Why is the average person so ignorant about martial arts?

Question

Why is it that everyone seems to think that practicing martial arts is just like they see in the movies? I am in high school and have been practicing martial arts for many years. Whenever I mention to someone that I practice martial arts, they will say something ignorant like "so can you beat me up?" or something of a similar nature. Why is it that people are unable to understand that martial arts are not about fighting at all? Does anyone else notice these things?

Of course, I am not saying that martial arts has nothing to do with fighting. It's more that it was never meant as an offensive art. Hundreds of years ago it was learned for self-defence, though in modern times it's not even always about that. One could say that traditional martial arts are about not fighting.

It also bothers me how many people will sign up for lessons in the martial arts, only to quit a month later. They find that they are not being taught how to "fight" so to speak, and do not make the effort to learn what the art is really about, and what it's teachings ecompass.

Answer 1

Oh yeah man I know exactly what you mean that stigma has ALWAYS been around even from way back when the Martial Arts first began I assume in their respective countries and later to the early days of people training in the U.S. so it's gonna be no different today than they will be in the future or in the past.

But that's the way people see it "oh you know Karate oohhh show me what you can do" or "you think you're so tough just because you take Karate, you think you can take me in a fight?"

been there, done that, as I'm sure many other Martial Artists who've trained over the years have been faced with that problem.

It's my feeling that these people put the Martial Arts down and any one who actually Has a vested interest in it because since they've had no interest in studying any MA discipline or they have heard any rumors about MA that they don't have an understanding of it or even be afraid of what it means to truly BE a Martial Artist.

Often I hear "Oh you got your a** kicked because you didn't know how to fight so you took Karate so you could learn how to?" and I tell them no that was not the reason.

it's something that when you participate, and are receptive to it, it becomes a part of you and something you love to do whether it's a hobby, exercise, or learning to become a better person from it.

Martial Arts is essentially about fighting, but not as an offensive sport as people have this stigma of believing and these "haters" think they look cool or make themselves feel better and look good in front of other people by putting it down or making a smart remark (which often shows their ignorance in my opinion more quickly) about it.

it's all about defending yourself, your family, friends, or those who cannot defend themselves.

but it's also about enriching your life, both physically and mentally to become a better individual in society.

but there's always gonna be those who're gonna rag on Martial Arts in general; calling it gay or useless, or mythical and mystical simply because they don't truly understand it, and even within Martial Arts, there's those who think that their discipline is better than any other or that again, a stigma that has come from an unfounded source has rooted in their minds about a particular Martial Art so naturally they have formed a negative attitude towards it when every Martial Art has it's strength and weakness.

but it all comes down to the training of the individual to be the best he or she can possibly be in their discipline.

In the end I always invite them to come up and watch a class to see for themselves what we do.

"With our clenched fists, we could not shake hands."

Answer 2

Yes, it does. Even more than that is the bias against martial arts in general. I often hear many sports jocks argue that martial arts is useless and they would be thrown to the ground. Then, most martial artists look at sports jocks as egotistical wimps. You can't compare the "1st seed of the football team" to some skinny twerp who just got his blue belt. Nor can you compare a high level "real" martial artist to some delusional baseball player... if everyone would stop comparing the elites to the average joe things would be more logical. Unfortunately humans are idiots and that will never happen. Though, there are differences in martial arts. I practiced Shaolin Kenpo whole-heartedly for a few years before we moved and I enrolled at Taekwondo. I was completely out of shape as we did not do much conditioning (USSD, go figure) but the difference in style was huge.... Taekwondo is about getting better at the basic offensive skills, while shaolin kenpo had a lot more in-depth technique training, especially defensive. We learned how to use roughly everything as a defense technique in shaolin kenpo but after 3 years in TKD I don't think we have practiced more than ten blocks. I guess there are just people with both weak and strong mentalities and egos...

Answer 3

Being Asian I've experienced this scenario almost everyday of my life and almost all of the time I never even have to mention martial arts. But really, I think most of it has to do with what a lot of others have mentioned regarding the way martial arts are portrayed through American media.

It's crazy, but I can think of two commercials right off the top of my head (one for Dunkin Donuts and one for some cell phone company) that basically take a real condescending approach to martial arts. And that's leaving out all of the movies, television shows and video games that play major parts in forming our opinions about them.

I also believe that a lot of it is simply due to the way Americans treat Asian cultures. Considering most Americans have no idea that Chinese, Korean, & Japanese people speak different languages, what makes you think they're going to understand martial arts any better?

What a lot of people don't realize is that the traditional martial arts are a reflection of many different Asian cultures. When you learn traditional martial arts you're not just learning how to defend yourself, you're learning our culture, etiquette and values.

I honestly don't see Americans' opinions towards martial arts changing any time soon, and I feel for those who practice them and end up getting crap because of it. My girlfriend, who's an excellent martial artist, won't tell anyone she practices for reasons exactly as you've stated and I think it's sad.

