Old egotism

[Menjo]

Is it just me or has anyone else ever been in a dojo and some beginner yet older person thinks they are superior in some way. I wouldn't mind normaly and I would usually let them think what they want, however how are you supposed to react when they dont listen to you when thier supposed to?...

[Anbu Alex]

Yea i know the feelng cause there are some not all new people who come in to my dojo and see me as younger so naturally want to beat on me at that point i let it go cause im there to learn so i just keep training but then if they mess with another new student traning to kill their ego next time we train with each other i show them the difference in our skill level. Dont get me wrong in the end i talk to the person tell him what he did wrong and what he did good so i dont try to put ego in the dojo i just want to train and everyone else to benift from the train without getting hurt

[Menjo]

yea one guy got so mad because of what i did he started hiting my arms with his blocks, then i shouldn't have but started to bring my punches closer and closer to his body, but luckly it ended when we both apologized.

[kchenault]

You are generally going to find that "older" people will not automatically respect younger people. Why? Because in this day and age, younger people don't really know how to show proper respect for their elders. Call me old fashioned, because I am, but giving respect first goes a long way. Having a younger person telling you what to do can be intimidating for someone who is considerablly older. Don't be jerks to them. Earn their respect. This may take the form of beating them at sparring or just by showing patience. The latter being harder than the former because most younger people lack patience in the first place. Take the moral high ground. This is just my opinion, but being probably older than you, I am probably also wiser.

[parkerlineage]

As an instructor, I get that a lot - adult students look down condescendingly at me. Since I don't believe in physical harm (as in my body on theirs) as a motivation - especially as a black belt - and verbal abuse is just as frivilous and unfitting, I generally resort to proving my worth through my instruction/technique. They can see that I deserve the rank I have.

If that doesn't work, a killer warmup that leaves everybody panting and a little sore - other than you, of course (that is, assuming you're in good shape) - generally proves that you're a force to be reckoned with.

But, if you're not an instructor, go with the first option.

Peace;

Parkerlineage

[busling]

A suggestion may be to explain with a fair amount of detail, why you are doing something the way you are doing it.

So instead of saying "perform 10 front kicks, make sure to raise your knee first"

you could say "we are about to do 10 front kicks, when we do a front kick it is important to raise our knee first, this makes it harder for our opponent to read our kick, it also allows us to deliver a stronger kick by combining the legs strength with our hip thrust."

The older person MAY be more inclinded to follow instructions, as the understand why they are doing it. If they are open to new and better ways of doing things.

Of course they may just be an egotisical #^&$&^$ and beyond help

[sdargie]

We occaisionally have issues with this in our dojo all though they always mean well.

There are a few friends of students/instructors that come and visit from time to time who practice "pure" martial arts as opposed to our mixed art. So when we are praciting Aikido, the TKD friend is really confused but when we shift to sparring they get all excited and start teaching those around them.

That isn't to say that we don't bring in friends to teach us some techniques and philosophy of other arts that they study but sometimes you just nod and smile and go back to training the way Sensei told you to.

[DragonMike]

I think it can be difficult for olfer people to respect younger people who are put in leadership positions. If you have a confrontational attitude it will only make the problem more difficult. Let them see your skill through the course of normal workpouts and they will come to respect you.

[Menjo]

thats the whole thing i dont mean to sound ignorant but to honest i dont want thier respect and i dont care what they think about me i only care that it interfers with what iam trying to acomplish in martial arts and i shouldn't have to take my time or even think about or talk to the other person to get them to listen, but thats like asking people to change so considering my personality and the one i have a problem with there probably isnt relly a solution....

[DragonMike]

you say that is like asking someone to change. You may have a confrontational personality, but I bet that you have changed some physically and mentally since you began to train. Its the desire and patience to improve himself that truely defines a Martial Artsist.