Footwear
Taking advantage of our own cultural differences means that for one thing we wear shoes in training.  Our primary reasons for this are, first, shoes protect your feet during training (and we definitely step on the feet).  Second, if we must fight, it will most likely occur while we are wearing shoes.  Since our emphasis is always on the practical, we train as closely as possible to the way we fight.  For a detailed explanation why training in shoes is so important, read Barefoot Training  in Chapter Six of Martial Arts America, but for now, suffice it to say that if you train for self-protection, then you must train in shoes.

Groin Protection
Taking advantage of technological advances not available to previous generations, means first and foremost that in all our classes, seminars, and workshops, groin protection is mandatory for ALL — no exceptions.  Arguments against groin protection abound, but the fact is that good, comfortable groin protection has been available for years, and if you really intend to strike the groin in self-defense, then you must strike it in practice (practice to miss in class and you WILL miss in the street).  With that in mind, the following equipment is recommended for the protection they provide as well as their comfort and wearability.

Note:  This excellent hard cup is identical to the discontinued Bike hard cup (model 7180) and has been available at Target and Walmart.  Besides this one, there is yet another excellent cup, the  Cricket  cup.

Crickets may be small but this Cricket Groin Protector Cup by Aero is not.  It provides excellent groin protection and we highly recommend it.

The Diamond Compression Jock and Cup System provides excellent groin protection for high impact sport athletes.

Worst Cups  

Although advertised as Recommended for contact sports, the Bike Pro Flex Hard Cup (on the left) and others like it, with their wide  rubber  sides, flex nicely around [read allow smashing into] the organs they are supposed to protect!  MMA players can wear these kinds of cups because attacks to the groin are prohibited in Mixed Martial Arts competitions (see UFC Rule Number 7).  These cups are, therefore, definitely  NOT recommended  for contact in our school  (none of our training is for sport).

The Yin Side

Uniforms
Officially, our uniforms consist of a black karate gi (uniform) worn with a white T-shirt, and although we encourage students to purchase them, we do not require them.  Neither do we sell uniforms or equipment in our school — practical martial art instruction for self-protection is our only product. That said, not everyone can afford to sign up for instruction and, at the same time, purchase a uniform, cup, shoes, et al.  Indeed, some prefer to wait and see if they like the instruction offered before purchasing a uniform.  That's fine with us.  Students and guests are, therefore, welcome to train in sweats (shoes and groin protection are still required). 

For those still seeking uniforms, online purchase is available Amazon or a similar vendor
 

Conclusion
There you have them — our equipment and uniform requirements.  Since all training is a simulation of reality, we try to balance practicality with safety, street reality with real training limitations.  In other words, if we kill our training partners we'll have no one with which to train for the street. Hopefully, these requirements will help us all to  train smarter, not harder.