Isn't it funny how many martial artists are either bullies or nerds? They are either awkward wanna-bees pursuing some SOF fantasy a la the character "Kip" in the movie, "Napoleon Dynamite", or they are tough guys with a problem, like the character of the karate instructor,"Rex" from the same movie. Real tough guys usually don't worry about self defense and self esteem issues. If they enjoy hard physical competition, they do well enough in normal contact sports like football, hockey, or wrestling. The only exception might be for police and soldiers who really need to know how to handle combat situations. The rest have..."issues". So which are you? The bully or the nerd?
Martial artists are bullies or nerds!
- Thread starter geezer
- Start date
Niether, I was never a bullie, I was the one protecting them from people like me, the one's that played sports. I know I'm not a nerd really do not understand computers enough to be that, so i'm just a Martial Artist that trys to be better each and everyday.
What in the world????
Hell, most people would say that I'm something of both, while I'd say that I'm neither...as were most of my instructors...
CoryKS
Senior Master
Dad?
No I ain't your dad, sonny, but maybe you shoulda listened to him. Nor am I one of those bogus, money hungry si-fu/sensei types you sometimes run into. They're another category. That's a topic for my next thread. Let's deal with the question at hand.
kuntawguro
Master Black Belt
I don't see this as a viable statement. Neither am I a nerd or a wannabe or even a bully. Most MA practitioners I have met or known have been sensitive, talented, and compassionate humans with a very moral background and demeanor. Maybe you have been hanging around the Cobra Kai school too long.
FearlessFreep
Senior Master
Your question is based on a "False Dilemma" drawn from a satirical comedy movie.
I'm a 38you software developer and musician, a husband and father of sox children, 5'10" and 180lbs, a Christian who hasn't been in a physical confrontation since 14, but who loves to spar and get hit and hit back, and play adult softball when I can as well. I got into martial arts because I got my kids into martial arts because we had two many kids for little league.
I suppose I was the nerd at 15, but I ran track then, not MA. Both the ners and the bullies grew out of it when they became adults. At least in the real world and not in the movies
FearlessFreep
Senior Master
I used to play Dungeons&Dragons and get beat up by my friend's fantasy football team
"One too many hits with the snake" - Genie
I'm sorry, but most of the martial artists I have known present themselves as neither-who knows what their "inner child" is most like,which seems to be what this rather childish statement is addressing. Far too many martial artists-and I'm applying that term to people who've studied for more than ten years, not dilletantes and students (like whom, I wonder?) are scholars, professional people and rather upright in their behavior.
I've always been something of a nerd, but can be a bit of a bully at times, at least verbally, and there was a period of time in school there when I picked on "the guys on the football team"....revenge of the nerd I guess....I was a student and teenager then, though, and hardly a "martial artist"- still not sure that that's what I am, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not a bully, and not exactly sure that I fit your definition of "nerd." So, I'm confused here....I don't think your observation has much credence, and have to wonder about the quality of "martial artists" you grew up around...
which are you?
I've always been something of a nerd, but can be a bit of a bully at times, at least verbally, and there was a period of time in school there when I picked on "the guys on the football team"....revenge of the nerd I guess....I was a student and teenager then, though, and hardly a "martial artist"- still not sure that that's what I am, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not a bully, and not exactly sure that I fit your definition of "nerd." So, I'm confused here....I don't think your observation has much credence, and have to wonder about the quality of "martial artists" you grew up around...
which are you?
BrandiJo
Master of Arts
none of the above.
I am here for the health benefits of a work out. The self-defense is a plus, the self-esteem is a plus, and the people i work with are a plus. But when i first joined it was because i wanted a good work out. No bully, no nerd, no wanna-be thing going on.
I am here for the health benefits of a work out. The self-defense is a plus, the self-esteem is a plus, and the people i work with are a plus. But when i first joined it was because i wanted a good work out. No bully, no nerd, no wanna-be thing going on.
Boy, that's a hell of a leap, and a bizarre question.
Are boxers also either bullies or nerds? How about wrestlers?
Is it just perhaps possible that maybe some people study martial arts as an insight into another culture? I guess that person is a nerd, in your eyes. Or because, in their profession, they are sometimes called upon to use physical force to either defend themselves or subdue someone? I guess that makes that person a bully.
I suppose anyone who considers the possibility that they might become the victim of violence, and that they should prepare for that in a more direct way than playing contact sports (when was the last time someone was reported to be attacked while wearing pads?) is a bully-nerd? Definitely, in your eyes, not a real man. (Are the US Marines who train in MCMAP also nerds? Or bullies? Or not "real men?")
And what of the possiblity that someone might enjoy physically demanding, contact sports, but not in a team setting?
Oh... and what about female martial artists?
I'm kind of hoping you posted this simply to spur some sort of discussion, and that it doesn't represent your real views.
And very high school stereotypes.
Then there are certain individuals who base their understanding of the entire world outside their infinitesimally small portion thereof on what was possibly the biggest waste of screen space and time in the history of film.
As for me I must qualify as the nerd. I've only pretended to devote my life to martial arts because I really want to be GI Joe... that is when I'm not actually in uniform being GI Joe...
Dealing with said question, which would you consider yourself, sir?
FearlessFreep
Senior Master
Then there are certain individuals who base their understanding of the entire world outside their infinitesimally small portion thereof on what was possibly the biggest waste of screen space and time in the history of film.
As I've said before, I train MA because I've seen enough movies with alien zombie robots to think that, should anything like that happen to me, it would be good to know some fighting skills
As I've said before, I train MA because I've seen enough movies with alien zombie robots to think that, should anything like that happen to me, it would be good to know some fighting skills
Right on, brother!
rockabilly spike
White Belt
i sell and repair computers but I also play in a punk rockabilly band as guitar/vocals.
So what side of this fence am i on?
certainly not the bully...
So what side of this fence am i on?
certainly not the bully...
FearlessFreep
Senior Master
Well considering I play in jazz/fusion bands, develop software and practice martial arts...I don't want to be a nerd, I don't want to be a bully.... I *want* to be....Buckaroo Banzai
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