Funniest Moments and Greatest Victories

[thanson02]

For 2017, I thought I would post something positive and light hearted.

What is one of the funniest things you run into when you are active in your martial art training and what was one of your greatest victories, either as a student, instructor, or both.

Funniest thing for me:
We have weapons sparring and when we go to tournament, the little tigers and juniors who practice weapons will get wrapped up in the standard point sparring armor and will have foam swords. When they fight, they look like red and blue penguins playing "wack-a-mole". It is too cute.

Greatest victories, personal:
I have continuously placed at at least one event (usually weapons related) at our regional and world tournaments as well as receiving my black sash after 15 years of training.

Greatest victory, teaching:
Over they years, I have helped many student receive their black belt in our Tae Soo Do introduction program and I am proud of all of them. One student that I feel stands out was one I had a few years ago. She had many health issues as well as problems with her body image and confidence. She made it clear that she wanted to get her black belt to prove to herself that she could do it. I worked with her as she moved up through the ranks and we had private sessions for 6 months prior to her BB test. When she finally went up to judge committee to test, she did a phenomenal job! After that, it was like a switch was turned on and we couldn't stop her even if we wanted to. Today, she works with little kids with health issues and she couldn't be happier.

So what are your stories?

 

[Ironbear24]

I can do burpees with puking everywhere. Most of the time.

 

[Flying Crane]

Years ago when I was a capoeirista, we had a visiting affiliated instructor come and play in our roda. Not unusually tall, but burly and quick and skilled. I knew him fairly well, had played many times with him in the past and had a good relationship with him. He also was the one who threw me down in my bautisado roda, when I was first initiated in our school. So we had history together.

As a Graduated Student i was one of the senior students in our school at that time, so he decided to push me hard in our game. But somehow I was untouchable. He would clinch and throw knees and kicks which i jammed, and other times I just kept slipping past his attacks, untouched. He couldn't catch me.

We played another game later, and he very quickly and pointedly drilled me in the guts with a front kick. It launched me bodily out of the roda. I waited for the creeping sick feeling you get when kicked in the guts, but it never came. I counted myself lucky.

He laughed and I did too, and we played some more. His point was made, in the way it's done in capoeira.

 

[Buka]

Funniest thing - wasn't funny at the time, actually made me feel bad, but pretty funny now.

In the seventies a big point tournament decided to give away 500 bucks to both the lightweight and heavyweight winners. (trophy for grand champion.) That was a lot of money back then, especially for a few minutes of what you do for fun.

A big contingent of fighters drove up from New York. I faced one of them in the first round. Muscular, black guy, faded gi, lots of cool patches, do-rag on his head. Figured I'd beat him with punches, but wanted to get his mind on something else first. So I did a slide in, pump fake sweep, and clocked him upside the head with a corker of a hook kick, staggering him.

But - his do-rag sailed off his head going one way, his toupee sailed off his head going the other. (and I mean they sailed) Who the heck wears a toupee in a sporting contest? The crowd howled as he scrambled to put himself back together (poorly). I felt so bad for the guy. And there was no way I was going to hit him in the head again, just couldn't do that. I won the match, eventually came in second in the tourney (I think I won a hundred bucks). But when I look back at it now, I laugh my butt off.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

As a new student, I was instructed how to kick the bag with a front snap kick. I was told to 'curl my toes up'. I thought that meant curl them up like you'd curl up your finger, kind of like a fist. Yeah, that was not correct. Broke all the smaller toes on that foot in one kick. My instructor obviously meant to curl my toes up towards my head, which is how we kick when using the ball of the foot. I did learn the first time, however, so I give myself that much credit.

Second funniest (now) is when my gi pants decided to give way in the middle of class. Worse, they did not give way in the usual 'ripping noise' way, but silently. I was informed during a break that the back row of the class had been having a good view of my jock strap and other assorted items for 20 minutes. I was informed by a young female karateka. I don't know when my face has ever been so red.

 

[Ironbear24]

As a new student, I was instructed how to kick the bag with a front snap kick. I was told to 'curl my toes up'. I thought that meant curl them up like you'd curl up your finger, kind of like a fist. Yeah, that was not correct. Broke all the smaller toes on that foot in one kick. My instructor obviously meant to curl my toes up towards my head, which is how we kick when using the ball of the foot. I did learn the first time, however, so I give myself that much credit.

Second funniest (now) is when my gi pants decided to give way in the middle of class. Worse, they did not give way in the usual 'ripping noise' way, but silently. I was informed during a break that the back row of the class had been having a good view of my jock strap and other assorted items for 20 minutes. I was informed by a young female karateka. I don't know when my face has ever been so red.

I probably would have died from embarrassment.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

As a new student, I was instructed how to kick the bag with a front snap kick. I was told to 'curl my toes up'. I thought that meant curl them up like you'd curl up your finger, kind of like a fist. Yeah, that was not correct. Broke all the smaller toes on that foot in one kick. My instructor obviously meant to curl my toes up towards my head, which is how we kick when using the ball of the foot. I did learn the first time, however, so I give myself that much credit.

Second funniest (now) is when my gi pants decided to give way in the middle of class. Worse, they did not give way in the usual 'ripping noise' way, but silently. I was informed during a break that the back row of the class had been having a good view of my jock strap and other assorted items for 20 minutes. I was informed by a young female karateka. I don't know when my face has ever been so red.

Bill, I did that second one, too. Twice, but the second time doesn't count, since I was wearing my hakama at the time. Fortunately, mine was noisier than yours both times.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I probably would have died from embarrassment.

One of the advantages of being old. I did turn red, but it wasn't the big deal it would have been when I was younger and cared a lot about things like that.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

One of the advantages of being old. I did turn red, but it wasn't the big deal it would have been when I was younger and cared a lot about things like that.

Once you deal with some of life's bigger problems, stuff like this is only embarrassing.

 

[KangTsai]

Martial arts and then my gym life turned me from fat boy to borderline jacked in less than a year, at an age before I qualify for a driver's license. I got a big part of my life straight.