Tkd White

Several years ago, I surveyed thousands of martial artists about whether they wore their martial-arts uniforms in public or t-shirts with the school logo. I wanted to know if people kept the knowledge of their skills a secret or if they "wore their prowess on their sleeves."

A large percentage of practitioners said that they wouldn't wear their school shirt (with martial-arts logo) or a decorative martial-arts t-shirt, because it "would" let everyone know that they possess martial skills.

They wanted to keep this knowledge on the hush hush. This makes sense, right?

They don't want the public to know that they study martial arts....

Which is why they have a large tattoo on their arm telling the whole world of their style!

But let's move beyond the irony....

Tattoo recognizing is useful beyond finding people who are the haters in our society (symbols or white supremacy, neo-naziism, and so on).

Branding Yourself to Your Style Forever

Of course, you could fool those around you by wearing a tattoo of a different style....

Recently, I was at the Oregon Country Fair. It was the first time for my wife and daughter. There, the tattoos abounded... in all sorts of "interesting" places on the "bod."

One guy had a nice tattoo of a fist in front of a yin-yang symbol. I had the chance to ask him if he was into Tae Kwon Do. "Naw," he replied. "I used to do TKD. Then for a while I did some Aikido. But I haven't practiced any of that stuff in years."

And that started me thinking about tattoos and martial arts... again.

Poor guy.

My wife has often asked her high-school students, "Would you want to have the same piece of artwork on the wall for your whole life?"

I guess this is an instance of a time where the guy at the fair would have answered, "Uh, no... uh... I guess."

Note: I know that a tattoo can become part of your personality. It is now how you are described and recognized by others. "You know; she's the one with the Ren and Stimpy tattoo on her ankle." (Who knew that Ren and Stimpy would ever be passe'?)

When you see certain tattoos, or tattoos in general, on another person, what kind of response does it invoke in you? Do you feel any particular emotions? (Fear, admiration, disgust?)

From now on, think of body art and jewelry as providing potential clues -- knowledge that you could use to stay safe. Remember, these are potential indicators only... think of the guy at the fair.

Keith Pascal is the author of "Control Your Fear: A Guide For Martial Artists": Eliminate Fear.

Keith is the editor and author of several martial-arts ezines, including:

Advantage Martial Arts. (Free devastating punch ebook when you join.)

Pascal has taught martial arts for almost 30 years. He quit high school teaching in 2000, to become a full-time martial-arts writer.

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