I'm sick of people pressuming karate is just "chopping up wood and bricks". Some of my friends say that when in actual fact karate is a lot more than that, as you may know.

Does this ever happen to you?

Yes. It probably always will happen, too. The part of humanity that does not actually study a martial art (the majority) often have no interest in learning about them, either. Most will be content to believe it is all about what is shown in the movies.

The most common response that people exhibit when learning that I do karate is making some sort of knife hand imitation with both hands, usually accompanied with movement and an approximation of a sing-song kiai sound.

But then again, that's the same as me saying golf is little more than people hitting a small ball with a stick into a small hole. I say this facetiously because I am terrible at golf, nor do I find it interesting.

Certainly I try and explain at length about what karate or martial arts are (as evidenced by my addiction...I mean, presence on martial arts forums), but not everyone has the capacity or the desire to understand.

As with most things in life, it's best not to get fed up when faced with these situations. There are far more important things to think about, like ensuring that your karate isn't just "chopping up wood and bricks".

Ye, it really does annoy me and when i say it involves alot more they tend to not even care.

Yes. I always have to tell them that I also chop some glass and stones as well.

one of the girls up where I work found out that I teach karate, and she said, "Cool, you know karate? Karate that desk!"

how the heck can you karate a desk?

Most often I'll have people ask me how many boards I can break. I tell them "I've never broken a board yet...but I have broken a few peoples arms, legs and cracked a back once."

That usually shuts them up.

Then of course, I explain to them that I was kidding. I don't want people thinking I'm someone they have to be afraid of.

one of the girls up where I work found out that I teach karate, and she said, "Cool, you know karate? Karate that desk!"

how the heck can you karate a desk?

Haha, thats so funny.

one of the girls up where I work found out that I teach karate, and she said, "Cool, you know karate? Karate that desk!"

how the heck can you karate a desk?

Dude, I can't help but lmao at this. Most people I know just think karate means ''i can smash things with my hands and feet.''

I normally get a loud 'hayaaaa' with some knife hand chopping movement when i go to work and called things like 'daniel san'!