Karateka or gymnists?

Discussion in 'Karate' started by Rhineville, Feb 11, 2004.

  1. Rhineville

    Rhineville Valued Member

    Karateka or Gymnasts?

    Has a similar situation happened to someone?

    My club was putting on a demonstration for out local fair. We demonstrated kicks, other basics, kata and some breaking.

    After the demo was completed, our sensei allowed us to wear our gis around the fair.

    One of the venders upon noticing my uniform asked what "crazy stuff" I could do. I responded with confusion, and he clarified his request: he wished to see "some crazy ass flips, or something" When I displayed to him that the only thing similar to "crazy flips" I could do was a spinning jumping crescent kick, he tried to shame me for not being a REAL martial artist.

    Why am I (according to the public) supposed to be able to flip around like a gymnist and disrespected when I can't?

    Has anyone else experienced this in any way?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 13, 2004
  2. Kwajman

    Kwajman Penguin in paradise....

    You could have always 'crazy a**ed flipped him.
     
  3. Cain

    Cain New Member

    I feel for you the usual question I get is "show me the splits" :rolleyes:

    |Cain|
     
  4. Kof_Andy

    Kof_Andy New Member

    Perhaps is time to learn a flip or 2 maybe:p
     
  5. shoto-kali

    shoto-kali The Chosen One

    i believe part of it is also your fault (& your sensei) for walking around with your karate uniform on you. its like telling the whole world that you can do stuff others dont. always be humble. if you are practicing traditional karate, you should know the aspect of dojo kun, or atleast your sensei know better than having his/her student walk around with their uniform on.

    my take on this is, other people reaction is only base on what your action.
     
  6. Afro

    Afro New Member

    personly i think that just what u learn in the dojo is only a aspect of your training.because as the 'arts' are a philosophy of bettering your self just learning to kick or punch is just a spring off from your potential. learning to do 'flips' if not practically usefull give the physical ability to do a flip (which is cool) it also helps bettering yourself and the experence allows for another off root off to fulfilling your full potential (of witch is only limited by time) so i ask why dose it seem that very few arts actual train in gymnastics.
    any answers??

    ous

    Afro
     
  7. StorDuff

    StorDuff adamantium

    Ignorance. Before I started I thought all martial arts were just people punching and kicking each other, and yelling. :eek:
     
  8. Dark Blade

    Dark Blade It Roundhouse time

    I'm afraid to admit I probably would have shown him the "REAL" MAist side me of.
    Ignore him, or put him in his place.
     
  9. 47Ronin

    47Ronin New Member

    I'm going to have to agree with Shoto-Kali. You shouldn't be walking around in your uniform because then you bring trouble to yourself. Hell, why not just walk around with a shirt that says "Bad ass coming through, Look out!". The public still think we are a bunch of real ultimate power guys so don't worry about them.

    Oh and Afro- Gymnist flips are useless, why would anyone want to use them in
    Kara-te?
     
  10. Rice Krispies

    Rice Krispies Valued Member

    Its because idiots claiming karate do a lot of flips.
     
  11. spacepimp

    spacepimp Valued Member

    Flips

    I think part of the reason the guy was expecting flips is what he may have seen on TV or what not. I have seen tournaments where it was part of other peoples Kata's and unfortunately they are winning.

    Let me go ahead and tear off into this rant... It seems to me that a lot of competitions in forms have more to do with gymnastics than with Karate or TKD. I remember seeing this one guy who won doing a flip and in the middle of the flip kicking in the air straight above him. It was super impressive but... I cannot think of a situation where I would need to kick a guy who was standing over me (maybe if he were some type of 20 foot tall giant maybe but, I am going to take my chances and say that will probably never happen).

    But, as two other posters have said you really should not be going around in your GI too much in public. This is more of a safety concern not the whole meek and humble junk (not to put you who believe that down, it is just not for me). When people see you in a GI, some are going to take it as a challenge, and maybe a group will take it as a challenge. Better to not put yourself into harms way. Not too mention if you got on a ride at a carnival with your GI, on the loose fabric might get caught in one of the engines or gears ;)
     
  12. b19vny

    b19vny Valued Member

    Walking around in Gis = problems. Just the fact you are in a pair of baggy white pyjamas is enough to draw attention to yourself. I assume at the 'fair' there was alcohol avaiable. It only takes one drunk to fancy his chances against a 'Ninja' and it'd be going off all over the gaff.

