4 quick points of gym etiquette

by Mike

1. Don't throw your gear around. Usually when someone gets yelled at for throwing their gear around, they come back with, "but it's boxing gear, it's not going to break." Then the fun starts.
   
   The three most common situations where people throw their gear around are back to their bag, rather than walking it back over and spiking their gloves after working the bags or taking up the ring for a half-hour while shadowboxing and defeating Shadow Wanderlei Silva and when they're upset.
   
   In the first case, throwing your gear around is disrespectful in that it shows the thrower has no regard for what are essentially the tools of their trade. If you treat the things that allow you to practice your art like that, how can you be expected to treat the rest of the facility, not to mention your classmates any better?
   
   In the second case, you just look like a fool. Especially if you follow that up by blowing a snot rocket into the trash (see #4 below).
   
   After someone gets through a sparring session where they're unhappy with their performance, it's not uncommon to see them spike their gear back in the bag. This one gets filed under quit yer bellyachin'.
   
   
2. If you borrow gear, give it back to the person who lent it to you. That is, make sure that they know you're giving it back. Rather than the person who lent you the gear in the first place forgetting that they gave it to you, more common mishaps are a) the borrower putting the gear on the ground and then someone else walking off with the gear, or putting it by the wrong bag and that person not noticing, packing up the gear and leaving before the lender can figure out where his stuff went.
   
   Also, remember to write your name on your gear.
   
   A corollary to this is: if you took it out, put it back. This goes for not only your gear (i.e. don't leave it all over the floor), but for communal equipment. If your gym provides pads, gloves, or anything else for you to use, be sure to put it back where you got it, or in the proper place for things - if there's a drying rack, or etc. for gloves, a rack for pads, etc.
   
   
3. Don't interrupt other's workouts or classes. Even if it just looks like someone is half-heartedly working the bags, it may just be part of their warmup (or cooldown).
   
   As for interrupting classes, never cut through the middle of a class on your way to get to the heavy bags/water fountain/your stuff that you left on the other side of the room. Always try to move along the outside of the mats and remember that people in class have right-of-way (i.e. wait for a break before you start running around).
   
   
4. Keep your bodily fluids to yourself. If you're bleeding, make it not bleed before you start up again. If you're sick, don't come to class. Under no circumstances are you to blow snot rockets into the trashcan or in the shower. Doc Dill thinks that you shouldn't be blowing your nose at all.