A few years back when I was practicing Kung Fu, my instructor's brother (who was considered the best martial artist in his family, but totally didn't look the part) once told me that a good martial artist isn't someone who can protect him/herself, but one who can also protect the person attacking them. His statement, in many ways, can be applied to a lot more than martial arts...

Answer 4

So now that our buddy Phillip has lived up to the stereo type you are trying to argue against. Martial Arts was used as a means of defence agains attackers durring war times. 100's or 1000's of years ago. Not as a means to fight people on the street today. If you want to fight go sign up and go to Iraq we'll see how your art does against a suicide bomber or a RPG. If you don't have the brains to learn about the history of your art let alone other arts than you shouldn't be training.

Heres my answer.
TV shows, Movies, media and Music is what tells people what cool and what's going on in the world. People assume that most of what they see is real or at least the parts that they like are.
It's why we wear what we wear talk how we talk and so on.

I asked a similar question a week ago and got some interesting answers. It's because they have no understanding of Martial Arts so all they know is what they see on TV. Just like you may not have knowlage of racing cars but you watch fast and the furious and... It's ignorance that's all. Just stick to your knowlage and dicipline and let their ignorance be thei downfall.
And rest comfortably with the fact if some dick does jump you to prove what he saw Jet Li do on TV is better than what ou can do. Well he'll find out in the end won't he.

Answer 5

Very good questions & observations, especially from a person so young. most people are ignorant about most things. You notice it more in martial arts because it is a field where you have a lot of knowledge. I'm old enough to be your grandfather & I frequently get the same type of questions such as "do you go to bars looking for fights?" All we can do is educate the public 1 person at a time. You didn't mention your style, but I can tell that you have a good instructor.

Answer 6

This is an easy one. The MA are an Eastern sport. Americans are more interested in baseball, football and bastketball. Europe and Africa prefer soccer.

Schools generally don't offer it as a sport for kids in gym class. So if you want your kid to participate, you have to go outside the school system and seek out a place.

Plus, the MA are so fragmented. Do you know how many styles there are? Most people know the word karate and assume it's interchangeable with the term martial arts. But it's only one kind of MA and with karate, as I'm sure you know, there are many different kinds. I just found out myself fairly recently that not all the MA are considered "karate." For example, Ving Tsun is not considered karate. If I can't keep this straight and I've been training for 6 years, how can others?

Unlike with baseball, football and bastketball, there's no ONE overall governing body, but there are many. So it's tough to know who's reputable and who's not, which style is best, etc.

Plus, most ppl don't see a future in the MA. It's great for self defense but VERY few people will turn pro. And even if they do, what does that mean? They teach and open their own school? They become stuntmen and stuntwomen? They turn to acting like Jackie Chan? They do the tourney circuit?

It seems like a lot of fun as a profession (hard work too) but most Americans don't aspire to it.

I guess because most of us don't see karate in our futures as much more than a hobby, we don't take much interest in it early on in life and therefore remain largely ignorant to it.

Having said that, I'm sooo envious of some of the GREAT, amazingly talented martial artists out there. And I bet there are many more I don't even know about yet.

Answer 7

I definitely know how you feel. I to am a high school student and know the reactions of teens who don't understand. Martial arts is no about just kick, punching and beating people up. It is about morals and knowing how to avoid situations where the average person would want to fight. Many people are very supportive others just don't know so they think it is funny to poke fun. If they give you a problem invite them to join maybe it will change their opinion and view of the arts.

Answer 8

I understand what you mean. I've been doing martial arts for just under a year. I started in november '05 in sixth grade. So I told my friends they told people now a bunch of people know. I was telling a story and my TEACHER can you believe said that I could probably beat up a bunch of the kids in my class. i was appalled! Aren't teachers supposed to reinforce peace? Anyway, I don't beat people up but my friend Zach does a lot it's stupid and a good way to get hurt very bad and screwup your life.

Answer 9

PEOPLE ARE REALLY STUIPID........... Just because there are better and more effective ways to wage wars and kill doesn't mean we should put all of our eggs in one basket, even it that means a armour plated steel basket. Granted a m16 or m4 rifle gets the job done in Iraq, you will NOT ALWAYS have that gun with u, u may run out of ammo, NEVER PLACE UNDUE RELIANCE ON ANYTHING (guns, knives, your kickboxing, Jiu Jitsu, judo, etc...) TO BE THE MOST WELL ROUNDED, MOST COMPLETE, AND MOST PREPARED IN ALL SITUATIONS IS TO ENSURE SURVIVAL. JUST THINK .......... NOT TOO BAD OF AN IDEA..

Answer 10

simple. they can't relate, they don't have any interest in the art or sport, and they don't have any respect for you period.

i feel more for soldiers serving in Iraq getting ridiculed by their own people sitting at home pretty. some people can relate, some people can't.

you just got to ignore 'em.