What would you do- a light- hearted approach...

[bluemtn]

to "outsiders" comments when you tell them you're into martial arts.

Ok, so here it is. No matter how hard we try, the inevitable always happens, and you'll get wierd comments from people who just don't get you and what you do. Right? For example, a few days back I got into a conversation about what we do in our spare time. When I said that I do martial arts, a lady (who "knows it all"), said, "oh! A friend of mine is a black belt, and had to register his hands and feet as deadly weapons at the police station! Do you have to?" I had to try so hard to either not roll on the ground in fits of laughter, or not reach across the table and try to slap a bit of sense into her. I had to settle on sitting there, for after all, she's one of those that "knows all", no matter what you say.

Anyone had similar experiences, and what did you do?

 

[terryl965]

I was just ask by a new student when he gets his BB though me do I also register with the local police for them or how is it done. I just looked at him and said you really need to stop watching all those movies.

 

[pesilat]

When in that situation (specifically regarding the "register hands" discussion) I have told people flat out that it's an urban legend. In cases where they have a "friend" who had to register I tell them that (a) their friend is pulling their chain or (b) their friend got scammed by whatever "authority" they paid the licensing fee to.

Mike

 

[stickarts]

I usually don't mention I am in the martial arts so I can avoid all the silly questions. When it does happen I answer politely and then change the subject.

 

[mook jong man]

I don't tell people either because peoples attitudes change towards you straight away .

There are two types of reactions the timid people act like their scared of you and the loudmouth people start with the Jacky Chan jokes and the Bruce Lee noises and then start pestering you with
" What would you do against this " type of questions , and unfortunately sometimes you have to actually show them and after that they tend to leave you alone .

I've only met a handful of people usually martial artists or family of martial artists that were really interested in what i do .

 

[Mimir]

I have had a lot of people ask me what belt I was. They never had any idea what the belt color meant until I could tell them I was a black belt. Then the next question is usually well now that you have a black belt what will you do now?

I haven't experienced anyone making jokes about it yet.

When on business trips I usually try to at least practice forms usually at night on the grounds somewhere to avoid anyone being silly. I have had several people ask me what it was I was doing, but again nobody being boorish about it.

 

[hogstooth]

I am a thinly built guy (6'2" and 205lb) so I usually get "really" with a look like they can't believe it. Then the guy that says that he could beat me because Karateka are not as good as street fighters or some such thing. Or the ever popular "can you really kill someone with one punch?". I just politely explain the real facts and go about my way.
You just have to laugh sometimes because there are so many misconceptions. I once had a lady tell me that her son was a ninja and could kill without touching the person and for that reason he couldn't join any karate classes. I smiled and walked away. Why burst her bubble?

 

[Brian S]

People not involved just sound ignorant when they try to talk about it.

 

[Big Don]

Where I used to work one of the guys was always pestering me to show him what I had learned.
Once he learned to fall, he was a much better dummy.

 

[shesulsa]

I rarely reveal it anyway - especially now when I've not trained for a couple of years.

In the past, one particular incident with my father-in-law was interesting. He grinned his country grin and informed me he could shoot me from further than I could punch. I looked to my right and about 5 feet away from me was his loaded shotgun (yes, I know the difference). He was about eleven feet away. I said, "You mean this one right here by me?"

He looked at me and said, "Yup!"

"I think I'm a lot closer to it than you and I think I could probably get there first."

"Oh, I got others ... 'course, not in this room."

"Let's see, you gotta get past me to get to another room, right?" His face fell. "It's not about whether I want/like/own/appreciate guns ... it's about having a backup plan. Have ya got one?"

"My fists."

"Now you're talking MY language." :uhyeah:

A very interesting notation for me, as a woman in martial arts and before my hiatus, was the willingness of men to thoroughly kick my *** just because someone I knew let slip I trained. Women? No. They thought it was too butch and I was stupid. But it was always the men who would challenge me, call martial arts stupid, exhibit posturing and superiority behaviors. It was far more rare that a man would actually say, "Wow. I wish my wife would learn to protect herself more," or "that's a smart thing for a woman to know, good for you."

Even when I was at my best in the art, I've never been a great talent. I don't pretend that, so I've always wanted to keep it to myself for the most part.

 

[Big Don]

With the right sense of humor, it can be a lot of fun.

 

[Brian S]

With the right sense of humor, it can be a lot of fun.

True. I like what most people say. "Oh,yeah. What would you do if I did this."

Um, kick your ***.

 

[Cirdan]

I guess how I handle it depends on the situation.. if some wise guy is trying to impress people I may play along just to see what other absurd claims the person will make.

Otherwise I may try to correct them. If they still insist on their story, *shrug* it is not my job to educate people outside the dojo.

However I have been able to have quite a few intelligent conversations about MA with people who do not train. Except for the armchair ninjas the myths don`t seem so common here.

 

[shesulsa]

true. I like what most people say. "oh,yeah. What would you do if i did this."

um, kick your ***.

lol

 

[crushing]

I don't tell many people either. Unfortuantely, my very proud parents aren't as quiet as I am about it. I mostly follow what Cirdan and others have posted.

I'm thinking of getting Affliction or Tap Out t-shirts to wear around. Afterall, who doesn't think dudes parading around in those t-shirts aren't just posers that don't really do MMA, much less MA?

 

[celtic_crippler]

There's a couple of things I do depending on the question....

There's the "Show me something" guy. With them I usually tell them, "Okay....make a fist." They usually jump at this and begin to get pumped up a little expecting to have the opportunity to punch me.
Next I say, "Hold out your fist, now try to keep me from moving it." I'll grab their fist with both hands and push it back and forth. With the standard formation of a fist, they must push back in order to keep me from moving it in an effort to keep their wrist stable.
I then tell them to move their thumb to the top of their fist, like they're pushing a detonator, and press down ...compacting their fingers even tighter and then I'll try to move their wrist again.
When they observe that they didn't have to resist against the pressure I explain how that small adjustment to making a fist secures the wrist by activating the muscles in the top of the forearm making it less likely for the force of a punch to be disipated by the wrist giving in on impact making the punch more effective and also reduces the risk of damaging your wrist to boot.
I then leave them with a dumbfounded expression and their thoughts, which have turned away from aggression and towards reflection. LOL

To others I simply say, "1276 Riverside drive....sign the waiver and get on the mat." LOL

 

[YoungMan]

I seldom tell people unless they specifically ask, and then my answer depends on their attitude.
If they want to see something, I tell them to stick out their hand like I'm going to kick it. If they do, and they ask what I'm going to do, I just tell them "nothing; I just want to see how long you stand there with your hand out before you feel like an idiot." If they want to see something, they can come to class.
I only showed one person something. He kept trying to show me his kicking (which was awful), so I demonstrated high side kick to his face (no contact). Boy did his eyes get big.

 

[BrandonLucas]

I like to tell people who ask me about being regarded as a deadly weapon is this:

Oh, sure, I'm allowed to enter the state of Florida, but unfortunately, my hands and feet have to stay in Georgia.

I used to get challenged alot, too, when people asked about taking martial arts...there was the whole thing of "I just took on a blackbelt..."

For those situations, I found it better to just aknowledge the fact that they could take me on, and that I would rather not try. After that, usually they would leave me alone, thinking they got one up on me, which was fine. At least I didn't have to show them anything.