    I don't like demos.
     
  13. Furikuchan

    Furikuchan New Member

    Jean Claude Van Damne. It's all his fault, I swear!
    I'd have to disagree with the idea of walking around in the gi being all bad, espcielly if you were doing a demo. Last year at an anime convention, we did a demo, and ran around still in uniform for the rest of the day. (Okay, bad example. We didn't look that out of place, considering some of the cosplayers.)
    But, at other demos, it's a good idea to promote the dojo. For every jerk you get making fun of you, you'll get about two or three others who will actually be asking a question about the dojo.
     
  14. Cain

    Cain New Member

    You won't catch me in a gi in public......EVER!!! :woo:

    |Cain|
     
  15. CanuckMA

    CanuckMA Valued Member

    You want publicity, wear a dojo t-shirt. If you had just done a diving demo, would you be walking around in your bathing suit?

    The flip thing is due to the current crop of MA movies that all use wires.
     
  16. Rhineville

    Rhineville Valued Member

    I was walkin' around in my gi cause I didn't have any other clothes with me.

    Not for attention...

    Not for publicity...

    And DEFENITELY not to be a "big man"

    I try to be as humble as I can, even though my sensei beleives that a little "showmanship" here and there won't hurt. I tend to agree with him in a business sense, since we're not a very famous club. The fact that we DIDN'T do flips during the demo helped show that karate isn't all flying maneuvers.

    Sorry to the rest of you who I've offended with my liberal wearing of my uniform.
     
  17. freebird1127

    freebird1127 New Member

    I saw an interesting competition on TSN the other day... it was a freeform weapons competition, and before it started I said to myself "oh this is going to be great!" When it started... much to my shugrin... they were all gymnists with MA uniforms on... has anyone else seen one of these... crazy @$$ weapons forms created AROUND flips and spins and dance...

    Like it has any real application... but if you've seen one of these, what's your opinion?
     
  18. 47Ronin

    47Ronin New Member

    Rhineville- Just take off your gi and walk around with out a shirt :D
    {{maybe next time you will remember to bring a t shirt :p}}
     
  19. Ad McG

    Ad McG Troll-killer Supporter

    On the subject of flashy katas, who really cares about what other people do? If you're so bothered about what people think about what you're doing, don't do it and go do what the average joe on the street does. Well done, now you fit in and nobody can think you're doing something that you're not. I couldn't give a flying duck if someone says "do a flip" because I will just laugh with them, then maybe educate them a little if they want to listen. They walk away knowing a little more, having a bit of respect and a laugh at the same time. If they want to ridicule, who cares, you can probably pick them to pieces to and laugh at nothing, but just be above it.
    This is martial ARTS. The art of fighting. If someone wants to portray an arty, flashy kata then more power to them for having the talent and skill to do it. Maybe I don't want to do it, but I can see why other people do and it does take some skill and hard work to perform such demanding kata. Obviously it isn't going to work in the street, and they will most likely know that. It's for show of skill, flexibility, concentration, form etc, not for tanning hide in the streets.
     
  20. donger

    donger New Member

    I wish that were completely true. The fact of the matter is many non movie MAs are now doing flips in things like tournaments, and I'm not just talking about Kata. When I lived in Louisiana form 95-97 I actually saw more than one person do a flip as part of a kick in a sparring match. I wish that I wasn't serious but I can clearly remember one person doing a forward flip with an ax kick combined and another person doing a front kick from a backwards flip (or maybe it was more of a roundhouse). Now, neither person made contact, or even one their prospective matches, but guess what all the buzz was about after the fights. "Did you see that I guy do that flip kick thing? That was awesome!!"
    I stopped playing the tournament circuit shortly after that, so hopefully there has been a return to a more sensible approach to the Martial Arts.
    I can't argue that it wouldn't be nice to learn how to flip or even how to Kip Up (something that I have never been able to master), but not from the standpoint of a martial artist. Still I'd be pretty impressed with myself.
     

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