Ever Lie About Your Training?

[bushidomartialarts]

No, not exaggerating your training like so many wannabe jackholes do.

Last night I'm at a bar with a couple friends. Like sometimes happens, a drunk guy hijacks the conversation. Which is okay and often amusing. Shortly into it, it becomes clear this guy is on the beginning leg of a slide into Belligerent Drunk Toughguy.

It soon came to pass that the dude started asking us what we do for a living. The second he asked the first of us, I started figuring out my lie. You tell a Belligerent Drunk Toughguy that you run a karate school, even up he's gonna challenge you.

Luckily, he lost focus and got off topic before getting around to me. We left shortly after.

Anybody else ever have this experience?

 

[Carol]

Once. I stopped at a Dunkin Donuts on I-95 and some greasy truck driver cornered me.

He saw Kenpo bag. I said was a blue belt. He took off. I wasn't a blue belt. I wasn't even a yellow belt.

 

[hemi]

Well that was good thinking on your part; it would make for a bad situation to mop the floor with a drunken idiot.


I can’t say I have ever had to lie about my training. Only one time have I ever been anywhere close to a situation where I thought I might be challenged.


It was after class I had just walked out to my truck and took off my gi top and put it in my truck. I still had on my gi pants to drive home when this I’m guessing he was homeless or just strange guy walked up. He asked me do you take karate, I thought well that’s a stupid question I’m in front of a school and in uniform. But anyway I said yes sir, then he got this goofy looking grin on his face and he said “Are you a Black belt”?


I just laughed out loud and said no sir (I had my blue belt in my hand) so I didn’t lie to him. He just turned and walked away I still have no idea what he originally wanted. Once he was out of range I got in my truck and left.


Some people crack me up.

 

[Rich Parsons]

No, not exaggerating your training like so many wannabe jackholes do.

Last night I'm at a bar with a couple friends. Like sometimes happens, a drunk guy hijacks the conversation. Which is okay and often amusing. Shortly into it, it becomes clear this guy is on the beginning leg of a slide into Belligerent Drunk Toughguy.

It soon came to pass that the dude started asking us what we do for a living. The second he asked the first of us, I started figuring out my lie. You tell a Belligerent Drunk Toughguy that you run a karate school, even up he's gonna challenge you.

Luckily, he lost focus and got off topic before getting around to me. We left shortly after.

Anybody else ever have this experience?

I have all the time.

Quotes include but not limited too:

Dude that woman over there could kick my *** all over the place.

Hey, I had better be quiet before I stand up and you knock me out and I fall down and break your ankle.

How bad do you think I am, I am an Engineer.

Yes I teach Martial Arts, but not for a living. So I guess you could say I am not serious about it.


*****

I have also just sat back and listened to the talk, about people being soooooooo good, and how everyone else sucks as they do not train in their system, or how they have beaten everyone from every system, as they are tough.

I just smile. Good Self defense. No worries.

 

[MA-Caver]

To lie about your training to whom? To the layman/non-martial artists? Not too bright of an idea true, because they just might take you up on it... like you said you feared... lying to a fellow MA-ist? Same thing... that they might challenge you about your knowledge with a series of smart questions about this and that and whomever it may be that you speak...
Imagine talking with KenpoDoc about how Ed Parker Sr. trained you ... you can bet that man is going to ask you some pointed questions. You'd better know the right answer.

Question is why lie?

When I find someone who is a fellow student in any MA then I'll discuss my own training/experience when asked and I'll be straight up and truthful about it.

What's the point of saying you've done this and you're that ranking and you've studied with this and that person when it isn't true?

C'mon... one of the other things that ALL MA-schools should teach their students is integrity.

