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Excerpts from the Beginners Handbook
When traveling on an airplane, a bag full of uniforms is not much of a problem, but a weapon case can be. To avoid unnecessary trouble, it might be a good idea to carry a set of fishing poles along with your bokken and jo, and avoid using the word "weapons!"-Security officers unfamiliar with Aikido practice might get the wrong idea. I'm just joking of course, but it can be a little confusing at times. When there is a seminar held at another dojo, instructors and assistant instructors are sometimes sent to participate.
At the beginner level, students are advised, "For now, your dojo is here. We ask you to diligently practice here until you are comfortable calling this dojo your home." I feel it is important to form a foundation based on your home dojo's principles and style before venturing out to sample different approaches to Aikido practice. There are some students who travel frequently to attend seminars. Some proudly attest to how many different seminars they have been to and how many instructors they have met. In the beginning of a student's training, instead of trying to build a repertoire of different styles picked up from outside seminars, it might be better to concentrate on developing a basic foundation.
Once the basics have been sufficiently mastered and the primary philosophy behind activities at the dojo fully understood, students can then become more open to different styles of practicing Aikido. At this level they are able to take better advantage of different dojo’s teaching methods and choose what is important for their individual technical and spiritual development. For this reason only students who have achieved the level of instructor and assistant instructor are sent officially to participate in outside seminars.
As a parting message to these student representatives, they are reminded to never behave discourteously to the host dojo or other students. They are to act with the utmost respect for the host dojo's style and philosophy, never voicing criticisms or comparisons. "Make yourself as blank as possible, so that you can absorb their teachings to the fullest.”