question

Lets say you are in school, and taking Aikido.What if everyone knows you do Aikido.Do you think they will treat you differently?

no. aikido does not make you special or a star. do not seek personal affirmation outside only from within. from you post, you are probably very young, so this may be difficult to understand, but once you get it, you won't lose it, and no one can take it from you.

It depends more on who you are, who they are, and how much you brag about it.

I've had people who though I was cool, people who looked to me for protection, people who though i was a wimp, people who wanted to kick my butt, people who were suddenly intimidated, and people who messed with me just to see how far they could push me. I've been threatend with boyfriends, uncles, brothers, friends, fathers, weapons and large numbers.

When you really love doing something outside of the norm people can and usually do view you a little diffrently. But when you are doing martial arts you gain so much more than just being able to punch kick and throw people, you gain discipline, perserverence, focus, and a bit of maturity. It could be that everyone will treat you the same but you will change into a diffrent person.

You can expect some minor changes, but mostly the changes would have occured even if you had never heard of aikido, they are just normal life.

If you tell them that one of your instructors studied under Take Shigimichi Sensei (Steven Seagal...before he was famous of course!) like at my school....then...you might get some attention...and that's IF and ONLY if...they even know who Steven Seagal is! I've talked with a bunch of kids my age some even like 2 or 3 years older than me....and they're not familiar with him nor have they heard of him! LOL! I'm 18...just in case anyone was wondering.

By the way...when I tell my peers about Steven Seagal...I actually use his real name...which is Steven Seagal...and they still don't know who he is! That tells you just how bad a movie Exit Wounds was! LOL! (IMHO)

Alan M. Rodriguez wrote: That tells you just how bad all his movies were... LOL! (IMHO)

..

When I was at school, I practiced karate. Luckily me skills were never ever tested by anyone. Some guys made joke: "One have to be careful, Dirk knows karate." with a smile on their face.
If you do not take these jokes as offensive behaviour and if you do not let your skills being tested. "My sensei does not allow this", you might get a little bit more respect. Becareful with tough guys, who want to prove that their karate, boxing, jiu jutsu is better.

I even heard stories about "I know eurythmy (bio-karate)!" helped in school bus conflicts, while this Walldorf-sound-dancing does not provide more to martial art than maybe "harmonious body movement" (Webster's). It might as the others do not know anything about it, but this would probably fall under the post of unproved legends.

But without any joke: by training aikido you might straigthen up a bit and behave more self conscious. That is what changes behaviour of others, even without knowing you are doing any martial art.


Dirk

Caitlin, I was wondering in what way you thought people might treat you differently? My experience has been that I feel more confident and happy because I have found something I love to do and so this may affect the way I interact with people. Also, my work takes me into schools and I have shared the fact that I am practicing Aikido and found that students who have an interest in martial arts (or even just being tough) realize we may have something in common and are more comfortable and willing to cooperate more in class where previously they may put more energy into being the class clowns.

I was wondering if you were maybe having a hard time in school and want people to leave you alone. If that is the case I say taking any steps that help you feel more confident and happy, will change the impression you give and how threatened you feel. I think for girls especially, Aikido can help you learn to be assertive and even more aggressive if you need to be. I may be off the mark with where your question was coming from.

Krista