The short ceremony at the begining and end of the session is both a greeting/goodbye and a way of focusing your intent on Jiu Jitsu for the class and avoiding external distractions. All students are told to line up in front of the Sensei in grade order (higher grades on the right, lower grades on the left - relative to the students). Sensei then calls out:

• "Kiba dachi" : "Horse stance" - stand with your feet about shoulder distance apart, legs slightly bent, hands in closed fists in front of you.
• "Su dachi" : "Feet together stance" - move your left foot to stand with your feet completely together, legs straight, hands by your sides.
• "Seiza" : Students sit down into seiza (kneeling position).
• "Otagai ni seiza" : All Sensei sit down into seiza

Sensei signals to the highest-grade student, who then says:

• "Sensei ni rei" : "Bow to Instructor". All students perform a kneeling rei (bow) to the instructor, placing their hands on the floor, but keeping eyes up. 

Sensei then replies with:

• "Otagai ni nei" : "Bow to all" or "Bow to dojo and all assembled". All Sensei rei in response.

This marks the beginning or the end of training for the class.