Insulting his manliness?

[Kieran-Lilith]

I don't even have a black belt and I get that..."Hey, Judo-Girl, wanna fight with us? I bet you could kick our butts (they actually use a different word), couldn't you?"

"Soandso doesn't think you could kick his butt. You're just a girl."

Me: Stare. Blink. "I don't fight. Have a nice day. Bye." Walk away.

[Whitefeather]

Well, I definetively ain't a girl, so I really can not give that perspective, but, if a girl were to say that she had a black belt, I would just be like "Ya, thats all cool," even if I was not in martial arts. Whenever somebody finds out that I am a black belt, they always do the "So you're like a master and could kick my butt?" thing, so I do not think that is a plague which burdens only karatekas of the female gender. Like the rest of y'all, I just find it easiest to not let people know that I even do karate.

Tidings and Ridances,

David

[Blackbeltblonde]

I'm so glad you all get the same reactions I do! I hate when people try matching me up for fights so they can see my skill.. I do much of the same reaction that Kieran has!... I particularly enjoy the "blink"

~BBB

[Nick_sam]

i'm with whitefeather. my girlfriend is a black belt in karate and i think its great. yes, i do feel somewhat the need to keep up with her (tho i know i definately cant!), but that for me really is not an issue at all nor is it something i worry about. i actually really admire her for it.

it all depends on who you are and the people you mix with. martial arts is just something that you do, and if someone wants to make an issue of it, thats their choice. i mean, people even say to me, someone with less than a year's martial arts experience "so you can kick my butt then.." i can assure you, we're all in a similar boat. and if someone does feel threatened (without valid reason) and gets hostile by the fact that someone of the opposite sex is a martial artist, then thats their problem and not worth a response.

[Whitefeather]

if someone does feel threatened (without valid reason) and gets hostile by the fact that someone of the opposite sex is a martial artist, then thats their problem and not worth a response.

AMEN, BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!

[Blackbeltblonde]

Thanks guys!

~BBB

[ebff]

I know more female black belts (in mostly karate and TKD) than male, and yes at first I was a bit scared by the thing, cos black belts have a reputation in the non-MA world of being these invincible warriors to be feared but eventually I came to realise that these people got their black belt through a lot of hard work and were generally very mature and very nice, but of course they'd never ever hit you. Now whenever I hear a friend has a black belt in something (never from the person him/herself mind) I think of it as a really good thing, as opposed to something to fear.

But yeah, I think the idea that a woman (especially a smaller and thinner woman) can beat them up with ease will make most guys instinctively feel scared hence the comments! Maybe it's better not to tell anybody about your BB?

[Blackbeltblonde]

LOL thanks ebff Yeah, at my college a couple of my good friends spread it around cause they think it's great.. Which is fine now that most of them are my students! But either way I think it's an interesting topic on how people handle MA.. whether they're in it, or have only seen it in movies.

~BBB

[Sohan]

I think it's great to see women as blackbelts. When you consider that women weren't even permitted to vote in my country (USA) a hundred years ago, it's astonishing to see how far we've progressed.

Still have a long way to go.

With respect,

Sohan

[Blackbeltblonde]

Thanks Sohan. I guess I don't really think about how "far we've come" in terms of what I'm allowed and not allowed to do as a woman. In terms of the martial arts it was such a family thing (not forced) to do martial arts that I've never really thought about doing anything differently

~BBB