The public perception of Martial Artists.

[oftheherd1]

Hehe! Now that is a lot of stink!!
Those damn MAists, don't they ever wash?!!

Bite your tongue! When I was still an every day practicing MAist in un-airconditioned dojangs, I was very careful to bath at least once a week, whether I needed it or not. Of course I used deoderant every day on my uniform. :uhyeah:

 

[nocturnal_]

Huh. Every time ive seen a woman get hit (three and counting!) people look, but no touchie.

Inside a bar in Sydney/Melbourne?

So can we add "Bars" to the list of places you've not been?

I've never been to bars in Ohio or any small towns with population less than 3 million for sure. But in bars that I've been to (all in cities with population of at least 3 million), many fights were caused by men in their 20s or late teens wanting to act macho in front of young women.

 

[Cyriacus]

Inside a bar in Sydney/Melbourne?

Yes, actually. In Melbourne. Incidentally, if we include domestic disputes and not just bars, ive seen at least a dozen women get hit. One time, someone yelled "Hey!", then kept walking. Other than that, folks dont get involved. Plenty of wide smiles and laughter can spontaneously occur though. One time an ambulance and the police ended up being needed, to give you an idea of the severity im talking about here. Ive also seen around three (maybe four, depending on your ethics) cases of a father hitting his kid, which in one instance was female.

Im sorry the world isnt as heroic as it is on television.

I've never been to bars in Ohio or any small towns with population less than 3 million for sure. But in bars that I've been to (all in cities with population of at least 3 million), many fights were caused by men in their 20s or late teens wanting to act macho in front of young women.

How do dominance games relate to guys beating girls? You realise the two things are totally, totally different, right?

EDIT: MM! And once on a train to Brisbane. Dude tosses a girl onto her back because she wouldnt stop bothering him on the train. Someone came over and declared "Thats enough", but everyone left her to drag herself back up. She was being quite a nuisance. Its funny, because she laid there for a couple of seekings looking at people as if she expected one of them to come over and do something.

 

[DennisBreene]

I realize that when you cast a tread to the ether it will become what it will but we have gone rather far afield here. Maybe some of the discussion deserves to be split off into it's own thread.

 

[nocturnal_]

Yes, actually. In Melbourne. Incidentally, if we include domestic disputes and not just bars, ive seen at least a dozen women get hit. One time, someone yelled "Hey!", then kept walking. Other than that, folks dont get involved. Plenty of wide smiles and laughter can spontaneously occur though. One time an ambulance and the police ended up being needed, to give you an idea of the severity im talking about here. Ive also seen around three (maybe four, depending on your ethics) cases of a father hitting his kid, which in one instance was female.

EDIT: MM! And once on a train to Brisbane. Dude tosses a girl onto her back because she wouldnt stop bothering him on the train. Someone came over and declared "Thats enough", but everyone left her to drag herself back up. She was being quite a nuisance. Its funny, because she laid there for a couple of seekings looking at people as if she expected one of them to come over and do something.

I'm not surprised that people don't interfere on domestic disputes outside bars. In most of the bars I've been to, I see many young men from 18 to mid-twenties trying hard to impress girls. This happens every Friday and Saturday nights in most Sydney bars that are frequented by people in their 20s. Physical fights don't always happen. Most of the time the bouncers break it up before things get serious. Sometimes physical fights do happen.

Domestic disputes outside a bar is a completely different situation. People don't care because they can't impress anybody by saving the victim. While inside a bar, they can show off either to the victim or some random girls that see the incident that they're macho, tough and all that.

In my early 20s, I was involved in a bar brawl because one guy accused my friend stealing his girlfriend. He had 5 or 6 friends with him, and my friend had 3 other friends (including myself). It's the male testoterone of young men fighting trying to impress young women. There were several other similar situations that we experienced back then, but most of the time, the bouncers broke it up before things got serious. Maybe I hung out with the wrong crowd.

Im sorry the world isnt as heroic as it is on television.

It's not the hero mentality I'm talking about. It's the show-off mentality amongst young men.

How do dominance games relate to guys beating girls? You realise the two things are totally, totally different, right?

I probably didn't describe it clearly. What I meant was: Guy A attacks Girl Z inside a bar. Guy B (who thinks Girl Z is cute) feels that he needs to come to the rescue. Guy C (who's been talking to Girl Y all night) also comes forward because he wants to show Girl Y that he's a tough guy. Guy B and Guy C want to show their dominance by confronting Guy A.

Of course if the same situation happens inside a train or in a shopping mall, probably nobody will 'come to the rescue'. First of all people inside the train and inside shopping centres are less likely to be drunk. Second of all, most people there are not young men 18-24. Third of all, people take public transportation or going to shopping mall for different purposes than to impress girls, while young men 18-24 go to bars to find and impress girls.

