How do you show you are a martial artist?

I used to wear my school's insignia but i got tired of having to stop and answer questions...did u at one time have this??
Also there might have been a negative side to this...what if i were to be targetted becuase of my insignia..like a gangster want to test me...wow i ran a risk there didn't I.

Anyways I'd like to hear what you guys do to show you are a martial artist..or do u do what i do as in the element of surprise.....

the people who need to know i am a martial artist already know i am a martial artist....dont boast or flaunt it...you may just need that element of surprise you were talking about one day.

Exactly.

I just hate to see new students wearing their Gi`s outside the dojo, you see people shopping in them, proud that they do Karate etc. I have even seen someone in the local kebab shop in their Gi!!!

Mind you I did have a sensei many years ago that actually sat in the pub ( the compulsory after training, REAL session), still wearing his Gi and black belt and holding a pint!!! [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif[/IMG]

Mark

I turn up to training sessions and do my best. I train at home and push myself as much as I can.

That's it really. Should I be looking into getting a secret handshake, or something? [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by charles mckey:
I turn up to training sessions and do my best. I train at home and push myself as much as I can.

That's it really. Should I be looking into getting a secret handshake, or something? [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG][/QUOTE]

Are you lot serious? I know i've ran into the shop the odd time with my suit on but that was for an after training drink. People actually strut around with them on-i can't believe that. I think a good slagging would be in order where i come from.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Big Bear:
Are you lot serious? I know i've ran into the shop the odd time with my suit on but that was for an after training drink. People actually strut around with them on-i can't believe that. I think a good slagging would be in order where i come from.[/QUOTE]

About training hard yup, about the secret handshake no [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG]

I tend to wear my Gi trousers on the way to & from training to save time changing, but I certainly wouldn't walk around in the thing. Indeed, when we have our club socials, members and instructors change out of their (very sweaty) uniforms without exception [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG]

What do you need to show anything for?

I mean I have an advertisment for the club in the form of a window sticker in my car - but thats just marketing.

Those who don't know I'm a Martial Artist don't need to know. Even those who think they know, don't. Hell My girlfriend still thinks I do TaeKwonDo (which in reality I don,t I do other MA), and I have made no attempt to correct her as it is unimportant. The only people who really know are those I train with, and I like to keep it that way.

At school, people know vaguely that i'm a martial artist, as I have had to defend myself before, and they have seen the consequences of trying to harm me. I leave school part way through the day to attend MA classes, and then return to school. When I leave and return, my school mates ask me "Where have you been?".

I just reply "Out".

Enough said, no if's ands or buts.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ender:
Those who don't know I'm a Martial Artist don't need to know....[/QUOTE]

I think you should style yourself "Ender: International Man of Mystery" from here on in [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif[/IMG]

Tried that, but it woudln't fit on my uber-cool business cards (that, in my imagination at least, double as throwing stars and remote bomb detonators [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif[/IMG] )

Lol.

-Dan

[This message has been edited by Ender (edited 09-16-2003).]

I never wear a gi even when training, normally just sweats (or swim trunks if I am training in water).

I've a judo gi & white obi (somewhere!) that I used when I was playing judo in Japan & the Pacific Northwest, surprised quite a few people during randori, too!!

Don't show it man. There are alot of misundestandings out there. If people see a boxer training, they will say nothing, if they see a man wearing a black belt some people think he has something to prove. Like one of my friends told me, but in real life they don't come at you one at a time. <<I replied of course not that is just acting. The movies creates alot of misunderstanding, and make people want to test you.

-Shotokan

Wearing the gi in public is strange...it's not normal. I go to Temple University and there is a group of guys, I think in the Aikido class, that wear the gis to classes (not Aikido class). I took the class and there is plenty of time to change before/after class. Also, it's ok if you put a decal on your car representing your club, but there is this popular McDojo in my area (suburbs outside of Philadelphia) and they have these huge decals on the back of 1 in 40 rear windows of cars on the street. It's crazy how many people go to places like this...I dated a girl who went there in high school, it was such a joke. The training was more like games, nothing serious. And their decal is this goofy looking shark in a gi and it says "asah" on his sleeve. It is such a spectacle, yet they have a bunch of followers, like a cult. Anyway, just needed to vent.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ender:
Those who don't know I'm a Martial Artist don't need to know. Even those who think they know, don't. Hell My girlfriend still thinks I do TaeKwonDo (which in reality I don,t I do other MA), and I have made no attempt to correct her as it is unimportant. The only people who really know are those I train with, and I like to keep it that way.

