Martial Arts Wisdom They Don't Tell You - Insert Proverb Here

[tellner]

There's a lot of hoary wisdom in the MA. We have dojo kun, myths, pithy sayings and all the rest.

What are some of the important ones they don't tell you?

Here is a couple:


Never spar with a guy whose girlfriend is watching class for the first time
If you say "That would never work" be prepared to live out the proverb "Those who will not hear must feel"
If you get up off the floor afterwards and say "I wasn't ready" or my favorite "You can't do that, that's not fair!" be prepared for the ritual response "Wanna see it again?" followed by a more painful lesson. By the bye, Silat players just live for the words "That's not fair!" I'm not sure whether the deep reverent bow or the cackling laughter is more disconcerting...
Your martial arts are only as good as your legs (yes, there are exceptions. it's still mostly true)
Move less, see more
Practice fast, learn slow. Practice slow, learn fast
Beware of little old men and women who smile a lot. The old wolf probably has one more tooth than you think
The way to learn is to lose a lot
Sooner or later you lose your speed, you lose your strength and everyone learns your tricks. Then you find out if you're any damned good or not
The one who wins the fight isn't always the one who is willing to hurt the other guy more. Often it's the one who is willing to get hurt more.
If a martial arts school isn't near a good Asian restaurant its chances of survival are slight.
The knife fight scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is the best single five minutes of martial arts and practical survival instruction on film.
Someone who is pissed off will hurt you. Someone who is scared and believes his back is to the wall will kill you.

[Carol]

My fave funny saying...

"If at first you don't succeed, fix your aim"


One my training partner and I say often...

"It's a good kind of pain"


And one from my old HS trainer that I remember to this day...

"THere is a difference between loss and defeat. You may lose a race, lose a match, lose a contest, or lose a challenge but you won't truly be defeated unless you give up."

[Drac]

I remember one.."Say you can and saying you can't, both statements are true and will govern your future"...

[Freestyler777]

My first wrestling teacher said, "You get out what you put into the sport. More effort means more results."

[Empty Hands]

"Wax on, wax off."

[CoryKS]

One from Murphy's Laws of Modern Warfare: If your enemy is in range, so are you.

[terryl965]

Snatch pebble from hand

sand the floor
paint the fence

[Drac]

One from Murphy's Laws of Modern Warfare: If your enemy is in range, so are you.


I like that one..........

[foot2face]

"there is such a thing as under-kill, no such thing as overkill"

"opossum isn't dead 'til you scrape it off the road"

"don't stop hitting until there's nothing left to hit"

"if he's standing, kick him in the head, if he's crouching, knee him in the head, if he's lying on the ground, stomp on his head"

"it might not hurt now but you'll feel it in the morning"

[Kacey]

The three most useless words: "Are you okay?"

Followed by the two most useless words: "I'm sorry."

Other choice phrases/concepts:

"I didn't mean to hit him that hard - he walked into it."
"Sure, I can do the splits - watch!" (insert sound of muscles/ligaments ripping)
"Boards don't hit back" (maybe not - but they can win)
"My (sibling/friend/cousin/etc.) showed me this" (followed by someone getting hurt)
"Yeah? What happens if I do this?" (followed by a demonstration... "what if" is a game that should really be avoided!)

[Drac]

The three most useless words: "Are you okay?"

Followed by the two most useless words: "I'm sorry."

Other choice phrases/concepts:

"I didn't mean to hit him that hard - he walked into it."
"Sure, I can do the splits - watch!" (insert sound of muscles/ligaments ripping)
"Boards don't hit back" (maybe not - but they can win)
"My (sibling/friend/cousin/etc.) showed me this" (followed by someone getting hurt)
"Yeah? What happens if I do this?" (followed by a demonstration... "what if" is a game that should really be avoided!)

Great memories Kacey..I heard them all in the club I bounced at..Now add alcohol to the mix and it gets REALLY interesting...

[CoryKS]

Great memories Kacey..I heard them all in the club I bounced at..Now add alcohol to the mix and it gets REALLY interesting...

hehe. Famous last words: "Here, hold my beer."

[Ybot]

I remember my old Karate instructor telling us:
"The good instructor sets you on a path, then does his darnedest to knock you off."

From Royce Gracie:
"Your belt only covers two inches of your ass, it's your job to protect the rest."

In reference to belt promotions in BJJ:
"You don't chase belts in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, they chase you."

[searcher]

If it looks stupid, but works. Then its not so stupid.

The reason Americans call it fast food is because it speeds them on the way to the grave.

I can say rat droppings, but it does not mean I wish to eat them.

Worrying is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do, but it won't take you anywhere.

The bigger they are, the more bones they break.

Daniel: "Can you do that?"
Miyagi: "Don't know, never been attacked by tree."

[ArmorOfGod]

"Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect." : Vince Lombardi

[morph4me]

"You don't rise to the level of the situatation, you sink to the level of your training"

"No battle plan ever survives first contact"

[Hawke]

Your other left.

There's no money on the floor so look up.

