When members first begin practicing they may wear any loose, comfortable, and clean clothing.
We practice in our bare feet, so they should wear sandals or flip-flops between the changing rooms and the mat. This is to avoid transferring dust and dirt from the floor onto the mat.
Toe and fingernails should be short and clean to prevent any injury, and all jewellery should be removed.
Eventually however, a white Kidogi (similar to a judo suit) should be worn by men, and a white Kidogi and black hakama (traditional Japanese, pleated trousers) worn by women. Men wear the hakama after gaining a Dan grade (black belt) in aikido.
Unlike we normally do in the West, the Kidogi jacket is worn the same way by both men and women – the left side overlaps the right side.