:asian:

"Be yourself and never fear thus to be naked to the eyes of others. Yet know that men so often mask themselves that what is simple is rarely understood. The dust of truth swirls and seeks its own cracks of entry and a tree falling in the forest without ears to hear makes no sound. Yet it falls." - Master Po

 

[ArmorOfGod]

I have never lied, but have avoided the truth, or taken a different viewpoint for the situations sake.
If you are a guy who works in a manufactoring setting, you WILL get challenged if people know you take martial arts, so I have downplayed what I know many times. I have never lied, but I have learned to poke fun at myself (without humiliating myself), which makes people realize that you are not a badazz, and they can't challenge you without looking like a jerk themselves.
The funny thing is, if you say things like "Dude, that woman over there could kick my azz all over the place" (thank you Rich Parsons for that great example), people will assume that you are a dangerous fighter and are confident enough in your abilities that you are relaxed and not afraid of people talking about what you know.
At the last place I worked, people would come up and point to a big guy and ask who would win: me or him. I would always say the other guy and explain that no matter how much I train, I can't predict the unpredicatables like hidden weapons, hidden friends, or tripping while fighting. Then I would make a joke and always offer whorever I was talking to work out with them at the softball field at the plant. For some reason, things like that gave me this reputation for being a better fighter than I really am. It works out for everyone, plus I ended up with a few workout friends that way.

AoG

 

[Rich Parsons]

I have never lied, but have avoided the truth, or taken a different viewpoint for the situations sake.
If you are a guy who works in a manufactoring setting, you WILL get challenged if people know you take martial arts, so I have downplayed what I know many times. I have never lied, but I have learned to poke fun at myself (without humiliating myself), which makes people realize that you are not a badazz, and they can't challenge you without looking like a jerk themselves.
The funny thing is, if you say things like "Dude, that woman over there could kick my azz all over the place" (thank you Rich Parsons for that great example), people will assume that you are a dangerous fighter and are confident enough in your abilities that you are relaxed and not afraid of people talking about what you know.
At the last place I worked, people would come up and point to a big guy and ask who would win: me or him. I would always say the other guy and explain that no matter how much I train, I can't predict the unpredicatables like hidden weapons, hidden friends, or tripping while fighting. Then I would make a joke and always offer whorever I was talking to work out with them at the softball field at the plant. For some reason, things like that gave me this reputation for being a better fighter than I really am. It works out for everyone, plus I ended up with a few workout friends that way.

AoG

I get asked that as well being the big guy many times. I just smile and say I know a 76 year old man that could beat me. What make you think that I would not wonder about everyone else walking around as well. It also means that I realize no matter how good I am I not can get hit I will get hit.

Being the "large occupant" or what have you, people all wonder, and many times to them it is just wonder, so others it is to see if you have an ego.

I try to avoid places that are dangerous. I have left as the thread starter to avoid issues. The trouble is explaining oneself to the police, no matter how many of them, and how much they attacked you first, if you hurt them or they fall down and get hurt, expect a visit from the police and lots of paper work and or a visit to the local station. Being a little loose with the truth or lying is not a problem to avoid putting someone in the hospital or spending the night in jail as they are in the hospital or the morgue. Heck I have even bought them a drink and then left, to avoid such a situation. It is not worth it to me no matter how RIGHT I might be. No matter how much I KNOW I am defending myself, it is not worth it to me. Did it before, do not want to do it now. I will and have defended myself and others who could not, but if I leave so the situation does not get worse, no big deal to me.

 

[Kacey]

I have never lied about it, although I have stopped talking to my middle school students about it, because I was tired of being asked if I could break a student desk.

 

[Bigshadow]

I have never lied about it, although I have stopped talking to my middle school students about it, because I was tired of being asked if I could break a student desk.

HAHAHAHA :rofl: Sounds like what a school kid would ask.

No, I have never lied about it.

 

[matt.m]

I have always said things like "If you would feel better by beating on a cripple then who am I to stop you?" That makes people look like a butthole and no one is ever on their side after that.

 

[searcher]

I try to find any reason I can to avoid letting people know that I train. I have the good fortune to be a fitness instructor, so this gives me an out. The most difficult part is that running a school in a small town, most people know who you are.

 

[Andy Moynihan]

Are you outta your stupid? You don't tell ANY "civilian" that you train till you know them like family.

Martial arts are for Martial artists ONLY, not the voyeuristic, stupid or idly curious( that is to say 99.99999999% of the US population).

 

[wade]

If I don't know ya I'm not gonna tell ya. For all of us, how many times have you heard this from some idiot you just met. They find out that you train and say "oooooooo you're a black belt, whoa, I better be careful around you". Makes me wanna scream, then maybe choke the fool just for fun. Ya can't live with em and ya just can't kill em.

