I learned Judo in Cuba in the early years of the Cuban revolution. I was an 
orange belt at the time I left Cuba and never continued due to an injury to my 
  right ACL. :-(

We were taught that we would salute by bowing but never let our eyes move away 
from our opponent's eyes and to keep our fists in front of the family jewels 
to protect against a sneaky early attack. I am not sure where the custom came 
from but both my teacher and his teacher trained under Ishikawa (later 
Ishikawa Sensei) at Havana's Judansha kai before he left Cuba to go to the US.

I had not seen a competition since then until last month's US Collegiate 
Championship in Miami and was curious why the competitors would shake hands. I 
guess I am behind the times. :-)

I did see a couple of strangulations that I thought were outlawed in 
competition. Something done with the lapel, okuri-something, lapel pulled 
tight across the neck. Are those allowed now?

Bert

Bruce Knight wrote:

> The martial arts and Judo in particular "start with etiquette and ends with
> etiquette".
> 
> Most asian arts use the traditional bow.  The bow signifies respect for the
> individual, the dojo or the mat area.  It reflects a thankyou for allowing
> you to practice your skills.  And should one of you get injured, there was
> no ill-intent meant.
> 
> You're saying all of this with the bow and no handshake is needed.  The
> Japanese only shake hands at the completion of International Competitions
> since most westerners do it.  In tournaments like the All Japan
> Championships, they don't shake hands.
> 
> ukemi7
> Yondan
> 
> "Jamie Labonte" <jamieandtracie@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
> news:4072A79A.BC615011@sympatico.ca...
> 
>>No, you can shake hands after a bow. After all, Japanese besinessmen bow
>>repeatedly sometimes.
>>
>>Tom wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I'm in discussion with my constituents.  I believe a bow is a formal
> 
> type of
> 
>>>hand shake, and that to shake hands after a bow is actually not correct
>>>etiquette.  Is this correct?
>>
> 
>