racism in the martial arts

granmasterchen · Black Belt

martial arts should be the great philosophical binder to take us away from these distractions in life such as racism, sexism and religious bias, as martial artists we should be above all this and be able to look at one another as human beings and brothers and sisters, we all travel a path of higher knowledge and understanding, some may be further along than others, but we should all help those that need it.....we should be better by studying the martial arts, we shouldn't be primitive and barbaric....open our minds and understand, no one is better or superior to anyone else and by the training that we go through, we should all know this.
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That which does not destroy me will only make me stronger

Chrisyama · White Belt

I've never seen any racism in my experiences. With such a diverse range of colour and culture in the MA, there is no place for any form of prejudice.
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CHRISYAMA!

equaninimus · Purple Belt

I have seen some examples. In my od Uni TKD club there was a distinct group of Vietnamese students who resented being taught TKD (A Korean art, I might add!) by caucasians.
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There have always been Starkadders at Cold Comfort Farm!

blaze78_9 · Yellow Belt

thanks for the comments

White Warlock · Black Belt

All the pipedreams aside, racism exists and has existed in the martial arts training halls for quite some time. The fact that you don't see it doesn't make it any less a reality.

Some Chinese martial arts masters still, to this day, train only Chinese and there are some Japanese instructors with similar mentalities. But, sometimes racism, or prejudism, isn't obvious. I, personally, encountered prejudicial treatment from a Chinese BB and a British BB, but I am well sure they weren't aware of their behaviors towards me and others.

Things to consider - If a white-collar guy enters a boxing gym located in the slums, he's going to get a hard time. If a guy from the slums wants to join a high-collar martial arts school... he simply won't be able to afford the membership fees of the health club he's supposed to join before he can take the course. A man cannot join a martial arts course that is offered 'only' at a woman's gym, nor can a woman join one in a man's gym. Physical requirements also serve as discriminatory filters. I.e., courses offered on the second floor of a building do not accommodate the wheelchair-bound. As well, although it may not be 'recognized' as a race thing, people often do discriminate against others within the classroom... making it uncomfortable for one person or another to continue their training there. Subtle things like being professional, or not welcoming them to the inner circle.

It's important to realize that your martial arts class is very much like your circle of friends. You choose those friends because they have already passed through whatever filters you may have placed in your school. Filters that you are blind to... but which nonetheless do exist. One of the biggest problems with racism and prejudism is that those who practice it, more often than not don't even realize they do.
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"When you are able to take the keys from my hand, you will be ready to drive." - Shaolin DMV Test

Intro

Xtra Tribal · Yellow Belt

Yeah. Unfortunately there is racism in the MA world because there are racists everywhere. It is ironic that some visible minority teachers are racist when they probably have experienced discrimination numerous times in their lives and that it is the white folk who have the short end of the stick here, especially since these are open minded people who are interested in components of other cultures. Racism affects everyone. Hopefully racism will die when these "old school" generations pass.

Besides the racism, I'm sure some of you have witnessed talented women martial artists struggling to get respect for their skills and efforts, especially from their peers. I love that more women are getting into martial arts, it makes me feel less geeky, like when I meet a girl trekkie

, but I often hear pretty sexist remarks sometimes, which makes me hope that these women not be discouraged.

I'd hate to hear replies not supporting women in martial arts because discrimination is discrimination, right?

What I do find really interesting is how martial arts are getting so much attention, that it's generating more interest in the culture's from where they originate. People will even travel to the country to train. I think it's great. It's also interesting that people outside of the country where a martial art is from are more interested than the original people. I hope that this kind of movement is a positive thing, especially in terms of promoting respect and appreciation for other cultures. This racism thing has got to go and hopefully, our martial art communities will have a hand in it.

Cheers!
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There is no "best" martial art. A good martial artist is a good martial artist. - various good martial artists

ShunGokuSatsu · White Belt

One of the assistant instructiors seems to dislike black martial artists ( man you gotta love Mississippi.heh) and yet respects me, my middle brother, one of my friends, and my girlfriend. I guess because all of us have kicked everyone elses *. Anyway he confuses me because he says suggestive things and yet treats us like his children. What am i supposed to do about it?

krzychicano · Black Belt

There are people from all sorts of life in my classes and I feel just the opposite. I believe MA brings people together. Atleast that what my school and system promote.
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What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others. - Confucius

Popkov · Yellow Belt

racism dose not seem as bad of a problem, but when me and my friend were trying o see who could do the higher kick in a park, some 16 year old mother with here 12 year old husband looked at us and said, "Look at those two bruce lee guys from japan doin karate, i bet i could smash there faces in." they then called the police when started practicing to fight with each other beacause they thought we were going to attack them when they were 200 meters away. we dident get arrested but we got fined. and when the police were there talking to us, they were stood in the background doing the slitty eyes gesture to us, and im pretty sure that these two cops were thinking the same as them.

im sure that this was ignorant and racism.

1kickKO · Brown Belt

Quite honestly the only prejudice I've seen in the MA is at tournaments and belt ranks.

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