School visit and inquiry etiquette

[Big Nasty]

13. If you were a (previous) member and had been gone for a long time, do not assume that everyone knows you and stop acting like you're someone important.

Speaking strictly out of personal experiences, this pertains to a lot of seniors (no offense) coming back after a few years of absence. They went inside the gym, try to mess with the class, speaking with the students who they were, trying to prove themselves once more, etc. etc. This disrupts the class. This degrades you. Its better to keep those things to yourselves and let the instructors/professors acknowledge you and introduce you to the class.

Oh man, I really, really, really HATE THAT. You nailed it on the head brother. That's my biggest pet peeve.

[shootodog]

12. Even though we're friends, don't think you can just drop by a practice to hang out and see what you've been missing. Show some ****ing commitment and giving back to the style, don't just take all the time.

out of curiosity, what exactly does "giving back to the style" mean? i mean i understand it in concept but concretely what can a hasbeen do to give back to the style?

[Thread_Killer]

out of curiosity, what exactly does "giving back to the style" mean? i mean i understand it in concept but concretely what can a has-been do to give back to the style?

Any student of any style can give back by practicing diligently and becoming as good as he/she can be in that style. By being able to demonstrate it well, you can give others a good impression of the art. You can also pass it along. Helping your teacher teach. These all go hand in hand in promoting what's been handed down to you. My weakness as a teacher is that I haven't been able to produce other teachers to help me. Honestly, I think I'm not demanding enough. I let people come and go and pick and choose what they want to do. I don't think I can convey how much respect and appreciation for what my teacher, Guro Jun deLeon, has given me. I feel badly that I haven't done a better job of promoting his art.

[MuayThaiCoach]

I have a question. I will be visiting manila in June. And I would like to stop by several gyms to introduce myself and say hi.
And see some Philippine talent

How would I go about this without upsetting anyone?

Thank you

[Thread_Killer]

I have a question. I will be visiting manila in June. And I would like to stop by several gyms to introduce myself and say hi.
And see some Philippine talent

How would I go about this without upsetting anyone?

Thank you

We're kind of secretive in fma, I don't think you'll have any problems with muay thai gyms. Though, things are done more easily here through an intermediary, someone who everybody already knows. If I were you I'd contact someone like Le Loup and have him introduce you around.

[MuayThaiCoach]

Great idea...I'll do that

[stingroyce]

Back in college, our Saturday judo session was gate crashed by a senior player who had been away for sooo long, nobody really remembered him, except of course the senior player who has been in-charge of our every Saturday session. He was ordering other younger students around, and criticizing the techniques we've been doing. The senior player in-charge just played it cool but he noticed some of the other players were starting to get annoyed with this gate-crashing senior player.

Then came randori. Five minutes each. Two senior players and about 10 younger players (I was one of the white belts then). The younger players who have been playing for about three months were throwing the gate crasher around. When he noticed everyone was so strong and well-trained compared to him who was gone for so long from the dojo, he started playing like he's just letting the younger students win and correcting them afterwards on their techniques. "Ok sana. Pero mas ok kung ganito ginawa mo..." Tsk...

Then, the two seniors played. Our senior player (the one in-charge) was kicking his butt and wiping the mats with him. Gate crasher looked pathetic flying and slamming on the mat everytime our senior player threw him.

Before the session was over, gate crasher excused himself and said he's meeting someone and had to leave.

We didn't talk about him after he left. But weeks later, he became our topic and told the other players how our senior player wiped the gate crasher on the mats.

[juncarino]

Very strange/unbecoming behaviour by the visiting senior player.

usually, whenever a black belter visits another dojo, he first, introduces himself to the dojo master. In turn, he is introduced to the class. after the warmup, uchikomi/etc., the visitor is then asked to demo his tokui-waza (or more) then, the students get up and do the given technique. The visitor goes around checking/correcting the students. later on, randori time, the visitor joins the "taya" lineup or waits for judokas to come up and do randori with him.

If ever, the senior student/visitor always asks permission from the dojo master before he moves around among the students teaching or whatever.

I have never seen what you describe happen in PAJA/PJF dojos.

Back in college, our Saturday judo session was gate crashed by a senior player who had been away for sooo long, nobody really remembered him, except of course the senior player who has been in-charge of our every Saturday session. He was ordering other younger students around, and criticizing the techniques we've been doing. The senior player in-charge just played it cool but he noticed some of the other players were starting to get annoyed with this gate-crashing senior player.

Then came randori. Five minutes each. Two senior players and about 10 younger players (I was one of the white belts then). The younger players who have been playing for about three months were throwing the gate crasher around. When he noticed everyone was so strong and well-trained compared to him who was gone for so long from the dojo, he started playing like he's just letting the younger students win and correcting them afterwards on their techniques. "Ok sana. Pero mas ok kung ganito ginawa mo..." Tsk...

Then, the two seniors played. Our senior player (the one in-charge) was kicking his butt and wiping the mats with him. Gate crasher looked pathetic flying and slamming on the mat everytime our senior player threw him.

Before the session was over, gate crasher excused himself and said he's meeting someone and had to leave.

We didn't talk about him after he left. But weeks later, he became our topic and told the other players how our senior player wiped the gate crasher on the mats.

[burungkol]

14. Whenever possible (and if available), call to confirm if you will either arrive or not. Don't set up appointments that you can't commit to.