Traditional martial artists say they bow to show respect. In Japan, yes, I agree. Here in North America, I really don't think so. Last time I looked, we are not in feudal Japan, and in North America we show respect in a variety of different ways.
When we enter our gym, we show respect to the room by working as hard as we can that day, we show respect to our training partner by working them enough that they get a great workout in and feel like they have "tested" themselves that day, and we show respect to the "coach" simply by looking them in the eyes and saying hi!
My students do not have to "bow down" to me to show that they are respectful. I don't subscribe to the master/servant mentality that a lot of martial arts do.
Boxers have a coach and wrestlers have a coach. If you asked them if they "bow" to show respect they would probably look at you like you were crazy, laugh it off and walk away. No bowing, but I firmly believe that there is mutual respect there between coach and athlete.
Why is it that people think because it is "martial arts" that we need to be different and follow a tradition from many, many years ago that really has no place in the gym.
If you feel the need to "bow down" to start your workout or show respect, by all means go ahead. We'll stick to just saying hi and getting on with our workout.
