Explaining Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, when people find out I'm a martial artist, is sometimes difficult. It can be funny as the jump around doing their movie Kung-fu interpitation, but when I tell them that we don't kick and punch at all in the style I do you really should see the blank looks they give me. I often get "What do you do then?"
I use to take karate when I was younger, and at least could demonstrate something we did in class, to kinda show what my training was like. Try that with BJJ though. I'd pretty much have to take them down to the ground and have to crank something, which obviously I don't do. I sometimes mention the Ultimate Fighting Championships because of the BJJ that is included, but that isn't really a good example of what my art is and how it is actually practiced.
Anyway, just curious how people react to you when they find you do martial arts. Do they treat you different? Do they ask you to demonstrate stuff? Do they want to fight?
How do you explain your art to someone with no Martial arts background? What parts of your arts do you emphasize?
And, do you have any good stories about these situations?
Thanks.
Speaking from my experiences with different people, I've learned to take care in who I talk to about the Martial Arts. If someone is sincere with their questions, I have no problem with answering any questions they may have. However, the ones that start to turn the conversation into a joke, I tend to avoid going into any other discussion, due to the fact that they're obviously not taking or planning on taking anything serious.
As to the second question, on talking to someone with no MA background: I'd usually talk a bit about Ed Parker (Kenpo) and Remy Presas (Modern Arnis), giving a little background on each person and talking a little about the arts. I may even go so far as to give them a visual on what each art contains. Again, this is not intended to show off, but simply to help them understand a little better.
Mike