Are you Paranoid?

[Melody]

So you first start taking martial arts, and you go to your first few classes. It is implanted in your mind that you must always be alert to your surroundings and possible attacks right? Well I love practicing my alertness, but is anyone else down right paranoid?

 

Some people in my TKD class (particularly the higher belts)...well lets just say, don't go tap them on the shoulder. Make sure your in front of them, preferably a few feet away, and wave your hands at them first to get their attention.

 

Does martial arts have you behaving this way? I'm beginning to, and I both like my awarness and don't like it. My friends think theres something wrong with me because i'm so jumpy about people touching me, and I'm only a yellow belt, is this paranoia?

[longarm25]

it sounds like paranoia, situational awareness is important however you must be able to distinguish threatening vs non threatening

[Red J]

Paranoia the Destroyer...The Kinks said it best.

 

Its all new to you and you are excited about martial arts. You will learn to relax and be aware. It will come.

[White Warlock]

Agreed. It takes time for new concepts to settle. Eventually you will develop levels of alertness, with varying degrees of responsiveness to external stimuli.

 

Dang, if i wasn't so tired, i would run with another story. Ah well, maybe next time.

[battousai16]

ah dang it, i hate it when i miss stories

 

at any rate, that would be all well and good, but s/he said "particularly the higher belts", which means a) not just her and b) implies they've been at this for awhile. unless by "higher belts" she means green or the like, i took it to assume brown, red, etc. in which case no, i don't think that's normal. at least it hasn't happened to me. i'm not an especially jumpy person, and people approach me from behind all the time, which isn't to say, of course, that i never know they're there, and i generally know the lay out of the room and where the exits are (my perception of awareness), but if you live your life paranoid, you're gonna' be tense, which will probably hurt you more than help you, and you'll certainly miss out on a lot of fun, which always sucks. y'all should probably work on that, before someone at work taps you on the shoulder and BAM!

[P.A.L]

Position, position, position

[Shorinryu Sensei]

OK..you want a story..here ya go!

 

Way back in June of 1978, I got my black belt after 3 1/2 years of hard, intense training. Two months later, I married for the first (and so far only) time. Judy and I moved to a small farm town into a duplex. It was the first time that either of us had ever lived with a member of the opposite sex (outside of familyt of course).

 

I came home from work (teacher) one afternoon to what I assumed was an empty apartment (she usually worked until 5:00) and walked into the living room. Judy was hiding against a wall just inside the room and jumped out at me from behind and yelled BOO! (or something like that) I didn't think, I just moved and spun around throwing a spinning backfist at her head. Thank GOD she is shorter than me by a full foot, because my fist went flying over her head and just missed her.

 

Now picture this if you will. Here's my young (20) new bride that I'm madly in love with..trying to surprise her husband by coming home from work early, surprised by my actions (and naked I might add) falling backwards from the quickness of what I did, falling to the floor and scared to death of what I just did anbd how I reacted!

 

We talked it over and I told her NOT to do that again...which she never did....DAMMIT.

 

It scared me too, but I explained to her that for the past 3 1/2 years I've been training my body and mind to react..and react FAST..which it did.

[battousai16]

you gotta' love a good story

 

but striking out in reaction to being startled like that is one thing. it's another to throw a spinning back fist when someone walks up behind you and asks you for a pencile.... y'know... or some such thing.

[Mu Ryuk]

Almost the same thing happened to me just a few days ago Shorin Ryu Sensei.

 

This kid Jacob...who I hate to share a name with...Fourteen year old who's about 6'2, immature and likes to intimidate people. He goes around telling kids about all these fights he's been in and makes it sound cool. Every time Allison, Mariah or Ellen (our only female Black Belts) correct him, he is very disrespectful, and every time Mariah corrects his punch (he always has a loose fist...lazy bastard) he grabs her wrist. Not anymore, though...I showed her some pressure points

 

Anyway, he has a severe problem with me. Why? Because I'm not intimidated by him. He tries to stare me down all the time and I won't back down, and he hates it.

 

So I go into the changing room a few days ago. As I'm coming out I turn left and I hear a loud clap from my right, next to my head. I turned and blasted his right leg with a low Roundhouse kick and was about to throw out a barrage of Palm Strikes when I saw a head, but fortunately I noticed it was him. Not that I would feel sorry for him...just don't want to cause liability problems for the school.

 

Though I am quite happy to say he was limping the rest of the day and his right leg was obviously numb and shaky

 

It gives me a certain measure of confidence knowing how I react, but it's also a frightening thing. Fortunately I don't react like that to anything that shouldn't be perceived as hostile, such as someone suddenly saying "Hi" from somewhere I can't see them.

 

Plus, our Dojang is covered in mirrors

 

Tang Soo!

[Melody]

lol! I loved the stories But I didn't mean I knock peoples blocks off for coming up behind me and asking for a pencil, I'm talking about when people come up behind me and poke me or surprise me or something. Like my poor little brother yesterday, (I don't know why the little dumb butt did it) but he threw his wallet at me from behind, and I instinctivly turned and landed a side kick in his gut, and knocked him to the floor. He hit his head pretty hard on a wooden decoration thingy my mother has set up. And I just felt really bad because he was crying.