Rhymes With...
Today I met... The Stereotype.
THE gen-yoo-whine article, my first real-life in-my-face Martial Arts Student Stereotype.
Excerpt of conversation, which began on the floor because I'd sort of imparted the 'be quiet' clue during the previous class's seiza:
MASS: Are you a beginner?
Me: No, I've been around a couple of months.
MASS: I'm new. I guess I have to learn to be quiet during class.
Me: Well, during seiza, certainly, but it's nothing to be too heavy-handed about.
MASS: I guess it's part of that 'respect others' thing.
Me: *laughter*
So, then, I forget how he made the segueway, but he started going on about other martial arts and how he really likes them, and he mentioned a bunch of weapons that we don't use at our school, but which I told him he could certainly get instruction for at other schools. He also waxed rhapsodic about cardio-kickboxing, a sport for which I've inherited an extremely negative bias from Mary.
MASS: Did you know there's another school in town that teaches how to be a ninja???
Me: *eyes very wide* Is that so?
MASS: Yeah, it's down the street and they really teach you how to be a NINJA.
Me: I'm sure that takes a very long time.
MASS: I wanna learn how to use throwing stars. But those are illegal in Massachusetts. Stores can't even *sell* them.
Me: *smiling, nodding, backing away slowly*
MASS: I can get them in New Hampshire, and in New York's chinatown.
Me: *trying to look very busy stretching*
MASS: Some kinds of numb-chucks [sic] are too hard to be legal, too!
Me: *mumble*
MASS: I like to dress up as a ninja for halloween. That mask and everything... it's really cool.
Me: *eyes round as saucers* *kiba-dachi* *stare at floor*
Fortunately someone else took up the gauntlet and continued the conversation with him, so I didn't have to maintain a straight face much longer. The guy was super nice, though, just REALLY enthusiastic.
During class it got even funnier, though. Throughout warmups, nearly everything we did elicited heavy sighs and grunts and groans. I swear to god I thought he must be having colon problems back in the second row. Then when we did basics, his kiai was straight out of the kung fu flicks. Sensei, to his credit, did NOT laugh. He just made his way to the second row to tell MASS that kiai should be shorter. And shortly thereafter, the class's senior student went over and showed him how a few times, since the "shorter" suggestion didn't really achieve the desired effect. It was great. I forgot all about how my thighs were burning and my hip flexors were on fire.
Since I was among the more experienced people in baby class today, I tried to be super precise (only middlin' success) and a good example for the new students (better luck with that). I was interviewing during big kids class, so had to go to baby class only, which bummed me out. They're in their second week or something, so while it's very useful for me to go back and get the newbie information that I may not remember so well, I really wanted two classes today.
Biggest cool thing of today's training: I learned koh-kutsu-dachi from the beginning, again. That may help clear up the problems I'm having with shuto-uke in my kata.
In the dressing room after class, I heard one of the black belts talking with MASS. He was once again excitedly reciting the list of every single martial art he'd ever heard about and saying how he wanted to learn this one, and that one, and the other one. Black belt said that once you get really really good at one of them, then is a good time to investigate a new one, but otherwise it's like learning a bunch of foreign languages and not being able to converse in any of them. MASS fervently agreed, and then said, "And cardio-kickboxing, I can't wait to try that!"
I guess there's one in every dojo.
THE gen-yoo-whine article, my first real-life in-my-face Martial Arts Student Stereotype.
Excerpt of conversation, which began on the floor because I'd sort of imparted the 'be quiet' clue during the previous class's seiza:
MASS: Are you a beginner?
Me: No, I've been around a couple of months.
MASS: I'm new. I guess I have to learn to be quiet during class.
Me: Well, during seiza, certainly, but it's nothing to be too heavy-handed about.
MASS: I guess it's part of that 'respect others' thing.
Me: *laughter*
So, then, I forget how he made the segueway, but he started going on about other martial arts and how he really likes them, and he mentioned a bunch of weapons that we don't use at our school, but which I told him he could certainly get instruction for at other schools. He also waxed rhapsodic about cardio-kickboxing, a sport for which I've inherited an extremely negative bias from Mary.
MASS: Did you know there's another school in town that teaches how to be a ninja???
Me: *eyes very wide* Is that so?
MASS: Yeah, it's down the street and they really teach you how to be a NINJA.
Me: I'm sure that takes a very long time.
MASS: I wanna learn how to use throwing stars. But those are illegal in Massachusetts. Stores can't even *sell* them.
Me: *smiling, nodding, backing away slowly*
MASS: I can get them in New Hampshire, and in New York's chinatown.
Me: *trying to look very busy stretching*
MASS: Some kinds of numb-chucks [sic] are too hard to be legal, too!
Me: *mumble*
MASS: I like to dress up as a ninja for halloween. That mask and everything... it's really cool.
Me: *eyes round as saucers* *kiba-dachi* *stare at floor*
Fortunately someone else took up the gauntlet and continued the conversation with him, so I didn't have to maintain a straight face much longer. The guy was super nice, though, just REALLY enthusiastic.
During class it got even funnier, though. Throughout warmups, nearly everything we did elicited heavy sighs and grunts and groans. I swear to god I thought he must be having colon problems back in the second row. Then when we did basics, his kiai was straight out of the kung fu flicks. Sensei, to his credit, did NOT laugh. He just made his way to the second row to tell MASS that kiai should be shorter. And shortly thereafter, the class's senior student went over and showed him how a few times, since the "shorter" suggestion didn't really achieve the desired effect. It was great. I forgot all about how my thighs were burning and my hip flexors were on fire.
Since I was among the more experienced people in baby class today, I tried to be super precise (only middlin' success) and a good example for the new students (better luck with that). I was interviewing during big kids class, so had to go to baby class only, which bummed me out. They're in their second week or something, so while it's very useful for me to go back and get the newbie information that I may not remember so well, I really wanted two classes today.
Biggest cool thing of today's training: I learned koh-kutsu-dachi from the beginning, again. That may help clear up the problems I'm having with shuto-uke in my kata.
In the dressing room after class, I heard one of the black belts talking with MASS. He was once again excitedly reciting the list of every single martial art he'd ever heard about and saying how he wanted to learn this one, and that one, and the other one. Black belt said that once you get really really good at one of them, then is a good time to investigate a new one, but otherwise it's like learning a bunch of foreign languages and not being able to converse in any of them. MASS fervently agreed, and then said, "And cardio-kickboxing, I can't wait to try that!"
I guess there's one in every dojo.