Where can I buy a uniform?

A keikogi, or gi, can be bought from several places. First, you can shop online; try Bujin or Kyota Company, for example. Second, you can take a drive up to Ninja World near Green Airport. Third, you can ask Sensei Carvalho to purchase one for you.

Depending on quality, you can expect to pay from $40 to $120 for a gi.

While you're at it, start saving up for your own white oak jo and bokken weapons.

What color belts are there in the dojo?

At Newport Aikido, there are white belts, brown belts, and black belts. White belts are for students at the beginning rank of 5th kyu to 3rd kyu. When the student passes the 2nd kyu test, Sensei may award them a brown belt. When the 1rst kyu student passes the shodan test, he/she can shed their brown belt for a black belt and hakama (the skirt-like pants).

After a while, the student will be able to tell with a high degree of accuracy how long another student has trained just by seeing their technique -- no matter what color belt they are wearing.

See the paragraph about Rank on the About Aikido page.

Most of the martial arts have strict etiquette to protect the students. A martial art has elements of combat. There's an unspoken trust when you lend your body to your partner for training. They should give it back to you in one piece. However, training mistakes are made sometimes --you might receive a full strike accidentally or have a painful lock unintentionally put on for too long. Without strict etiquette, feelings can get hurt, anger can take over, and the training can be poisoned for an entire dojo if respect and manners aren't maintained with vigilance. We bow when we come on to the mat, we bow when we train with each partner, we bow when we begin class, etc. -- to acknowledge that respect.

The entire dojo is intentionally designed to be separate from the outside world. When a student comes in the door, the student should feel right away that they are in someplace special and that the outside world is left behind and their entire focus can be on training.

Why do I have to learn all these Japanese words?

A doctor has special terminology that he uses to communicate with other health professionals; and lawyers and sailors have their own special terms.

If you were on a sailboat and somebody ordered you to make that rope fast around the cleat! which rope? The main sheet? The jib sheet? The halyard? There are so many ropes, it's so confusing until you learn the ropes and their function.

The purpose of the Japanese terms is not to have the student try to become fluent in Japanese. The purpose in learning the Japanese terms is so that the student can walk into just about any Aikido dojo in the world and be able to train, because everyone uses those same terms.