What's the most important move --- yes that's right the FIRST one (but we have plan B just in case).

You might want to try breathing, it will keep you alive.

Train as if your life depends on it, because it might be your life or someone you deeply care about.

Better to cry in the dojo so you can laugh in the streets.

Be careful when you say............"That won't work in the real world."

Pain is an excellent teacher.

Because someone is meek does not mean they they are weak.

Yes there is a master and I am not him - Ed Parker

[Christina05]

[quote=ArmorOfGod;806254]"Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect." : Vince Lombardi

I've heard this time and time again.

[SKB]

There is always someone bigger, meaner, faster, hits harder and more skilled then you.

Never under estimate the person infront of you.

[tellner]

Never spar with a guy whose girlfriend is watching class for the first time
Trust me on this one. :(


Sooner or later you lose your speed, you lose your strength and everyone learns your tricks. Then you find out if you're any damned good or not
Nobody who is twenty believes it. Anyone who is forty knows it :)

The one who wins the fight isn't always the one who is willing to hurt the other guy more. Often it's the one who is willing to get hurt more.Advice from my Sheik who learned it the hard way.


Someone who is pissed off will hurt you. Someone who is scared and believes his back is to the wall will kill you.This is one of the reasons I absolutely hate it when cops put the boot or the baton into someone who's already down, subdued and giving submission signals. And yes, to all the officers out there, you know it happens. You may not have done it, but you've seen it and said nothing a few times because it's "street justice" or it was a good cop who just got too excited. What it means is that the next time the guy won't go easily. He'll (rightly) believe that if he gives up he'll just get hurt worse. So he'll try very hard to take a piece out of the next officer who tries to arrest him. After all, he has nothing to lose. Down at the pointy end it's "Comply or die" when you come to the unfriendly attention of the Law. That's cool. That's why it's the Law. But "Comply then die" does nobody any good.

[tradrockrat]

Ones they never told me?


Good stances come in far more handy on the uneven street than they do in the dojo.

Those people surrounding you on the street? They are not spectators.

Sparring for the first time against a different style is sparring for the first time.

Bring a good cane to your first kickboxing tournament - it makes it much easier to get home (this is especially true in Bando with the leg kicks).

If you're angry hit the heavy bag - NEVER get in the ring.

Nothing spells defeat like your opponent giggling while in your best chokehold.

The ground is your friend - it's the stones, glass, etc. that hate you.

There are no do-overs, but you can start a-new.

[foggymorning162]

From Royce Gracie:
"Your belt only covers two inches of your ass, it's your job to protect the rest."


I love this one!
I use the same signiture on my e-mail that I use here, most people think it's a joke but we've all seen the person who's too busy telling everyone what they can do or how they would do it to listen to the instructor.

[qi-tah]

There are brilliant martial artists and there are brilliant teachers... and then there are those who are both.

Self defence is for those 30 seconds when you are fighting for your life. Martial arts is for the rest of your life.

[tellner]

If you fight, cheat. If you get caught you weren't cheating hard enough.
"Look! A naked bird!" *schklork* <- Sound of knife being stuck into listener :D
It's fighting, not folk dancing
Be the bullfighter, not the bull
Strive to attain the calm confidence of a Christian with four aces
"I'm the meanest toughest S.O.B. on the planet, and in every truck stop in America there's someone who can pin me to the wall and beat me to death." -- attributed to "Judo" Gene LeBell
"That's nice, Stevie, but can he fight?" -- my Silat teacher's grandmother whenever he told her about a new martial arts teacher he was thinking of studying with

[Never_A_Reflection]

"Avoid rather than harm, harm rather than maim, maim rather than kill." - A saying that my uncle passed onto me from his closest friend, who is a high-ranking Aikido practicioner

[tellner]

Recipe for long pig - Peanuts, chilies and a little lemon juice.

[bluemtn]

ATTENTION ALL USERS:

Please, return to the original topic.

-Kerri L./ tkdgirl
-MT Moderator-

[Fang]

Someone who is pissed off will hurt you. Someone who is scared and believes his back is to the wall will kill you.

Thats similar to "a man who fears you is more dangerous than a man that hates you" (old jailhouse proverb there)

An old italian once told me whilst in jail, "never ask a man to shoot you"

"Life is all about sacrifice"

"Never take another mans food"

"If you start eating ****, pretty soon you're gonna start choking" Utah State deathrow inmate Troy Kell. Many famous quotes by Troy Kell can be found in "Gladiator Days the anatomy of a prison murder," a documentary by HBO.

Famous last words, "taaaaap,"in desperation, instructor, "oh you dont have any arms to tap with" upon being rolled onto my belly arms underneath...

"Shes not a cur," "yes she is look at how she sits under the table all cowered down like that" a friend of mine trying to tell me his boxer pup was not a cur, honestly i think he thought he had found a new word i didn't know the definition to.

"You guys alright back there?" A drunken friend of mine talking to empty space in a stolen car going down the wrong side of the road whilst we were teenagers in the middle of the night...

"Don't tempt the lord thy god"