When you first begin practicing you may wear any loose, comfortable, and clean clothing.
We practice in our bare feet, so you 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, a white kidogi (or a judo suit) should be worn. After gaining a dan grade, men also wear a hakama (traditional Japanese pleated trousers). Women traditionally wear the hakama from the start, but this is optional.
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.