How to get demoted...on purpose!

[GrrrArg]

I always heard that the knot of the belt had to go to the left hand side to make it a challenge to your instructor (maybe its both).

 

I remember once whilst we were sparring my instructor thought we looked a little hot so he went round squirting people with a spray bottle full of water-he stopped when I grabbed a bottle of water and hammered the side-thus drenching him. After he had finished chasing me around the dojo we all had a good laugh about it - this isn't/wasn't usual practice by any means it was just one of those days where everyone was in a funny mood - nothing bad or disrispectful about it as far as any of us could see.

[sethgraham]

heh i have one of the most laid back schools i've ever seen

 

people play around all the time

 

the only thing i can think of that i have done and was disrespectful was forgetting to say sir or mam (sp? lol) to my black belt teachers

[battousai16]

every now and then, during one of the afternoon classes (the layed back classes), i always get the urge to come in all black with a trench coat and sunglasses, refer to myself as neo (and not respond to anything else, except maybe the one), and refuse to do any techniques, saying they are all a waist of my time as it's alla computer simulation.

 

though i have done one thing, actually several times, that nearly gets me demoted everytime. after every test we have an oral exam where the master asks you some questions about your interpretation of the creed and what you've been doing and your goals, etc. well, i've found that, without even realising it, i have a tendancy to, well, maybe smart off a bit. for the last one, we were asked how we have trust and brother hood among friends, and i turned to my friend who was standing next to me and said "i lend them money, even when they don't pay it back" and i said the last part in a really annoyed tone and i look and one of the instructors had an appalled look on his face. in the test before that it had gone so far so that my instructor sighed, put his head in his hands and said "no ben, no".

 

i don't even think of it as smarting off until i leave the building

[Fenris-wolf]

 

Man, my dojo is sooo relaxed. At Muay Thai, anyway. I always push boundaries with our instructor (not disrespectfully, he's a natural * and so am I), which sometimes earns push-ups, but he seems to appreciate it.

 

Like when I was sitting snuggled up between my classmates on his couch watching fight videos and I'm like "Maark...?"

 

"Yes?"

 

"Can you bring me the coke?" Everyone laughed at me and made jokes about burpees, but he did it.

 

Although I started Judo recently, and while I know them all so it's pretty relaxed, I don't think I could be as sarcastic as I am at Muay Thai.

[GrrrArg]

Im in an even more difficult place because I train with different instructors at the same club on different nights of the week so its hard to remember that some don't like any messing at all and some like a bit of p*ss taking. Also one instructor takes me for two classes, one of which is senior training were im really not allowed to mess so I have to bite my tongue sometimes..

[Kamidake]

 

My teacher's a good sport. Jinenkan requires their teachers to wear hakama. Those of you who have seen hakama know how they swirl and flow. The first night I met him I said, "Wow! That would make a good belly dance skirt!" Not only did he not boot me out, he even tried a couple of steps!

 

http://users.telenet.be/eforum/emoticons4u/party/bellyemoticon.gif

[battousai16]

"Im in an even more difficult place because I train with different instructors at the same club on different nights of the week so its hard to remember that some don't like any messing at all and some like a bit of p*ss taking. "

 

i hear that, i have about six instructors (2 of them are usually there at the same time, sometimes 3), and it's the same thing. except they usually for the most part kind spirited and don't mind some joking around. it's the school on the east side of madison where you have to be serious or risk a smack to the forhead...

[Kamidake]

Push-ups? You're paying these people AND letting them order you to do push-ups? What are they, frustrated drill sergeants? Is this common?

 

I like the rabbit suit idea. Our class must be very relaxed. I have a feeling that if I did show up in a rabbit suit, my teacher would just tell me to do some technique, and then say his favorite phrase, "Do it again." Or possibly, in that situation, he might say, "Do it again, Harvey." We have quite a bit of fun in our class, possibly because it's so small. If there were 30 of us, we would probably have to be a bit more regimented just to keep things on course and accomplish what we want to accomplish. Then again, the classes out front, which DO all have between 20-30 people, seem to be having a good time too. I guess it just depends on the personality of the teacher.

[Valithor]

Push-ups? You're paying these people AND letting them order you to do push-ups? What are they, frustrated drill sergeants? Is this common?

 

Depends whether you're learning martial arts or going to knitting classes (j/k)

 

Some classes have a high degree of discipline. Nothing wrong with doing pushups either. Most students are paying to learn - many kids are sent along to learn discipline. Its important for the instructor to have a variety of behaviour-management strategies. In any case, pushups work well for adults too. Discipline helps focus and maximises the learning process.

 

Remember as well that most attackers will not be in a joking mood, so its probably a good thing to train under some degree of duress.

I guess it just depends on the personality of the teacher.

 

Yes indeed. Some of them prefer squat-kicks, sumo stance or burpees..

 

:D:D

[Kamidake]

Well, there are no kids in my class. We're all grown-ups. Although I notice that Sensei out front, who has plenty of kids in HIS classes, isn't wasting class time on having everybody do push-ups either. Still sounds to me like those teachers are living out drill-sergeant fantasies. However, if you want to pay somebody to pretend he's a drill sergeant and you're Private Benjamin, it's OK with me. It's your money. Enjoy yourselves!

 

Incidentally, Sensei out front has a military background, so he probably doesn't see anything particularly glamorous about push-ups. Coming from a military background myself (Army brat and civilian DOD employee), I don't either. Maybe to people who have no experience with the real thing, those drill-sergeant fantasies are indeed exotic and interesting and worth the money. Takes all kinds, and while I don't understand the appeal of same, I don't see anything wrong with it, either, as long as both parties are happy. But my teacher prefers to spend class time, and I prefer to spend my money, on take-downs rather than push-ups! And we get all the stress we need in regular class. Jinenkan's not easy to learn. Sensei out front, who's taught wado-ryu karate for 20 years, was telling me how difficult it was. (God bless him. His remarks made me feel a bit less dorky about how long it's taking me to catch on to this stuff!)