Ever feel really wierd?

[doubletwist]

... And then someone commented.

 

I noticed that i actually liked the fact someone noticed, which made me realize that these actions may not merely be practice, but an opportunity to advertise.

 

See, I take the angle that I actually worry a little about people noticing. Aside from the fact that I'm a pretty shy person to begin with, I worry that some one will either think I'm trying to "show off", thus giving MA a little bit of a bad rap; or worse, that some punk will see me and decide he wants to try and prove something.I may be training to fight, but I'd really rather not have to, especially over something so trivial.

 

DT

[Drunken Monkey]

i think i've it drummed into me 'not to advertise'.

 

i was told that martial arts is a dangerous thing.

 

it makes you think you can beat everyone and it makes everyone want to try and beat you.

 

that said, when buses stop suddenly and someone is about to come crashing towards me, nothing like a lan sau/wu sau to stop them without hurting them also.

 

but it's not just martial arts that creep into everyday movements.

 

i do a little card magic and some other slights and i've been told that all of my little hand movements,

 

like geting change out of my pocket,

 

always look like i'm doing something fishy....

[gojuchad]

yeah all the time if i have an idle moment and i become bored my mind automatically turns to karate. I guess im a dork for this type of stuff guess im at the right place Just playing everyone.

[Kaminari]

I lost count of how many times I do this a long time ago. During dull moments I'll find myself kicking or doing katas, hand movements, etc. When in public places I'll run through techniques in my head. It's surprising how many others do this kind of thing as well.

[White Warlock]

See, I take the angle that I actually worry a little about people noticing. Aside from the fact that I'm a pretty shy person to begin with, I worry that some one will either think I'm trying to "show off", thus giving MA a little bit of a bad rap; or worse, that some punk will see me and decide he wants to try and prove something. I may be training to fight, but I'd really rather not have to, especially over something so trivial.

Aye, and that's my point. I too don't want others to notice, to get the impression i'm showing off, or want to encourage some njub to bounce off my chest.

 

And yet, i still do these things in public, as do you... and as does Drunken Monkey.

 

So while our goal may not be to advertise, there does seem to be an underlying intent with our actions. For we still do these things in public (in the presence or witness of others), and yet not more than to consider them a 'spurt' of, "Watch me. Oop, did i do that?"

 

You see, there is something there. Something that shouldn't be happening. Something...

 

We do these things for a reason, and not merely because, "it's there."

 

Brings up a memory. I recall the times i would attack trees with hand/arm strike/block combinations. I would do this while walking, and not missing a step, usually in the company of a friend or acquaintance. I recall most of the time they would look at me odd, or make some derogatory comment, and i would respond with, "it looked at me funny."

 

In those times, it seems i may have been attempting to 'show my wares' or 'initiate discussion about martial arts.' I frankly can't step back in time on these things, and determine specific intent, for intent was quite a fuzzy navel whenever such actions were involved.

 

But, what does stick in mind, is that it continues to happen. I still do these things. Subtle, not so blatant, and rarely with the intent to give anyone around me a degree of discomfort... but still... something...

[jarrettmeyer]

I've read this post for a few days now, and all I can think about is how funny all of this is. But I will offer another point of view.

 

I, too, work in a warehouse, and I find myself occasionally setting a box in place with a series of backhands.

 

I do have a few motivations. Sometimes, it's experimental: Can I get a sidekick up to the 4th shelf? (Not quite.) Can I punch this steel door hard enough to open it and make it hit the backstop? (Wow, doesn't hurt.) But most of the times, it's because I miss being at the dojo. How demented is that? I miss not being in class. I miss not being drenched in my own sweat. I miss not practicing. I miss not improving (or at least trying to improve).

 

For me, there's something with martial arts that I never felt with other activities. The first thread I ever posted was "Why do you do MA?" Line for line, almost everybody said, "It's part of who I am now." Given the number of posters who have all said roughly the same thing, I think that this is part of the learning phase of MA. Whether you're 2 months or 20 years years into this phase, it sounds like it's just something you do.

[White Warlock]

Whether you're 2 months or 20 years years into this phase, it sounds like it's just something you do.

But most of the times, it's because I miss being at the dojo.

*hands Jarrettmeyer the kewpie doll*

 

Hehe

[Drunken Monkey]

"there does seem to be an underlying intent with our actions"

 

but most of the time, it's not a conscious thing and it is far froma display of martial prowess.

 

going back to me fishing change out of my pocket;

 

i do it in a certain way because it is more or less habit/reflex.

 

y'know, it comes from having done it too many times trying to get it smooth and quick and clean.

 

it's not really as overt as performing chunks of form as i walk.

 

rather, it just looks slightly out of the ordinary.

 

the same for when i handle a deck of cards.

 

it looks normal except the is an added precision to it.

 

y'know, everything looks the same.

 

every cut i make, every time i flip the deck to shuffle, every card i draw off the top, every time i pick up the deck or hand it to someone;

 

i use the same motions.

 

no one, unless they know what/why i'm doing something will actually know what it is.

 

and i do it that way because that way is 'normal' for me.

 

of course, that is handling a deck of cards.

 

with martial arts, i know it's slightly different.

 

i've been told that i hold my wrists in an odd way, um... kinda like i have stiff wrists and this has an effect on how i generally move and do 'normal' things.

 

but again, like the card handling, unless you know what it is about my movement that is strange, you're not really going to know that i do a martial art.

 

like i said, it's not as if i am performing outright martial arts moves in the open.

 

it's just my 'normal' way of moving.

 

i'm not going to lie and say that i'm not aware of the things i do.

 

i am fully aware that it might look odd;

 

point is, in terms of moving and doing things, the 'normal' way no longer feels 'right'.

 

i push open a door by placing my forearm low, elbow in and just walking, letting my hip structure and me moving forward do the work.

 

it is easier and 'normal' for me to do this.

 

then again, i'm pretty sure the style you train in has something to do with this as well......

[Keumgang]

Just last night, when I was in Walmart, I was practicing my roundhouse kick on a pillar in the store.

[kotegashiNeo]

I constantly have conversations in cat stance while visualizing yoko geri from san se ryu