dojang
{{Short description|Training hall for Korean martial arts}}
{{About|Korean martial arts|the seal also called "dojang"|Seal (East Asia)#Korean usage}}
{{Italic title|reason=:Category:Korean words and phrases}}
{{onesource|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox Korean name
| hangul = 도장
| hanja = 道場
| mr = tojang
|rr = dojang
}}
{{Transliteration|ko|rr|Dojang}} ({{Korean|hangul=도장}}) is a term used in Korean martial arts, such as Taekwondo, Tang Soo Do, Kuk Sool Won, and hapkido, that refers to a formal training hall. It is typically considered the formal gathering place for students of a martial art to conduct training, examinations and other related encounters.
Meaning
Do (道) means "the way" or "art" and jang (場) means "a place", which makes {{Transliteration|ko|rr|dojang}} the place where one practices the way. In the case of martial arts it is the place where one practices the path of that martial art, much like dojo in Japanese. More specific terms such as "hapkidojang" or "taekwondojang" can be used for particular subtypes of {{Transliteration|ko|rr|dojang}}. The word {{Transliteration|ko|rr|dojang}} (道場) originates from Buddhism. The {{Transliteration|ko|rr|dojang}} is a place where meditation and practice takes place in the temple;{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://100.nate.com/dicsearch/pentry.html?i=129475|title=도량 [道場]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610073647/http://100.nate.com/dicsearch/pentry.html?i=129475|archive-date=June 10, 2011|lang=ko|encyclopedia=Korean Britannica Encyclopedia}} the same Chinese characters for {{Transliteration|ko|rr|dojang}} also mean a bodhimanda or (in Japanese) a dojo.
Decoration
The {{Transliteration|ko|rr|dojang}} walls can be decorated with a variety of items ranging from the national and federation flag to pictures and calligraphy and boards with the names of techniques practiced in the {{Transliteration|ko|rr|dojang}} on it. In general, Korean {{Transliteration|ko|rr|dojangs}} are usually heavily decorated.
In dojangs where the practice of the art may involve much falling, there will usually be mats on the floor. In older days the floor could also be covered with the sacks rice was stored in, but in modern days there are a variety of mats available.
At the beginning of class, students may line up according to their rank{{spaced ndash}}the highest-ranking students at the front (first row) left and the lowest-ranking students at the back (last row) right from the point of view of the instructor facing the students (from the point of view of a student, facing the front of the {{Transliteration|ko|rr|dojang}}: the highest-ranking students at the front right and the lowest-ranking students at the back left). If several students are of the same rank, age or age of rank may determine their places in line.
Usage
The Korean word for gym is more commonly translated as Che Yuk Gwan (체육관, 體育館), which means "sports place". {{Transliteration|ko|rr|Dojang}} refers to the actual place in the gym where practice takes place.
The equivalent Japanese term for "{{Transliteration|ko|rr|dojang}}" is dōjō (道場), which means "place of the way", while the Chinese equivalent is wuguan and mou kwen in Mandarin and Cantonese respectively (武館), which means "martial hall", though Chinese words for dojo/dojang is also translated in Mandarin as daochang and Cantonese as dou cheung via Chinese characters used for Korean/Japanese martial arts schools established in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.