 

[cali_tkdbruin]

They find out that you train and say "oooooooo you're a black belt, whoa, I better be careful around you".

Yup, I've heard that remark before. I'm very far from the badass who can ***** slap anyone who crosses me that's for sure.

I don't tell just anybody that I'm a MA practitioner. If I'm asked I reply that I dabble in it, but I don't make a big deal out of it. I really enjoy training in the MAs but nobody really knows that I practice it unless they're family or close friends.

 

[Cirdan]

I don`t lie about my training and I have no problem discussing the arts with a stranger. However there are times I will try to tone things down a bit if the topic comes up. In a job interview I was once asked what I train in and how much. I got away with "a little Ju Jutsu, among other things". Normal people tend to get suspicius if you train more than 2-3 hrs a week.
If someone looking for trouble asks me if I know how to fight, I usually respund with a laugh and that I couldn`t hurt a fly if I tried.

 

[CoryKS]

No, not exaggerating your training like so many wannabe jackholes do.

Last night I'm at a bar with a couple friends. Like sometimes happens, a drunk guy hijacks the conversation. Which is okay and often amusing. Shortly into it, it becomes clear this guy is on the beginning leg of a slide into Belligerent Drunk Toughguy.

It soon came to pass that the dude started asking us what we do for a living. The second he asked the first of us, I started figuring out my lie. You tell a Belligerent Drunk Toughguy that you run a karate school, even up he's gonna challenge you.

Luckily, he lost focus and got off topic before getting around to me. We left shortly after.

Anybody else ever have this experience?

You saw a potentially threatening situation and prepared to avoid it in a way that kept you and Belligerent Tough Guy out of harm. Well done!

I haven't had this situation because the only people who know I train are family and a couple of coworkers who I've known for a long time and are supportive. I started changing at the school before/after class after reading Living the Martial Way, because of the breakdown scenario he mentioned - being stuck on the side of the road in a karate gi doesn't sound like a good way to get help.

The hardest part is getting my 7-year-old to stop telling everybody he knows karate. He doesn't realize yet that some people take that as a challenge. The other thing that makes me nervous is that he has a couple of friends who are into Power Rangers and think they can do karate because they watch the show. My wife worries that they are going to try a move on our boy and that he will respond with a real technique. Needless to say, we've had the talk many times about when its okay to use karate.

 

[The Kidd]

I dont lie but I just change the subject, before my 1st Dan I would avoid it definetely nothing good I found can come out of it people will either have 1 of 3 reactions:

1. Your Bragging (even though they asked the question)
2. Bet I can kick your butt
3. All you are is someone looking for a fight

I found MA is for me and I keep it to myself, a few people know my closest friends because they understand but thats it.

 

[kosho]

I am stopped in my town alot and asked about my DOJO. I really can'y go anywhere with in 2 or 3 towns with out someone asking me about cost, hours what not. I was at the gas station and 2 kids about 18 or 20 years old. came up to me and started asking really silly things. ( myself and 3 others ALL BLACK BELTS going out for the night)
So 1 says something. I turn and say
( for your enjoyment or mine????)
both boys turned and walked away. I just have fun with it.
the what if things comes up and I say well I would what if the issue.
smile and walk away. or I invite them to my Dojo and I tell them you are more then welcome to come over and work out with us I would really like to learn something from you...
KOSHO

 

[Bigshadow]

If I don't know ya I'm not gonna tell ya. For all of us, how many times have you heard this from some idiot you just met. They find out that you train and say "oooooooo you're a black belt, whoa, I better be careful around you".

Oh I have heard that on several occasions.... I find that very insulting! I had to politely explain, that the martial artists are the one's they least need to be concerned about. Somehow, some people tend to think that if you are a martial artist that you are some how quick tempered and if someone crosses you, you wipe out the entire room, leaving bodies lying everywhere.

It can be down right insulting!

 

[Fuzzy Foot]

You bet, I've lied. But let me clarify. In casual conversation or experience/knowledge exchanges with other MAs I never lie or exaggerate about my skill level (percieved or otherwise), or about who I trained with, rank, etc, things like that. In public and with people I don't know, I deny all or try not to bring it up at all until or unless the conversation/situation seems benign enough as to not be a problem or cause hard feelings.