Noob here - introducing myself

[Princess Dumptruck]

Hi all - My name is Jenny. I stumbled upon this forum while I was googling about eye contact when bowing. I'm a 2nd Dan in Tang Soo Do and also study Tai Chi at a Pa Kua school. In Tang Soo Do I was always told not to make eye contact when bowing, but my Tai Chi instructor says, "Because it is martial arts you always keep your eyes up when you bow". So, I googled and found you all. Since I'm new here just saying hello and introducing myself. I am a late starter in MA, but I really love it and hope to keep up my training and practice for as long as this old body will let me. I'm hoping that being here I can learn things about other styles.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Welcome to MT

 

[Buka]

Welcome to Martial Talk, Princess Dumptruck.

What a great name that is.

 

[isshinryuronin]

In Tang Soo Do I was always told not to make eye contact when bowing, but my Tai Chi instructor says, "Because it is martial arts you always keep your eyes up when you bow".

This can be confusing but go with what is the custom at your current school. IMO, when bowing to a drill partner, the start of a form or opponent, eyes up. For all other things, eyes down.

 

[Simfers]

Your user name is indeed amazing. Welcome to our little corner of the Internet, hope you have a good time. Enjoy your martial arts journey, wherever it may take you.

 

[Princess Dumptruck]

Thanks for the welcome. The username story is that I am not a big person, and I come from a dance background. I had to do a lot of work to undo my dancer esthetic when doing marital arts. I do a hard style so the dancer vibe just doesn't work well. I aspire to be grounded physically to give some weight to my execution in training. I was talking to my instructor about it, and said - I want to be less like a princess and more like a dump truck. He said - you can be both, and the name was born.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Thanks for the welcome. The username story is that I am not a big person, and I come from a dance background. I had to do a lot of work to undo my dancer esthetic when doing marital arts. I do a hard style so the dancer vibe just doesn't work well. I aspire to be grounded physically to give some weight to my execution in training. I was talking to my instructor about it, and said - I want to be less like a princess and more like a dump truck. He said - you can be both, and the name was born.

WAAAAY Back when i started in martial arts, the series Kung Fu with David Caradine (called Grasshopper by his teacher at Shaolin) was a new show..... My Jiujitsu Sensei called a friend of mine Weed Leaper and he called me Stump Jumper

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Hi all - My name is Jenny. I stumbled upon this forum while I was googling about eye contact when bowing. I'm a 2nd Dan in Tang Soo Do and also study Tai Chi at a Pa Kua school. In Tang Soo Do I was always told not to make eye contact when bowing, but my Tai Chi instructor says, "Because it is martial arts you always keep your eyes up when you bow". So, I googled and found you all. Since I'm new here just saying hello and introducing myself. I am a late starter in MA, but I really love it and hope to keep up my training and practice for as long as this old body will let me. I'm hoping that being here I can learn things about other styles.

Welcome to MT!

 

[HighKick]

Thanks for the welcome. The username story is that I am not a big person, and I come from a dance background. I had to do a lot of work to undo my dancer esthetic when doing marital arts. I do a hard style so the dancer vibe just doesn't work well. I aspire to be grounded physically to give some weight to my execution in training. I was talking to my instructor about it, and said - I want to be less like a princess and more like a dump truck. He said - you can be both, and the name was born.

Welcome to the Forum Princess.

One of our schools is next door to a dance/ballet/gymnastics school and we regularly get people who participate in both. I know exactly what you are talking about with transition for dance to MA’s. The footwork is SO different.

As for bowing, I was taught eyes down in a formal non-confrontational situation and eyes up for everything else.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

WAAAAY Back when i started in martial arts, the series Kung Fu with David Caradine (called Grasshopper by his teacher at Shaolin) was a new show..... My Jiujitsu Sensei called a friend of mine Weed Leaper and he called me Stump Jumper

lol! My Sifu once joked that my nickname should be weedhopper. I hurt my back in my 20s once lifting a frozen dog from a deep freezer at the vet. For 6 weeks my Sifu said my Indian name was dead dog walking and called me that nearly every day until I recovered… He admonished me, saying “ don’t be a dumb jock, be an intelligent athlete.”

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Thanks for the welcome. The username story is that I am not a big person, and I come from a dance background. I had to do a lot of work to undo my dancer esthetic when doing marital arts. I do a hard style so the dancer vibe just doesn't work well. I aspire to be grounded physically to give some weight to my execution in training. I was talking to my instructor about it, and said - I want to be less like a princess and more like a dump truck. He said - you can be both, and the name was born.

Good story! We don’t bow in my school, we do three salutations at the beginning and end of class. One for heaven, one for earth, one for Sifu.

 

[Holmejr]

Hey and welcome!
Just go with the flow of the school. No absolute right or wrong. We are a diverse group w/ many viewpoints.

 

[SahBumNimRush]

Welcome to Martial Talk!

 

[Stuarto]

Hello and welcome Princess Dumptruck

 

[Buka]

Good story! We don’t bow in my school, we do three salutations at the beginning and end of class. One for heaven, one for earth, one for Sifu.

To me, that’s the same respectful martial salutation as bowing. Perhaps even more so.

 

[BrandonH45]

With bowing, it is a cultural custom that can change depending on the country.

I’ve always been told for Korea looking someone directly in the eye when bowing could be considered disrespectful.

In Japan it is my understanding making eye contact is less frowned upon, but it is still considered best practice to gaze roughly around the foot/shin area of the other person and to have a reasonable distance from each other in the event they turn hostile, you can still reasonably see them.

Just like I have learned it is a US custom to bow to an empty dojo floor. In Korea, if no one is on the dojo floor, you just enter with no bow. Otherwise you bow to the others before entering the training floor.

Normally most oriental cultures will just accept your error and will not correct you most of the time because they realize it is not your culture and you are trying to be respectful.