Nicknames in Martial Arts

[terryl965]

Everybody here at one time or another had a nickname, care to share what that is or was?

Second question do you give nicknames to your students as well and if so what are some of them?

 

[Kreth]

Everybody here at one time or another had a nickname, care to share what that is or was?

Second question do you give nicknames to your students as well and if so what are some of them?

Most of mine would get picked up by the filter... :lol:

 

[terryl965]

Most of mine would get picked up by the filter... :lol:

Oh come on Kreth tell us one

 

[Xue Sheng]

The only nickname I was ever given in MA was by my Jujitsu teacher (first MA) way back when the first Kung Fu the series was on.

I was "Stump Jumper" and a friend of mine was "Weed Leaper".

But none since then

And no when I taught I never gave my students nicknames

EDIT:

Now that I think of it, that is rather ironic considering my whole training by beating a tree thing. Gee I wonder if my sensei was could see the future?

 

[Flying Crane]

Nicknames are actually a tradition in Capoeira. Supposedly (I always take these stories with a grain of salt, I suspect thing have gotten a bit twisted up over the generations and what is passed off as history may no longer be accurate) the tradition stems from the slave days in Brazil. Capoeira was heavily repressed by the authorities. The slaves practiced in secrecy, and often took part in uprisings and whatnot to challenge the power of the rulers. So they referred to each other by nicknames to hide each other's identitly, in case the slaveowners and other authorities overheard them talking. Obviously they might know the slaves doing the talking, but the identity of those they might be talking about would be hidden.

So most Capoeira schools today continue the tradition, and bestow a nickname upon each student. Often they are a little silly, but when a school grows large and has a lot of students, I guess it gets tough to always come up with something appropriate to the individual.

 

[Kreth]

Oh come on Kreth tell us one

Well, I do have one friend from training who calls me "The Dragon" because of my tattoo and the bugo (warrior name) I was given when I passed my godan test. Other than that, pretty much everyone calls me Jeff or Kreth.

 

[funnytiger]

When assigning tasks to some of the senior students for our first tournament Sifu gave each one of us our own nickname. Mine was 'funny tiger' and well... it kind of stuck.

 

[Bigshadow]

I don't have one. We don't normally give them. Who knows, I might end up with a warrior name one day, but I am not the one to decide if, when, or what. If it happens, it happens naturally, I have no expectations.

 

[zDom]

*sigh* OK, here we go

When I was about white belt I competed in something like my first or second tournament. My TKD instructor was off officiating, so he asked how I had done in sparring.

"I dominated," I answered. He laughed.

So that Monday when my HKD instructor (mattm.'s dad ) came to teach class, my TKD instructor told me, "Tell him how you did."

So I said, again, "I dominated."

"Ho ho ho!" he laughed. "The Dominator!"

"NOW you've done it," my TKD instructor smiled. "Now you've got yourself a nickname. The only thing to do now is try to live up to it so it isn't ironic."

I worked my butt off to do just that and eventually nobody who heard me called that (and they called me that often, while coming up through the ranks) ever suspected it all started out as a joke

Even today, some of my old friends will holler out during my sparring matches at tournaments, "Dominator!"

Mostly it is just a nickname I use for online gaming though, anymore

 

[matt.m]

*sigh* OK, here we go

When I was about white belt I competed in something like my first or second tournament. My TKD instructor was off officiating, so he asked how I had done in sparring.

"I dominated," I answered. He laughed.

So that Monday when my HKD instructor (mattm.'s dad ) came to teach class, my TKD instructor told me, "Tell him how you did."

So I said, again, "I dominated."

"Ho ho ho!" he laughed. "The Dominator!"

"NOW you've done it," my TKD instructor smiled. "Now you've got yourself a nickname. The only thing to do now is try to live up to it so it isn't ironic."

I worked my butt off to do just that and eventually nobody who heard me called that (and they called me that often, while coming up through the ranks) ever suspected it all started out as a joke

Even today, some of my old friends will holler out during my sparring matches at tournaments, "Dominator!"

Mostly it is just a nickname I use for online gaming though, anymore

I watched it all unfold, its true its true.

Before the last surgery I had GM Hildebrand started calling me "Bionic." He followed that with, "Anyone who can twist kick like that, especially with the Titanium is just bionic."

FWIW: zDom can still own the ring with no sweat. I remember a few years ago at one of GM Shin's Tourney's I was sitting on the deck minding my own business and with his big paw just slides me across and says "Listen......gave the advice, that was it." I lost by 1 pt. but I did have a head high round kick score and a turning back side kick.

Every time I go to compete poomsea, it's same thing. Coach's like that are hard to come by. Very lucky.

 

[bookworm_cn317]

Does having your instructor call you by a shorter version of your name count as a nickname? Because I'm called Chris in class.

 

[Drac]

It's either been "Drac" "Count" or "Tez" the latter is the begining of my last name...

 

[Empty Hands]

I am "Big John", usually. Unfortunately, there is another rather large John in class, so my instructor has taken to calling me "Yellow John" (my rank). What an excellent motivation to test for Orange soon!

 

[crushing]

My kapkido teacher jokingly calls me 'The Gazelle', especially as my 6'1" 250 lbs frame starts muscling through techniques rather than using the circles and flow of the art.

 

[bydand]

Considering that my younger brother is my Instructor, I'd rather not say what he calls me.

Kidding, during training we are Instructor/Student and do not treat each other any different than we would somebody else in those positions. He does use me for an Uke more than others, but that just comes from knowing how far he can go and the trust of lifetime together between us. He does call me "punching bag" once in a while in the kids class to howls of laughter.

 

[Drac]

My kapkido teacher jokingly calls me 'The Gazelle', especially as my 6'1" 250 lbs frame starts muscling through techniques rather than using the circles and flow of the art.

You have that problem too???? I feel better...(Off topic post , sorry)....

 

[Jade Tigress]

My kapkido teacher jokingly calls me 'The Gazelle', especially as my 6'1" 250 lbs frame starts muscling through techniques rather than using the circles and flow of the art.

LOL! That is great!

No nicknames for me...at least not yet.

 

[stickarts]

Some students have picked up nicknames in our school:

monster
monster slayer
mosquito
slacker
bully
Action Jackson

It has made training together a bit more interesting at times!

 

[zDom]

No nicknames for me...at least not yet.

We can fix that

 

[Shaderon]

I have the nickname of "Shadow" or "Shadow Dragon" in another forum online, it came from the name I use here, shortened into Shads and then lengthened into "Shadow", and occasionally people outside will call me Shadow, but I keep it well away from my MA class, to me it sounds too much like an MA movie nickname and a bit pretentious so I've told no one about it that doesn't already know. (I have told some people that have seen my back tattoo of a dragon with a shadow behind it)