or the arm pit area are not allowed.  Excessively baggy tops or clothing with holes or other severe damage will not be allowed.  Male students are not allowed to practice without a top.

  1. Pants/Shorts:  Only workout apparel is allowed on the mat.  Workout apparel includes sweat pants, karate or kung fu pants, warm-ups (no leg zippers), and workout shorts (MMA or generic).  Clothing with rips, tears, holes, rivets, exposed Velcro, plastic buckles is prohibited.
  2. Accepted Clothing for Youth:  Youth students will wear the school uniform only.  No substitutions or exemptions.
  3. Hats are not allowed.
  4. No jewelry may be worn on the mat.  Jewelry includes: watches, necklaces, ear-rings, belly button rings or any other piercing, rings, toe rings, bracelets and anklets.  Wedding rings with protruding diamonds may be worn, but must be removed for any exercise involving contact without gloves.
  5. No I-pods, MP3 players or any other electronic device may be worn during class with the exception of a Heart Rate monitor with instructor approval.

Personal Hygiene

All participants must respect their training partners, fellow instructors and guests by maintaining their own personal hygiene for the safety and health of the school and its students.

  1. Finger and toe nails must be trimmed neatly so that they do not protrude beyond the tip of the toe/finger – especially when practicing with bear feet.
  2. Long hair must be pulled back in a pony tail away from the face and eyes.
  3. Cuts, abrasions, and scabs must be covered with the appropriate bandages at all times.  Anyone with a bleeding cut or nose may not participate in class until the bleeding has stopped and the injury is properly covered.  Adult students are responsible for taking care of their own cuts and blood clean-up. Parents need to address any cuts their children may have.
  4. Sweat is part of exercise.  Students who sweat profusely need to use a sweat towel or sweat band out of respect for their training partner.
  5. Braces and dental hardware can be a safety hazard.  Students with dental hardware are required to wear a mouthpiece for all contact martial arts training.

Facility

Our facility takes a lot of abuse from every-day traffic during classes.  It takes the cooperation of all users to keep the facility in good working order.  A dojo (karate school) is a place of serious study and personal development.  The environment must be free of distractions and safety hazards.

  1. No food or drink on the mat.
  2. Students’ gear will be stored in the designated locations and not left on the floor or in the hallways.
  3. Cell phones must be silenced in the school during class hours.
  4. Please recycle your plastic bottles.
  5. No running, warming up, stretching or practicing in the hallway or lobby areas.
  6. No pets allowed inside the facility.
  7. No alcohol or firearms are allowed in the school.

Guests

A guest is a first-time student, a guest student from another school or a guest instructor.  GHKA welcomes guests of all ages and levels who will respect our school policies.  Any guest who refuses to respect the dojo environment, staff, facility or policies will not be welcome.  If any member invites a guest, that member must make their guest aware of the school rules.

Drop offs/Pick-ups

Do not drop your child off at GHKA more than 10 minutes before the start of their class.  For example, if class begins at 4:15pm – you may drop off at 4:05 at the earliest.  Please arrive to pick up your child promptly at the end of every scheduled class.  GHKA instructors are not babysitters, we do not provide childcare before or after classes.