 

[Cyriacus]

I'm not surprised that people don't interfere on domestic disputes outside bars. In most of the bars I've been to, I see many young men from 18 to mid-twenties trying hard to impress girls. This happens every Friday and Saturday nights in most Sydney bars that are frequented by people in their 20s. Physical fights don't always happen. Most of the time the bouncers break it up before things get serious. Sometimes physical fights do happen.

That isnt what were discussing.

Domestic disputes outside a bar is a completely different situation. People don't care because they can't impress anybody by saving the victim. While inside a bar, they can show off either to the victim or some random girls that see the incident that they're macho, tough and all that.

So a sidewalk is somehow different to a bar? Mate, youre talking about something totally different to what i am.

In my early 20s, I was involved in a bar brawl because one guy accused my friend stealing his girlfriend. He had 5 or 6 friends with him, and my friend had 3 other friends (including myself). It's the male testoterone of young men fighting trying to impress young women. There were several other similar situations that we experienced back then, but most of the time, the bouncers broke it up before things got serious. Maybe I hung out with the wrong crowd.

Which is a totally different situation to what ive been talking about.

It's not the hero mentality I'm talking about. It's the show-off mentality amongst young men.

Which is not what we're discussing here at all. If youd like to discuss that instead, we were in agreement from the beginning.

I probably didn't describe it clearly. What I meant was: Guy A attacks Girl Z inside a bar. Guy B (who thinks Girl Z is cute) feels that he needs to come to the rescue. Guy C (who's been talking to Girl Y all night) also comes forward because he wants to show Girl Y that he's a tough guy. Guy B and Guy C want to show their dominance by confronting Guy A.

I understood you perfectly. And ive never seen anything vaguely like that.

Of course if the same situation happens inside a train or in a shopping mall, probably nobody will 'come to the rescue'. First of all people inside the train and inside shopping centres are less likely to be drunk. Second of all, most people there are not young men 18-24. Third of all, people take public transportation or going to shopping mall for different purposes than to impress girls, while young men 18-24 go to bars to find and impress girls.

So basically what youre saying is that my experience is invalid because the folks around didnt meet a certain criteria? Yeah, okay.
Also, http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/sh...nally-Seen-Of-A-Female-Being-Harmed-By-A-Male

 

[lklawson]

I've never been to bars in Ohio or any small towns with population less than 3 million for sure. But in bars that I've been to (all in cities with population of at least 3 million), many fights were caused by men in their 20s or late teens wanting to act macho in front of young women.

And the story morphs again. <sigh>

 

[nocturnal_]

That isnt what were discussing. So a sidewalk is somehow different to a bar? Mate, youre talking about something totally different to what i am.

I did write "inside a bar" in my very first post regarding the issue. Did I write "on a sidewalk" before?

So basically what youre saying is that my experience is invalid because the folks around didnt meet a certain criteria? Yeah, okay.

Your experience is valid, but what was discussed is about a male attacking a female inside a bar. You're mentioning about things happening outside a bar, which is a totally different situation.

 

[nocturnal_]

And the story morphs again. <sigh>

I was replying to your post. Tell me how the story morphs.

 

[Cyriacus]

I did write "inside a bar" in my very first post regarding the issue. Did I write "on a sidewalk" before?

Nope. But as i said earlier, a few of these instances WERE inside a bar, and there WERE drunk young men about, in Melbourne city where i used to live.

Your experience is valid, but what was discussed is about a male attacking a female inside a bar. You're mentioning about things happening outside a bar, which is a totally different situation.

Mate, go back and read it again.

 

[superkizuna]

who cares what they think.

 

[Cyriacus]

who cares what they think.

The people trying to keep their outlets running. You know, bills, rent, and all that stuff that gets in the way of your martial arts habit

 

[ETinCYQX]

I used to be an avid powerlifting enthusiast, and have started martial arts recently. Before starting MA, my co-workers would sometimes jokingly call me a meathead. After starting MA and cutting down a bit of powerlifting, a few of them say that I am "moving towards normalcy", while the rest of them still joke the same way. I work as a scientist in a research lab, so most of my co-workers are geeks who are not acquainted with either weight training or MA.

But from the slight change in reactions, I suppose MA is a little more socially acceptable than powerlifitng.

People don't understand the pursuit of anything uncomfortable or different...

 

[DennisBreene]

People don't understand the pursuit of anything uncomfortable or different...

And is some of this discomfort because of a false perception that martial artists are ultraviolent individuals with almost superhuman powers of destruction?

 

[Cirdan]

I got the "But you don`t look like a MAist" the other day when the subject came up. Naturally I consider that a compliment and just replied with a thanks. What exactly are we supposed to look like anyway?

 

[DennisBreene]

A cross between Qwai Chang Cain and Hull Hogan.