Martial artists are bullies or nerds!

[seninoniwashi]

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?

I'm really interested in your background... how old are you? What styles do you train in? Per the boundaries of your question, what do you consider yourself?

 

[Jade Tigress]

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?

I'm neither, and I haven't personally trained with anyone who falls into the bully/nerd category either. Are they out there? Of course. But to claim that ALL martial artists fall into one or the other category is waaaaaay wrong.

 

[Guardian]

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?

LOL LOL, nice analogy, but if you make exceptions for Military and Police, then you must make exceptions for all others also and to try and classify everyone into just two categories is kind of extreme don't you think.

I was neither a bully or a nerd, I played football and other sports, but felt I needed something more for this world, so when I joined the military, I took up the Martial Arts and Self-Defense training.

I don't agree that your either a bully or a nerd, that's to fine of a line to draw when comparing things.

 

[FearlessFreep]

There are a lotta geeks here, but I don't see many nerds

Nerds will argue Kirk Vs Picards as if it matters

Geeks will argue vi vs emacs, and throw in references to edlin because they will admit it doesn't really matter and both have geek cred

There is a difference...

 

[Sensei Alex Faul]

I've been called a nerd before, but never a bully.....
Then when I was made fun of, I invited that particular person to my dojo to watch a class.
They usually left me alone after that.

 

[Tez3]

I've been called a nerd before, but never a bully.....
Then when I was made fun of, I invited that particular person to my dojo to watch a class.
They usually left me alone after that.

Welcome to MT! Nice post!

 

[Kacey]

I was never a nerd - bookish, certainly, with a preference for sci-fi/fantasy, as well - but I missed the nerd boat by moving a lot and having to develop systems for making friends outside my supposed group. A bully? Never - bullied, certainly, but never the bully.

 

[Marvin]

I am a Straight Up Old School, D&D and C64 playin, no girlfriend in high school havin, started martial arts at age 11 to become a superhero, NERD!

 

[CuongNhuka]

I am a Straight Up Old School, D&D and C64 playin, no girlfriend in high school havin, started martial arts at age 11 to become a superhero, NERD!

wow, there's anouther one of me out there... will you be my daddy?

 

[punisher73]

I would say that those are two viable categories of people who join MA's. It's like in law enforcement, I see alot of officers who either liked to bully people, or who got bullied and want to "show them". Is that everyone though, can everyone be reduced into two categories? NOPE

It would be interesting to do a poll and find out how many people did start their MA because of X reason (fitness, discipline, tradition, fighting, self-defense, etc.)

 

[FearlessFreep]

It would be interesting to do a poll and find out how many people did start their MA because of X reason (fitness, discipline, tradition, fighting, self-defense, etc.)

Don't forget the alien zombie robots

 

[Kosho Gakkusei]

Both of the categories presented by the OP pre-supose that the only basis for a civilian to take MA is out of insecurity.

As a guy that was capable of straight A's in school but always lacked motivation and was alergic to homework, played football, wrestled, & boxed. I didn't hang out with the cool crowd but never had a problem finding a girlfriend. I never bullied anyone physically but only "lost" one fight because the other guy was bigger, two years older, and the fight got broken up before I had the chance to come back (although he never picked on me again after - the couple of shots I did get in must have been enough to end his bullying). Had many fights while growing up in a bad neighborhood but eventually grew up and realised I could walk away. I'M NOT SURE WHICH CATEGORY I FALL INTO - I GUESS I'LL SAY NERD BECAUSE I'VE NEVER PHYSICALLY BULLIED ANYONE.

But then again, I don't give a crap. The whole thesis is flawed. I know why I was interested in Martial Arts and it had nothing to do with insecurity. 99% of fights can be avoided by apologizing regardless of who's wrong and walking away. Like I said I had my share of altercations and had no doubts of my ability to handle myself when I took up MA. I took up MA because of Saturday morning Kung Fu theater on TV when I was a kid. I saw some cool stuff that I wanted to learn how to do and discovered that it offered so much more.

_Don Flatt

 

[Touch Of Death]

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?

Which are you?

 

[thardey]

I would say I'm more of an "anti-bully" I spent most of my high school career successfully dealing with bullies.

By successful, I mean that never once did get into a physical altercation, outside of sanctioned sporting events/gym games (then all bets were off). The rest of the time, it was either the will to fight, or the respect gained from the real "bad asses" who were willing to back me up, that bought me a lot more space than my undersized frame was able to purchase on its own.

So maybe that puts me into a "non-violent bully" category. Hmmm. Never thought of that before.

 

[gblnking]

I’ve never personally regarded myself as either of the options given. Although who knows, I may have been deluding myself all of these years. I sought out martial art training as a way of having a regimented activity after leaving the military. My reasons have evolved greatly since that time though, but still not bullying or wearing the proverbial pocket protector.

 

[Touch Of Death]

Which are you?

By the way I was a total nerd. It was a good thing I didn't know how to fight, given my upbringing, As I learned to fight I also learned control. As my Teacher has told me, bullies are people who don't know how to make friends. I wouldn't consider my self an anti bully but I do understand there is some unpleasant interaction that must take place... perhaps even a fight, before you can successfully interact with them.
Sean

 

[Live True]

So the question remains, which group do I belong to? Well, I'm an artist and teacher as well as martial artist. I'm nearly computer illiterate (sadly), so I ain't no geek...but alas I exhibit strong nerdish tendencies. But with proper training a nerd can kick butt! So there's hope. Or does that just make a bully-nerd? What it really boils down to is that if you're serious about the martial arts, you've got to accept that a lot of folks will view what you do as eccentric, at best. So you develop a "thick skin" and follow own path.

While I admit to certain nerdish tendencies (some gaming, LOTS of reading, good grades, random and varied interests, etc...), I don't really fit into either narrow category. Clearly from your response, these slim choices don't fit you either.

Based on your posts here and in response to Andy's debate thread.....I'd say you've made your point about starting heated discussion by making bald, overly-simple statements, and then letting others have at it.....

But your point above, about "others viewing you as eccentric, at best"...I don't think that was proven by the responses here, as we all answered on how we viewed ourselves, not on how others viewed us. But, in all honesty, I'm more interested in how I view myself than how others view me, and I'd say that has been proven by a majority of the posts here.

Still...interesting discussion...thanks for that.

 

[thardey]

By the way I was a total nerd. It was a good thing I didn't know how to fight, given my upbringing, As I learned to fight I also learned control. As my Teacher has told me, bullies are people who don't know how to make friends. I wouldn't consider my self an anti bully but I do understand there is some unpleasant interaction that must take place... perhaps even a fight, before you can successfully interact with them.
Sean

While I never became friends with the bullies, there were a couple of times that I had to "throw down" so to speak. At that point I often got the "Relax! I'm just messin' with ya!" Some of those types wanted to know if what they had heard was true, and after they tested me, they would tell others, "yep, it's true!"

In sports, I had to prove that I could take it as well as, or usually better than I could dish it, and keep on dishing/taking it. I'll never know how many times some of those guys kept me out of trouble, by dropping a couple of friendly "suggestions" to the low-life bullies. But I did hear rumors.

 

[Balrog]

So which are you? The bully or the nerd?

Neither. Well, I suppose I might be a nerd because I work as a database administrator during the day. But I also play guitar, geocache, umpire softball games and read voraciously.

I love teaching kids how to withstand bullies.

 

[crushing]

There are 10 types of Martial Artists in the world, bullies and nerds.

If you don't get it, you must be a bully!