The PT Teacher from Hell - Childhood memories

Discussion in 'General Martial Arts Discussion' started by Burro, Oct 9, 2009.

  1. Burro

    Burro Looking for Write answers

    I'm not sure where to put this so I decided to post it here. You'll see why if you read on.

    When I was about 13 in primary school, we used to have PT (Physical Training) every week. It was an actual period (class) that was part of the school day. We used to put on what was known as PT clothes, where we wore lightfitting t-shirts and shorts to exercise in. We'd do a whole plethora of fun stuff, like baseball, cricket, touch-rugby, swimming, soccer, running etc and it was light activity where we had some fun for the day. It was an all boys school (South Africa still had a colonialist discourse back in the 90's). A teacher would usually supervise us during the period. It was good times :)

    That was...until a regular, fixed PT teacher came on for every week. He was a karate instructor and quite an intimidating guy. At first we were a bit wary of him, we didn't know what to expect. Some who took karate classes with him after school though, obviously knew him from the get-go and knew what to expect. I didn't know the guy and what he was like. What followed over the next few years was a sequence of bad memories that only childhood can render up lol. His name was Mr Hayes, or the PT teacher of doom as we used to think of him.

    PT never really became fun anymore, it became a time which some of us dreaded. We'd sometimes have the usual baseball fun, or cricket etc but now we were getting drilled unforgivingly when it came to running around the school sports fields and normal exercise routines. It was like the guy was training us to be ninjas or something. What he expected from us was pretty harsh considering our age at the time. I remember seeing some people looking so flushed, that they could hardly breath while some were literally crying. Sounds overly dramatic I know but I'm coming to a point here. He'd shout at us to carry on and hardly ever had a smile on his face.

    I remember one time I had a painful cramp in my right side and asked to sit this one out for the day. He looked at me as if I was a criminal and excalimed louldly in front of everyone, "You know what that means? It means that you are very, VERY unfit" After that he made me run around the field twice before I could 'sit this one out' with the rest of the shmcuks that had enough of the Rambo training. lol

    And if you forgot your PT clothes (because you couldn't play touch-rugby in your school uniform) then Mr Hayes would make you pay dearly. It happened to me. One time I had genuinely forgotten my PT clothes. Mr Hayes then picked me up off the ground! Yeah thats right, my feet were dangling in the air, while this scary karate dan clutched me with both hands by my school-shirt, bringing me up to his eye-level in front of everyone, where he stared me down and said slowly for dramatic effect, "Never, EVER forget them again. Do you hear me?" It felt like the guy was physically threatening me, the way he picked me up like that and stared me down. I was only 13 lol, is that even legal? Anyway, I had to go around the dustbins, picking out two handfuls of rubbish to bring back to the great eminent sage and master in the school hall where everyone was busy with an obstacle course. Good times my friends......:rolleyes:

    Sometimes, though, he'd be completley unpredictable and would surprise the class with what he had in store for us. He'd say to us one day that we were going to have a self-defence workshop. Some of us (probably the ones that didn't take karate with him) including me, cringed. He then made us line up in two rows, each one facing the other one opposite the hall (which I beleive is the set-up for sparring? You tell me). I noticed that one of my friends that did karate who was opposite from me, was looking at me with a sly look as if he knew something I didn't, smiling away. He was flexing as if in anticipation. Oh great I thought. So much for touch-rugby lol. However at the last minute, Mr Hayes decided against it for some reason. Yeah, the guys a nutcase.

    After all, I just wanted to play baseball and taste fresh air, not learn how to bite a guy in the groin, which is what he literally made us do one time :confused: well, made us pretend to do it anyway, but that didn't stop the guy I was paired with from actually doing it! Luckily it didn't go as planned. One time, we walked into the hall and saw an actual boxing ring in the middle. I couldn't beleive my [insert here] eyes. He made us go head to head with eachother with boxing gloves, full contact. I've been paired with a mate of mine and we both don't like the idea of this, would rather be hitting a cricket ball for a six instead of each other. But it was forced. We both end up knocking each others winds out simultaneously lol. We kinda took it half-seriously earning us a short time in the ring. Felt awkward though, at least for those of us not used to fighting.

