A few misconceptions about real-life Ninjas, cleared up

The BBQ Pit
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“Ninjachick”, you’re not going to like this response, but your post epitomized so much of what is wrong with American-style martial arts. Sigh, where to start. Ok, here goes:

  1. First of all, you’re a teen, still technically a kid. Traditional Japanese/Korean dojos don’t give black belts to kids. American martial arts schools who give out dan ranking to kids are considered to be McDojos at best, and belt-factories at worst.

  2. A first degree black belt means you are now basically a beginner with some skills. That’s all. Nothing to brag about.

  3. You wouldn’t have to answer all these “dumb” questions if you’d just keep your mouth SHUT about taking TKD in the first place. Traditional dojo and sensei always instruct their students to keep their training their “best kept secret”. Whether you want to admit it to yourself or not, telling your friends “crap, I’m late for karate”, is just a way of bragging that you “take karate”. Just say, “crap I’m late for an appointment”. Pretending to “absently bow” when entering your high school homeroom or handing in a test is another example of bragging/attention-seeking behavior. Just stop it.

  4. And speaking of karate, you do NOT take karate, so why are you deliberately calling your style something its not? Then you whine about people thinking you take karate. Here is a hint: Karate is a martial ART of Japanese/Okinawan origin. TKD is a SPORT, of Korean origin. Bragging about being able to “jump up and kick over your head” is typical of the sport-oriented nature of TKD, as such a stunt is all flash, with no power, balance or actual self-defense usefullness. In the time it takes you to bring your foot all the way from the floor to above your head, a true fighter would have had plenty of time to punch you in the throat and walk away.

  5. I’m not even going to get into your “ninja” claims except to say that at 17, it’s way past time for you to put away the teenage mutant ninja turtle comics.

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So now we see the answer is Yes, martial arts DOES beat the humor out of you in some fashion…

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:: applause ::

You have a choice Ninjachick. Either quit making it so blatantly obvious that you are obsessed with your ‘passion’

or lose the attitude when people have the ‘gall’ to ask you about it

124

Exactly my point. I have been a student of a traditional Japanese martial art for many years, and have worked at the same job all that time. Only my immediate family and one close friend even knows about my training. And certainly NO ONE at work knows. Why? Because it’s my private business.

Our sensei has a saying…“anyone who brags about being a black belt…isn’t”. :o)

125

So we already knew that the purpose of a ninja is to flip out and kill people. But did y’all realize that ninjas have a secondary purpose – to rob Norwegian gas stations and ride away on a bicycle?

Totally sweet.

As for wolfsbane et al, get a grip. It’s a little hard to take your criticisms –

–seriously, when they’re followed up with:

Live and goddam let live, will ya? Fights over which side of the bread is buttered reflect well on neither combatant. Especially when you’re castigating a seventeen-year-old for acting like a fertheloveagod teenager.

Daniel

126

The maybe said teenager shouldn’t act like she’s the be all end all of martial arts, incapable of communicating with the great unwashed in regards to her passion? Perhaps she should cut her fellow teenagers a bit of fucking slack when they ask her about her hobbies?

Could that be possible?

127

jarbaby, you’re a grownup, right? Can you cut teenagers a bit of fucking slack?

I’d hope so; and just as I’d politely ask her to cut her fellow teens some slack, I’d ask you to cut her some. It’s one thing to discuss it gently with her, it’s another thing to flip out at her over it.

Being patient with ignorance is a learned skill; very few folks have it innately. Being horrible to her because she’s not learned it yet is unnecessary.

And given that she said in her OP that a black belt meant she was beginning to learn her art, I hardly think it’s fair to characterize her as saying that she’s the be-all and end-all of martial arts.

I’m just sayin’ there’s no cause for being so mean, is all.

Daniel

128

Hmmmm, lemme see. Snotty attitude because the rest of the world doesn’t understand every nuance of what you have studied for years? And doesn’t care? And thinks your chosen skill is some sort of joke?

So what you are saying is that being a ninja is a lot like being a LINUX geek except it pays less and hurts more?

:smiley:

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Left Hand of Dorkness, your argument is absurd. You are just as anonymous as me and everyone else here. I was using my real life situation as an example of the behavior expected of traditional martial arts students, i.e. keeping your training/belt rank, etc to oneself. Hypocrisy/bragging would be if I signed my post with my real name, and belt rank. Sheesh.

130

So I have to change my behavior but she can continue claiming to be a real life ninja and be exasperated with lowly beginner teens (peers) that don’t know as much as she does?

I hope you direct that to her as well. I don’t coddle people just because they’re younger than me. She came in her claiming that those at lesser level of development than her (in martial arts at least) were not worth her time. Why should I treat her like she’s an angel?

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Another comment about kiddie “black belts”:

Most children are much too immature to treat the rank with respect. It’s just too tempting for them to engage in the same type of bragging that ninjachick is doing. And predictably including some show-offy behavior at school like trying to use their “karate” on some kid in an attempt to impress their friends. Ninjachick admits to getting suspended from school for a week for doing this very thing back in 8th grade. These Mcdojos are really doing kids a disservice.

