Hi there. I've been lurking around this awesome site for a few months but have never posted before. I just started reading about feminism a few months ago when my mom got me "The Feminine Mystique" for my birthday. (Can you tell my mom is great?)
So, as for me, I'm 21 and in college double majoring in German and Painting. (Actually, I've had my heart set on being a writer since I was about two, but my uni's English department is a joke and I need a degree in something to be considered worthwhile in this bloody society.) Anyway, aside from writing my main passion is martial arts (Muay Thai, Okinawan kobudo, Tai Chi and Emei Shequan). I've been training for around fourteen years now and I think I'm pretty lucky in that I haven't encountered much sexism at all; the only incident I can remember is during a Muay Thai class when an obnoxious new guy from another school kept refusing to spar (lightly) with me because he "didn't want to hurt me". (My arjan won my loyalty forever when he paired us up anyway and muttered to me, "Take him down a notch.")
That is, no sexism until yesterday morning.
Before class I usually work out at the campus wellness center for a while, which has an absolutely fantastic combat room. So, yesterday I got there early and had the whole room to myself, and I started working on an Emei/Shaolin snake combo form just for kicks (ooh...bad pun). Snake style is characterized by fingertip and palm strikes to the eyes, throat, ears, groin, etc, and includes a lot of rippling upper body movements that both imitate the actual movements of a snake and work to strengthen the spine and increase general flexibility. (And if you're in an actual fight, you're much harder to hit.)
So, I'm happily doing my form when a guy comes in and starts throwing some clumsy Muay Thai-style round kicks at the weight bag. I moved away to give him more room and kept working, and then out of the blue the guy yells across the room, "Whoa, what is that, stripper style?"
What I thought: What the FUCK?
What I said: Pardon?
Guy: (grins like a moron and makes a weird shimmying motion)
Me: Uh, no, it's snake style.
So I turned around and started practicing again, but the creep decided that instead of being left alone, what I REALLY wanted was a running commentary.
Guy: Man, that is LAME.
Me: What?
Guy: You should be throwing PUNCHES, not that shit! (He makes random swatting motions in the air that don't bear any resemblance to what I was doing.) Don't you know how to PUNCH?
Me: Uh, yeah, and don't you know how to throw a decent round kick? (I point to the bag he was working on.)
The moron decides to laugh it off.
Moron: (idiotic superior voice) Why the hell don't you throw punches then, if you know how?
Me: (getting increasingly pissed off) Because if some asshole attacks me, I'd prefer to gouge out his eyeballs than break my knuckles.
That shut him up for about five seconds, but then he came back with, "Man, that is such a chick thing to do."
Me: (finally losing it) What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
Moron: You know, not real fighting.
That was when the guy's friends came in and I left fuming. (I calmed down after I did some Tai Chi in the locker room.) But other than general jackassery, what the hell was that about? What I don't understand is how this guy felt he had the right to criticise something about which he obviously had no clue, and then dismiss an ENTIRE ART by labeling it a "chick" thing. I really don't know what to make of this.
Any thoughts?
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Gouging someone's eyes out isn't real fighting? So if you gouge his eyes out, can he reasonably charge you with assault?
Challenge him. He insulted your art. I'd say it's grounds.
As far as I can tell from similar incidents in fencing, "girl" fighting involves, you know, strategy and being intelligent, while "guy" fighting involves brute force in large quantities. Works for me, the strategy's the fun part anyway...
Then, you should have walked over and punched the jerk in the face. See, I can make a punch, asshole!
At least, that's what I'd do...but then again I also have anger management issues.
I'd have been sorely tempted to challenge him to a spar, which would have called his bluff.
Dear Desert Dragon,
I see this all the time; practitioners from different styles proclaiming that their style is the best and other styles are shit. There's nothing to do except take it in stride. Afterall, how good can someone be if their ego is that huge? It's a shame that some practitioners have forgotten that it's all about knowing one's self and humility, rather than false bravado and the need to "prove one's self".
Guys like that are a dime a dozen. Maybe he's break his hand when he decides to punch someone in the skull.
I did taekwondo for over a decade. I got a few stupid comments like that from boys that didn't want to admit that a girl could kick their ass. One time in grade 7 a dude kept provoking me, chalenging me to a fight. Eventually he pushed me too far and I punched him. I'm not claiming it was the mature thing to do, but I was young and I was pissed of. Anyway, that shut him up and I guess word spread cause no one else challenged me to a fight or made a comment about how girls can't fight after that.
Aww, I guess the shock of seeing a woman practicing a martial art proved too much for our hero!
To my mind, this kind of silly behaviour in men is usually caused by envy. You just probably were too skilled in what you do.
What an idiot. I've been dating a very serious martial arts student for a couple of years, and one thing I've learned is that the difference between REAL kung fu and bullshit is that real kung fu sometimes looks kind of funny. Snake style is especially different from what you see in the movies. That guy just revealed a lot about how little he knows.