The laymen's idiocy: Traditionalism in MA where it's not necessary

**Yojimbo1717** · Posted On: 9/27/2008 5:36pm

So the other day we're rolling (our instructor wasn't able to come in so it was more or less open mat) and this guy comes in with his son (the kid's between 6 and 10); he asks about the head instructor, classes, cost...costs and locations of other schools (came off as douche-baggy but oh well), etc. He's given a flyer with our information and told if he or his son want they can sign the waiver and join in.

Here's the thing: Our school is small, doesn't really have kid's classes, is super laid back (one hour of rolling, one of instruction and drills, one of timed rolling) and has been around for over ten years. Annnnnyway...

My girlfriend walks past him to sit down and he's all:

"Oh hell no, I don't want no girl beating up on my boy."

After watching a bit more he starts going off about how he thinks our school should be more traditional - how Tae Kwon Do taught his son self-discipline and good self defense. How the former is far more important than the latter and any competition. He then started talking about how the instructor would make way more money so we could move out of our little building and go somewhere nicer.

WTF?

He was told he should just talk to our instructor on Monday and that that's that.

What the hell? Then stick to Tae Kwon Do or ANY McDojo in the area you douche-fag.

What the hell is up with this? It happens every few months. Anyone else have similar experiences at their school? Doesn't even have to be a BJJ school - any school that's laid back. Good lord that's irritating.

**yanta** · Posted On: 9/27/2008 6:03pm

It's amazing how some people think they know everything there is to know about teaching kids anything, simply by virtue of having had unprotected sex at least once. Did the boy seem interested in the class?

Originally Posted by Yojimbo1717

"Oh hell no, I don't want no girl beating up on my boy."

Good thing his daddy is there to protect him from all those dangerous girls who are going to kick his ass.

Poor kid.

~yanta

**Yojimbo1717** · Posted On: 9/27/2008 6:06pm

The kid seemed ambivalent. We only have a few kids, the youngest is twelve and a few girls (namely - my friend's wife and my girlfriend).

...cause a MA school is supposed to teach peoples' kids respect and discipline, that's not like, their parents job or anything.

**MJ Dougherty** · Posted On: 9/27/2008 6:10pm

Any fairly relaxed class gets crap like this from time to time.

I've been treated to the 'most important thing is the bow, you can't be a good martial artist without the humility and respect shown by the bow... blah...waffle...' lecture a few times now.

There's also the 'But your class is VIOLENT!' protest (good martial arts are non-violent. Apparently).

My favourite was the Tai Chi instructor who asked us to skip an hour of our class one night so he could have extra time for a course (so asking for a favour, right?) and immediately added that thie guy coming in to do the course teaches all the stuff we should do but don't.

I suggested that since Tai Chi Guy had never seen our class or even knew the name of the art/system/style, it might be a bit presumptious to tell us we're missing something important.

He replied that he didn't need to see the class to know what we did.

I was impressed.

Not sure whether he had cameras installed or concealed ninja spies. I didn't ask. Indeed, I wandered off to talk to someone less crazed.......

**Yojimbo1717** · Posted On: 9/27/2008 6:12pm

Yeah, we've gotten the bowing thing sooooo many times. Ugh.

**Siniq** · Posted On: 9/27/2008 6:17pm

I hate it when we count in japanese, like it would be soooooooooo awful and countertroductive if we count in our own langwege.

**MJ Dougherty** · Posted On: 9/27/2008 6:19pm

I'm reliably informed that if I would just wear a gi, bow to pictures of dead Japanese guys and maybe do a bit of meditation now and then, I'd be able to punch people in the head much better.

I remain somewhat sceptical about this concept.

**Crushing Step** · Posted On: 9/27/2008 6:24pm

Yeah, you guys obviously don't teach respeck unless you stand in military lines and scream whilst standing in a horse stance and punching...

**Siniq** · Posted On: 9/27/2008 6:34pm

The gi I can understand. After all people wear clothes, but weirdly enough no one I've seen yet wears a belt on top of his nice jacket/coat...

**Transcendent Sunchips** · Posted On: 9/27/2008 6:45pm

At my last gym, this guy came in and asked questions about the gym. He asked about the style, classes, and belt ranks. The MT instructor told him that there's no belts in MT and BJJ is no-gi and doesn't follow a belt structure. The guy goes on a rant about the importance of having a hiearchy and a belt system. He said that every martial art has to follow a rank/belt structure. Eventually, he walked out. The best part about the guy was that he was homeless.