Recognizing Another MAist!!

[sensei8]

How do YOU recognize another MAist, one that you don't know, outside of their MA environment??

By their mannerisms? By how they carry themselves? By their physical features? By how they speak?

Well, I suppose it's true...One can recognize its own kind!! However, is it that easy to tell?

[Spartacus Maximus]

I am a traditional karateka, so I will be drawn to look at hands for any sign of regular and sustained impact. Even if there are no obvious marks such as hardened callouses, it tends to show if someone regularly strikes something with their hands.

Besides that, MAist usually have a keener awareness and manner of moving that is different from regular people.

[Kusotare]

I am a traditional karateka, so I will be drawn to look at hands for any sign of regular and sustained impact. Even if there are no obvious marks such as hardened callouses, it tends to show if someone regularly strikes something with their hands.

I don't know? I've been a martial artists and a Karate-ka for 30 years and my hands / knuckles are completely un-marked.

To the OP's question though, I don't think it is easy to recognise another practitioner, first, because martial arts is such a broad church and secondly, if they are like me, most decent martial artists would rather not display that trait.

K.

[Wastelander]

Sometimes I can tell, and sometimes I can't. I honestly can't say how I identify it, either. If someone comes to class, for the first time, it's really easy to see if they have previous training or not, just by the way they move.

[sensei8]

I am a traditional karateka, so I will be drawn to look at hands for any sign of regular and sustained impact. Even if there are no obvious marks such as hardened callouses, it tends to show if someone regularly strikes something with their hands.

I don't know? I've been a martial artists and a Karate-ka for 30 years and my hands / knuckles are completely un-marked.

To the OP's question though, I don't think it is easy to recognise another practitioner, first, because martial arts is such a broad church and secondly, if they are like me, most decent martial artists would rather not display that trait.

K.

I wholeheartedly concur!!

To the bold type above...

I believe that most MAists can't be identified by sheer appearance; that that's what a MAist strives for.

[jaypo]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned cauliflower ear!!

In all honesty, I came across a guy that I know that runs a BJJ school in town. I knew him already, but I remember the look in his eye. It was a look of quiet confidence. It almost screamed "I know that I'm the baddest man in this shopping center" without him having to say it.

[Harkon72]

I think that being able to recognize another martial artist by the way they look or move is a myth. Maybe your body type or gait can give you away but from my experience, it is unlikely. One of my teachers, Arthur Lock, looks like an aging hippie, relatively small and wiry with piercing eyes. You would just about expect him to start singing an Irish folk tune or a lewd sea shanty after a few glasses of stout. But don't be fooled, his hands are lightening quick and his footwork is efficient and clever. Give him a knife or a stick and he could leave a trail of destruction. Mr Lock is just an example of a guy where your underestimation is something he knows very well.

[tallgeese]

As jaypo mentioned, in my circles its usually (but not always) the cauliflower ear! Past that, it's the seemingly never ending trail of gym, style, and competition shirts and hoodies that seem to be a bulk of my wardrobe despite the fact I really don't remember where I got them from.

[Harkon72]

Yes, I didn't mention clothing; if you wear your club hoodie or tapout shirt in certain parts of town; you're signaling that you are looking for trouble. It just isn't done.

[tallgeese]

Yes, I didn't mention clothing; if you wear your club hoodie or tapout shirt in certain parts of town; you're signaling that you are looking for trouble. It just isn't done.

Then I would avoid those neighborhoods to begin with