B
Battousai
Guest
I'm wondering what others think about this topic.
It's been my experience that talking with others about martial arts, exspecially my experience in it, is quite frustrating. I've gotten to the point that I never bring it up with anybody. Unless they are a close friend I won't even talk about it, and if they ask about it I say as little as possible unless they express an interest in taking classes.
The scenerios in past have gone like this:
Oh you do martial arts? I have a friend who does it to.
Really? What do they take?
They take blah blah (McDojo trash), they are a quadzillion degree black belt.
Humm ok.
I'll introduce him to you sometime. Maybe you could learn something..
( I don't want to even meet the person, specifically because I don't want to even try to get them out of their neurosis, tryed it before, it doesn't work.)
Or it goes something like this:
Ya they do such and such (mcdojo trash), what do you think of that style?
Umm, well thats fake stuff. He really should try to get out of it.. (sometimes my tact is shut off)
Really? My friend is such and such degree, do you mind if I tell him what you said?
Sure I guess so, I don't care...
He looks like he could beat up just about anyone, (going on and on about whatever they have heard...)
(I just get sadder and sadder..)
When talking about movies;
What did you think of such and such?
It was ok, I didn't like the martial arts in it though. (Flashy hollywood trash)
What!!? I bet that such and such could kick your butt...
(This coming from family members...LOL)
When talking with male friends about martial arts there are always guys that are intimidated by the martial arts, and try to shrug it off and make comments about their history with fighting, or that the martial arts don't work very well, or that they know such and such great technique that takes people down just like that! Sometimes they want to play around, sometimes they take fun playful hits at you, or ask you to show them a move, all the time mocking you, and whatever you show them they are like "that wouldn't work in real life", and I'm like, "umm ya, I'm really going to do this and really hurt you...(sarcasm)." For months people can go off with sneaking up and saying "hi ya!" and making stupid gestures.
I never beef my self up, never do anything flashy to make people think I'm such and such cool guy, yet it doesn't matter. Guys think that you have a superiority complex, or that you are afraid of things, you're so little you get picked on so they think you do martial arts out of fear of big bad men...
I've been at classes held outside at parks. One time there was a baseball team playing at a diamond at the other end of the park. Some guys saw us and one of them flashed us with his front and back side... My instructor waved them to come on over, and was like, man I hope they parked over here... (so that they would come walking by) They never did...
When practicing outside almost everytime people will drive by and yell stupid things out the window, "hai ya!"
There is no end to the stupidity of the male ego when it comes to the martial arts.
One of my friends got into this conversation with some guy in a store. The guy had taken alittle brazilian jujitsu, so my friend was like ya I take japanese jujitsu. And the guy started talking about jujitsu being a native art of brazil, that it came from there, and my friend was like "what!!? Just what do you think "jujitsu" means in brazilian? Its a japanese word..."
So sadly, I just don't like to bring up that part of my life at all. Unless I see a potential student in someone, I'd rather not talk about it. Almost no other activity is as sterotyped, mocked, and misunderstood as the martial arts.
It's been my experience that talking with others about martial arts, exspecially my experience in it, is quite frustrating. I've gotten to the point that I never bring it up with anybody. Unless they are a close friend I won't even talk about it, and if they ask about it I say as little as possible unless they express an interest in taking classes.
The scenerios in past have gone like this:
Oh you do martial arts? I have a friend who does it to.
Really? What do they take?
They take blah blah (McDojo trash), they are a quadzillion degree black belt.
Humm ok.
I'll introduce him to you sometime. Maybe you could learn something..
( I don't want to even meet the person, specifically because I don't want to even try to get them out of their neurosis, tryed it before, it doesn't work.)
Or it goes something like this:
Ya they do such and such (mcdojo trash), what do you think of that style?
Umm, well thats fake stuff. He really should try to get out of it.. (sometimes my tact is shut off)
Really? My friend is such and such degree, do you mind if I tell him what you said?
Sure I guess so, I don't care...
He looks like he could beat up just about anyone, (going on and on about whatever they have heard...)
(I just get sadder and sadder..)
When talking about movies;
What did you think of such and such?
It was ok, I didn't like the martial arts in it though. (Flashy hollywood trash)
What!!? I bet that such and such could kick your butt...
(This coming from family members...LOL)
When talking with male friends about martial arts there are always guys that are intimidated by the martial arts, and try to shrug it off and make comments about their history with fighting, or that the martial arts don't work very well, or that they know such and such great technique that takes people down just like that! Sometimes they want to play around, sometimes they take fun playful hits at you, or ask you to show them a move, all the time mocking you, and whatever you show them they are like "that wouldn't work in real life", and I'm like, "umm ya, I'm really going to do this and really hurt you...(sarcasm)." For months people can go off with sneaking up and saying "hi ya!" and making stupid gestures.
I never beef my self up, never do anything flashy to make people think I'm such and such cool guy, yet it doesn't matter. Guys think that you have a superiority complex, or that you are afraid of things, you're so little you get picked on so they think you do martial arts out of fear of big bad men...
I've been at classes held outside at parks. One time there was a baseball team playing at a diamond at the other end of the park. Some guys saw us and one of them flashed us with his front and back side... My instructor waved them to come on over, and was like, man I hope they parked over here... (so that they would come walking by) They never did...
When practicing outside almost everytime people will drive by and yell stupid things out the window, "hai ya!"
There is no end to the stupidity of the male ego when it comes to the martial arts.
One of my friends got into this conversation with some guy in a store. The guy had taken alittle brazilian jujitsu, so my friend was like ya I take japanese jujitsu. And the guy started talking about jujitsu being a native art of brazil, that it came from there, and my friend was like "what!!? Just what do you think "jujitsu" means in brazilian? Its a japanese word..."
So sadly, I just don't like to bring up that part of my life at all. Unless I see a potential student in someone, I'd rather not talk about it. Almost no other activity is as sterotyped, mocked, and misunderstood as the martial arts.