    Seemd like the guy was incorporating his karate thing into our PT time, which I didn't really appreciate because I just wanted to slug a ball with a bat like most of us wanted to do. That sound normal to you? (Sorry to some MAPers who live for karate though lol :p). After these sessions, he'd sometimes tell us stories of how he had taken a man's whole leg off with his bare hands. Is that even possible? Yeah the guys seems to flatter himself :D He'd then tell us to feel this one move he knows where he flicks a pressure point or something on the back of our necks. He does it anyway, not even asking for consent. The guy starting to sound like an egotistical power maniac yet? You ain't read nothing yet folks :)

    I remember one time during one of these self defence workshops, he had told us never to punch someone in the chest as it could alter their heartbeat and could cause health related problems or something like that later on in life. This is where the story starts to get serious. A few months later, a black guy in my class had forgotten his PT clothes and he was one of the naughty boys who didn't really take anything seriously (an admirable guy!). Anyway, Mr Hayes walked up to him slowly and menacingly where he was sitting in the changing room and stooped low, asking him why he had forgotten his clothes.

    After some excuse or the other, I then see Mr Hayes punching him at short arms length square in the chest. I hear the dull sounding shot and stare. There weren't alot of people around that time if I remember. The black guy in my class lets out a small hiss of pain and looks visibly hurt. It was not like it was a poweful blow or anything but it was hard enough to have made an audible impact. So heres this guy telling us never to hit someone in the chest, but he then goes and does it himself to someone in front of us anyway and a child no less. The hypocrite. I noticed he did it quite often to some of the black boys, maybe hinting at subtle signs of racism? I couldn't really tell. All I knew at that time was boyish fear of this adult, who seemed to have been exploiting his power over others as a karate instructor or something to that effect. He did it behind closed doors when there were no other adults present. He would sometimes flick his whistle at us, if were were too slow getting dressed etc. All the joy we once had for the period was slowly being replaced by meticilous discipline and fear of the unpredictable. It was like military training.

    Looking back on it now, I realised we were just kids, we didn't know any better or if what he was doing was really wrong. We didn't speak up about it or tell others. Maybe it wasn't that serious but then again why do I remember it so vividly? I remember Mr Hayes as a kind of bullying guy who did what he wanted at times. Just because he was a martial arts instuctor didn't give him the right to treat some of us the way he did. If we had wanted to sign up for karate, we would've but why bring it into PT? We never asked for it. Thats why now, I sometimes get the impression that some people who do martial arts are like Mr Hayes. Now I know that's not true but that was the stamp this guy left on me you understand? Hoped this made an entertaining read. Always awesome to share childhood memories like this. Any similar experiences or funny stories? What are your thoughts on this whole thing and can you relate to this story? Do all martial arts dans/instructors tend to be like this or was Mr Hayes an exception? Thanks for reading :)

    - Burro
     
  2. CosmicFish

    CosmicFish Aleprechaunist

    No, all martial arts instructors are not like this. He sounds like a sociopath who just happened to be a martial arts instructor as well.
     
  3. Taffyleigh

    Taffyleigh Valued Member

    My Pt instructor was quite strict but not as bad as yours. I remember when we did the cross country run for the first time, the lad i was with lived locally and said he knew a short cut, he forgot to mention that it was through a boggy marsh, the teacher didn't know whether to tell us off or fall about laughing when he saw the mess we were in! The last year of Comprehensive school he went to Australia and we had an Aussie teacher in his place, he was a right laugh, made lessons enjoyable, enjoyed playing Aussie rules football.
     
  4. Moosey

    Moosey invariably, a moose Supporter

    Sounds like he was an exception to most things.
     
  5. old palden

    old palden Valued Member

    You poor thing.


    .
     
  6. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    I went to high school in the States for a bit. I was lucky because we had elective Phys. Ed. lessons, which meant we could choose our own activity. I got to choose WTF Taekwondo with Herb Perez; he was a task master, but totally awesome. But Cosmic Fish sums up your experience quite well:

     
  7. Burro

    Burro Looking for Write answers

    That cracked me up mate. Yeah the guy is a few screws loose of a toolbox.

