About uniforms
Meaning of dobak
According to Earl Weiss and Damian LaVoice, the rationale behind the plain white dobak has its roots in martial tradition. A goal of martial arts training is help us to come to terms with the rather unpleasant aspect that all humans face—death—and to help us understand our attachment to the body or "I." This is accomplished in part by attempting to abandon the ego through martial art training. Freud said, "The ego is a body," and to quote martial arts author Peter Payne, "The nature of the ego, the ordinary sense of 'I', is intimately bound up with the physical body."
We have a difficult time as humans getting past the egotism of the body and feeling a greater connection to the universe around us. This is evident in virtually every aspect of our lives, such as through the clothes we wear, which are really just an extension of the body. We have physical contact with our outer garments and therefore much interconnectedness.
When we put on a plain white dobak, bereft of superfluous trim, we are creating an outward sign of our humility, or should I say, "attempted humility." It is a small step on the way toward the never obtainable perfection that we seek through our training in the martial arts. As Master Hee Il Cho said, "One can go on forever developing perfection within the frame work of the martial arts."