At school, people know vaguely that i'm a martial artist, as I have had to defend myself before, and they have seen the consequences of trying to harm me. I leave school part way through the day to attend MA classes, and then return to school. When I leave and return, my school mates ask me "Where have you been?".

I just reply "Out".

Enough said, no if's ands or buts.[/QUOTE]

Personally I don't mind telling people, discussing it (a little over enthusiastically sometimes). I enjoy my art, I don't throw it in peoples faces and thats it.

The only people that know I'm a MAist are really just my friends.

the only people except my parents and people i train with that know know on accident

[QUOTE]Originally posted by UKfightfreak:
Personally I don't mind telling people, discussing it (a little over enthusiastically sometimes). I enjoy my art, I don't throw it in peoples faces and thats it.[/QUOTE]

One thing I think is interesting about this is how many people turn out to have doen something previously themselves. I mentioned in passing to a neighbour of mine that I was going for my Orange belt grading (he'd asked why I was taking my kitbag into work, or something, as I remember), and it turned out he'd studied Jiu-Jitsu for a fair number of years.

I don't brag about doing martial arts but I don't hide it either. I certainly would not go shopping in my gi! I do drive to the dojo in my gi trousers when I am running late because it saves time, but NEVER the jacket or belt.
Sharon

I don't hide the fact that I am a martial artist. If someone says 'What's in your bag?' I say 'My karate suit' (most ppl think it's amusing). Even at work if some drunk says 'You're only little, you must do jeet kune do or something.' I just say 'Yeah, or something' or just smile. But I never deny or hide the fact that I study martial arts.

Michael

Most people never realize that I'm a fighter. It's NEVER talked about (talk it cheap -- except om this forum...then it's REALLY cheap, lol).

Occasionally I may wear an old training t-shirt into work, but otherwise it's nothing obvious.

-John

i dont like to tell people or talk about it to people because the quote un-quote hard people seem to think the only thing that works in a qoute un-qoute real fight is to not physically train at all and get muscle atrophy and then sit around with their qoute un-qoute boys and watch tv and play ps2


just like my brothers friends dad

he is a "hard street fighter"type

and i was discussing this with my brothers friend and he told his son to say to me that the taekwondo shit i do doesnt work on the street


id like to seem him get out and fight someone that actually knows what they are physically capable of

No advertising here either! [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG]

If they need to know they know. Why give away any advantage to a would be attacker.

I only live a few mins from the dojo and usually wear my gi in the car covered by a jacket or sweatshirt because we are always running late!

I'm with you Reiki-

I don't like to advertise that I do MA, it starts to take away any advantage that I might have in a physical confrontation. Just looking at me, one probably wouldn't guess that I study MA's, seeing as I'm sort of "hippied out." [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG] Ah, if we can't laugh at ourselves, who can we laugh at?

I have caught myself wearing my sole aikido t shirt at a bar a few times before, but no one seemed to notice, but then again I was probably grabbing a pint with a bunch of my aikido buds after practice, so I'm sure I was in good company, just in case.

Joe.

[This message has been edited by Joe Jutsu (edited 09-18-2003).]

Being a real MA usually shows itself with little help, performing regular tasks with a little bit more zip and coordination than the other guy usually gets the curiosity growing among your peers. In any case it's better off left unsaid only demonstrated...when necessary.

the exception

I came across an old Samurai Maxim that I believe fits this scenario.

"A man who has gained mastery in an art shows it in his every action"

If I show I am a Martial Artist in anyway, I suppose it's through the way I live (and no, Im not a master).

Personally I could care less either way. I dont announce it but i would never hide it. People talk trash but the people who do usually fight like trash too. Ive met people who talked about doing MA and were good and people who said they did MA and obviously never threw a punch in their life so I dont waste my time with small talk. If its mentioned instantly I mention sparring, if they accept then you can gauge the validity of what they say.

Well I must have cuased some confusion, I said I meant to say I used to wear the school's shirt, not the gi...eww, heck no! I only use that thing in the dojo, and I wear my pants sometimes to the dojo when running late so i don't have to spend time changing much.(like some other people said)
Good maxim Ender :-)
oh yeah, is there a secret handshake? jk guys.