    I forgot to mention. That same friend of mine who had been doing karate with Mr Hayes told me what happened all those years ago. Apparently Mr Hayes used to line him up against a wall and tell him to defend himself. The nutcase would then proceed to try and punch him solidly in the face. My friend quit shortly afterwards.

    If I saw him today, I'd probably flip him the bird :evil:
     
  8. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    A young student once asked me if I had had to kill a man to get my black belt.

    I obviously looked him straight in the eyes and said, "yes".

    Mitch ;)
     
  9. John Titchen

    John Titchen Still Learning Supporter

    Did you admit that the man you had to kill was you?
     
  10. Shiho-Nage

    Shiho-Nage I'm okay to go.

    Yet another child masquerading as a man. He doesn't even have the stones to pick on other adults, but chooses children to 'dominate with his awesomeness'. That puts him on the lowest rung of the bully class.

    While there is no shortage of self-delusion, hostility, ego and self-aggrandizement going on in martial arts, the sociopath you described is not indicative of the state of martial arts instructors as a whole.
     
  11. Quincyma80

    Quincyma80 Valued Member

    During my youth there was a legendary abusive Boys PT teacher at the local public junior high school. Let us refer to him as “Mister O.” I missed out being taught since my parents were sending me to Catholic school. But I then went to the local public high school and all the stories of PT class abuse were told from Mister O’s former students. Time has erased most of the details and anyway it would be considered “hearsay” since I was not present.

    However what was a matter of public record was a few years later Mister O. was stopped for a traffic violation by the local police and something like 28 one-pound bags of marijuana were found in his vehicle’s trunk.

    Was it karma? Well I think he beat the drug rap due to an illegal search technicality – but Mister O.’s teaching career and reputation were forever ruined. And a lot of young adult males of my generation in my home town believed (briefly) that there was a righteous Gawd
    .

    :)
     
  12. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    Then showed him the Ultimate Book of Knowledge where all the pages were mirrors.*

    Mitch

    * Thank you, Silent Flute
     
  13. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    That tale brought a tear to my eye *sniff*
     
  14. Burro

    Burro Looking for Write answers

    Like they say, karma comes round in a full circle as seen by Quincy's story. Don't try to feel bad about the story though it was meant to be light hearted and humorous. I took everything with a pinch of salt back then anyway :)

    Just don't dig it when people base their lives around the notion that violence is everything. We are all One and an organism that goes to war with itself, is doomed to fail. Such is humanity's plight.

    Anyway did you at least enjoy the story? Any parts that surprised you, shocked you, made you laugh?

    - Burro
     
  15. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    I'm not one with anybody, they wont have me. :)

    Your story wasn't surprising tbh, if true. The bullying PE teacher is a stereotype from many stories isn't it?

    Are you trying out material for writing, or your writing skills? You might want a critique on that instead?

    Mitch

    Sorry if any of that sounded arsey btw, didn't mean it that way :)
     
  16. Jjf88

    Jjf88 Valued Member

    See, if a teacher had picked up one of our pupils, we'd have stookied him (thats a headbutt for you non plebs!:D).
     
  17. Burro

    Burro Looking for Write answers

    No worries mate, I always appreciate humour and straightforwardness. This piece I wrote is pure experience though, not a story I created for the sake of writing but for the sake of sharing. Seems the stereotype lives up to its name though eh? :)

    Now I remember one time having caught a lift with this PT teacher to my friends farm. He was with his wife and kid and they seemed completely placid. He didn't even smile once or attempt to make conversation with me in the car. How do people get like that, its unbeleivable
     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2009
  18. Burro

    Burro Looking for Write answers

    Haha, you probably would've gotten a beating with this guy, not to mention jacks (which was the name of the corporal punishment dished out to us if we strayed from the rules). A mini-cricket bat type instrument would be used, tanning your backside lol

    Yeah the wonders of post colonialist educational systems, you gotta love it
     
  19. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    And that was a bad thing why?
     
  20. Moi

    Moi Warriors live forever x

    I liked him. I'd vote for him! Education Minister.
     

Share This Page