The next new student
The next notable event I recall was the arrival of a new male student. His arrival was notable for the way it occurred.
As mentioned previously, the tradition was for people to be interviewed by the men's group. Then some discussion would take place. Ultimately the decision to accept or reject was always Dr G's as he was the actual instructor. The interviews were for training the class in how to deal seriously with others, and to see how the personalities meshed.
The new student just arrived one day. He showed up and Dr G said he was a new student. Because of the rigidity of the class mentioned in the previous post, this was quite a ground shaker. Naturally everyone was polite to the man. Introducing themselves and talking to him. It still seemed like a breach of protocol for him to simply walk in.
Apparently he was the husband of one of the female students. He and Dr G. already knew each other and had some kind of relationship. To this day I do not really understand why he was allowed to join with no interview. He was the only person to ever be allowed to do so during my time with the class.
S was a personable guy. He was slightly skittish when the introduction went around. Then his true personality emerged. S was a major bullshitter. He could talk to anyone about anything for hours. He had a nice and friendly attitude. S was an older man. 40's or mid 40's I would say. He looked nothing like a martial artist, and it came out that he had no martial arts training at all.
I distinctly remember resent this. After all I had heard about being superior and being the best and working towards the highest standards, to allow an "old" guy into the class, a person who had never been interested in martial arts in their lives, was an outrage. Especially in light of some of the comments Dr G. had made to me.
At a few different times, Dr G. had mentioned that he did not think I was trained enough to stay. This made me angry. A, T and G had no previous martial arts experience at all. In terms of experience, I was number 3 behind the top 2 students. I was the last in actual time in the Ba Gua class. That made no difference. There is no way a few months exposure to the Ba Gua class could equate to my years of familiarity with martial arts.
After developing a resentful attitude towards Dr G. for saying such obviously false things to me, to see this "old man" waltz into class with no experience and no interest in martial arts was a slap in the face. It made a lie out of all of Dr G's words about my not having enough experience, and the devotion of the class to only the highest standards.
As the class progressed, my opinion was only confirmed. The man was an absolute beginner when doing the Tai Chi, warm up and Ba Gua forms. Of course he was a beginner to the class and martial arts. It was even worse than that. Any person who is physical will show some kind of aptitude for any physical action. A knowledgeable person can see this in others.
S was not a physical person at all. His movements were wide and uncoordinated. He truly did belong in a beginners class somewhere else. That was not dislike or superiority. S had no real feeling for his body or how to move it properly. For him to be allowed to start martial arts in as high a level class as Dr G's Ba Gua class was, was a travesty in my opinion.
I think it happened on his first visit. I cannot remember for sure. S went thru all the forms and warm ups. Then he particpated in the men's class. We are all on our own areas doing our own thing when I look up and see S is sitting down on the ground. Apparently his back was giving him trouble.
From a sympathy perspective, of course you have to feel sympathy for an old guy who is not physical at all having to sit down with back problems during class. When you look at it from the perspective Dr G put on the class, superiority, only the best or highest, etc, to see this new student sitting on the ground after 45 minutes of exercise was unbelievable.
Not only that but S was truly in pain. He was not lazy and sitting down with back pain. His back really did force him to sit down after 45 minutes of work. Dr G had to do some doctor stuff to S to alleviate his pain. There is an acupuncture point above the upper lip in the center. It is senstive or something or the other. Dr G stuck his finger or knuckle on that spot and pressed as hard as he could for what I swear was minutes.
What eventually happened is that pressing that acupuncture point was painful. Dr G's goal was to make S's lip hurt so much, that he forgot about the pain in his back. It worked. After awhile I could see S struggling and trying to stop Dr G' from rubbing his knuckle on that spot on his upper lip. It is painful. Try it yourself. Put your knuckle in the middle of your upper lip, below the nose and rub real hard.
S got back to his feet and we all joked about how hard the class was and that it looked like his back really hurt.
As mentioned previously, the tradition was for people to be interviewed by the men's group. Then some discussion would take place. Ultimately the decision to accept or reject was always Dr G's as he was the actual instructor. The interviews were for training the class in how to deal seriously with others, and to see how the personalities meshed.
The new student just arrived one day. He showed up and Dr G said he was a new student. Because of the rigidity of the class mentioned in the previous post, this was quite a ground shaker. Naturally everyone was polite to the man. Introducing themselves and talking to him. It still seemed like a breach of protocol for him to simply walk in.
Apparently he was the husband of one of the female students. He and Dr G. already knew each other and had some kind of relationship. To this day I do not really understand why he was allowed to join with no interview. He was the only person to ever be allowed to do so during my time with the class.
S was a personable guy. He was slightly skittish when the introduction went around. Then his true personality emerged. S was a major bullshitter. He could talk to anyone about anything for hours. He had a nice and friendly attitude. S was an older man. 40's or mid 40's I would say. He looked nothing like a martial artist, and it came out that he had no martial arts training at all.
I distinctly remember resent this. After all I had heard about being superior and being the best and working towards the highest standards, to allow an "old" guy into the class, a person who had never been interested in martial arts in their lives, was an outrage. Especially in light of some of the comments Dr G. had made to me.
At a few different times, Dr G. had mentioned that he did not think I was trained enough to stay. This made me angry. A, T and G had no previous martial arts experience at all. In terms of experience, I was number 3 behind the top 2 students. I was the last in actual time in the Ba Gua class. That made no difference. There is no way a few months exposure to the Ba Gua class could equate to my years of familiarity with martial arts.
After developing a resentful attitude towards Dr G. for saying such obviously false things to me, to see this "old man" waltz into class with no experience and no interest in martial arts was a slap in the face. It made a lie out of all of Dr G's words about my not having enough experience, and the devotion of the class to only the highest standards.
As the class progressed, my opinion was only confirmed. The man was an absolute beginner when doing the Tai Chi, warm up and Ba Gua forms. Of course he was a beginner to the class and martial arts. It was even worse than that. Any person who is physical will show some kind of aptitude for any physical action. A knowledgeable person can see this in others.
S was not a physical person at all. His movements were wide and uncoordinated. He truly did belong in a beginners class somewhere else. That was not dislike or superiority. S had no real feeling for his body or how to move it properly. For him to be allowed to start martial arts in as high a level class as Dr G's Ba Gua class was, was a travesty in my opinion.
I think it happened on his first visit. I cannot remember for sure. S went thru all the forms and warm ups. Then he particpated in the men's class. We are all on our own areas doing our own thing when I look up and see S is sitting down on the ground. Apparently his back was giving him trouble.
From a sympathy perspective, of course you have to feel sympathy for an old guy who is not physical at all having to sit down with back problems during class. When you look at it from the perspective Dr G put on the class, superiority, only the best or highest, etc, to see this new student sitting on the ground after 45 minutes of exercise was unbelievable.
Not only that but S was truly in pain. He was not lazy and sitting down with back pain. His back really did force him to sit down after 45 minutes of work. Dr G had to do some doctor stuff to S to alleviate his pain. There is an acupuncture point above the upper lip in the center. It is senstive or something or the other. Dr G stuck his finger or knuckle on that spot and pressed as hard as he could for what I swear was minutes.
What eventually happened is that pressing that acupuncture point was painful. Dr G's goal was to make S's lip hurt so much, that he forgot about the pain in his back. It worked. After awhile I could see S struggling and trying to stop Dr G' from rubbing his knuckle on that spot on his upper lip. It is painful. Try it yourself. Put your knuckle in the middle of your upper lip, below the nose and rub real hard.
S got back to his feet and we all joked about how hard the class was and that it looked like his back really hurt.
posted by Happeh at 4:40 AM
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