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Huh? You quoted me saying, “just as I’d politely ask her to cut her fellow teens some slack…” Was that too oblique or something?

First, I didn’t see such a claim; second, I’m not asking you to treat her like an angel. I’m just asking you to treat her like a human.

Wolfsbane, excuse my French, but you’re buggering a fly’s ass with that fine distinction between anonymous boasting and non-anonymous boasting. If you’re going to chastize an anonymous person for not keeping their martial arts secret, even though you have no reason to think their sports-club asks them to do so, it’s a little silly for you to be boasting about your own martial arts, in apparent violation of your own rules. Even though you’re anonymous, it still came across boastful; and I’m skeptical whether your dojo’s rules exempted the Internet from places where you were to keep your training secret.

Daniel

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Here’s a word for word quote from point FOUR of her diatribe against people asking her questions:

Sounds a bit condescending and arrogant to me, especially to someone her own age who probably just had a passing interest in her.

I don’t know about you but when someone asks me about my love of yoga or cooking, I could sit and talk about it all day. I’m grateful that people are interested.

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Huh. That’s funny - I’m exactly the opposite. Everyone at work knows about my practice, and everyone at church. Why? Because it’s such an integral part of my life that it would be conversationally awkward not to let it out. (I give my boss, who plays over-forty soccer, a hard time 'cause he gets hurt a lot more than I do, even sparring and grappling.)

I can’t imagine not sharing the benefits I get from the practice of Martial Arts with people. I find most people are genuinely interested, if a little bit misinformed, about what it’s all about.

My kids have always been instructed to keep their practice quiet, but that’s because kids are – well, kids. And yeah, schoolyard bullies will want to “test” a Kung Fu Kid. But my son is a sophomore in high school now, and as the circle of his friends who know of his practice has grown, he’s found the pre-teen posturing of middle school has pretty much fallen away. Some kids do ballet after school, some play hockey – he practices Kung Fu. No big deal (except his friends think his broadsword is 'way cool).

I’m with you there, and it’s a good quote. But in between bragging and secrecy, there’s a lot of ground for sharing the benefits of Martial Arts with folks.

135

Damn. I never thought my RAM thread would have competition, but here it is.

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I just love watching you karate assholes brag about your martial arts while belittling each other for bragging about their martial arts. Makes me feel better about being a couch potato.

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I wonder if ninjachick works here after school?

http://www.ninjaburger.com/

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My closest experience to hers was probably being a Pagan as a teenager. Part of it was a deep and sincere attempt on my part to understand and find meaning in the world; part of it, as I suspected even then, was directed toward the outside world.

Some folks could ask me questions about Paganism and I’d be very respectful to them and would love to talk with them about it. “Do you worship Greek Gods? Do you actually believe in Gods? Do you believe in magic? Ooh, ever read any Gerald Gardner? Are you Wicca?” That’s all fine.

Other questions, though, drove me batty. “So you’re like a Satanist, huh? Do you, snicker, sacrifice chickens? Oooh, are you gonna cast a hoodoo on me?”

When people asked questions that demonstrated respectful curiosity, I was usually all too happy to talk about it (despite the fact that some traditionalists would look down their nose at me and try to tell me that True Pagans kept the Craft a secret). But when people asked me if I was gonna cast a hoodoo on them, I was like as not to say, “Cross me and I will.”

Was that wise? Was that diplomatic? Probably not. But hell, I was seventeen, and I hadn’t learned to be patient yet with ignorance.

Nowadays I occasionally get someone who finds out I’m an atheist and triumphantly challenges me with Pascal’s Wager, as if they’re little Mr. Cleverness who’s got a foolproof argument against atheism. Rather than mouthing off to them, I’ll discuss it politely and reasonably with them. But hell, I’m not seventeen any more.

Maybe you don’t cut people slack for their age. I do. I figure that teens are likely to be pretty impatient with ignorance, and middle-age fuddy-duddies are likely to be pretty unforgiving of youthful excitedness, and old people are likely to forget my name sometimes. It’s not a set of general rules, but it serves me well enough.

Daniel

139

I cut people slack based on their attitude. 5 Years old or fifty. ninja seems snotty, so why does she deserve my kindest replies? I was never cut slack like that when I was a teenager. I was always caleld on my idiocy. One of my biggest faults I guess is failing to understand why I have to be nice to everyone when they get to be dicks.

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Cuz you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

If she said she were going around beating the shit out of people who questioned her martial arts, then sure, be harsh. But she didn’t. She described people asking her a bunch of repetitive and disrespectful questions, and ended by saying, “this is too complicated for you.”

Let’s review what this came at the end of:

Sounds to me like she’s frustrated both with all the questions and with her inability to explain the complexities in a way that makes sense to her audience. Sure, she shouldn’t say, shouldn’t even think, “this is too complicated for you.” But that’s hardly a grotesque fault.

All I’m sayin’ is that you could stand a little more diplomacy in your responses to her. You don’t gotta be, but that fly thing stands.

Daniel