Karate Lessons Will Beat the Sissy Right Out of Your Son

[onehandle]

Worried that little Jimmy's been playing with his sister's dollies? Notice a certain limpness in Bobby's wrists? Well nip that problem in the bud by sending him to karate school. That'll cure Nanciness! So say these karate school ads, anyway.

An ad agency put these artfully shot but frustrating ads together for the Key Biscayne RDCA, a karate school where young boys (and girls, presumably) thrust and grunt and fall on top of each other in same-sex heaps. All that masculine aggression will get Willy's red-blooded normal hormones (normones?) workin' and he'll be layin' pipe in little Suzy''s sandbox faster'n you can say hi-ya.

http://gawker.com/5611461/karate-lessons-will-beat-the-sissy-right-out-of-your-son

[BrklynLiberal]

1. grossssssss

[derby378]

2. Another interpretation

Boy George's father insisted that his son take self-defense lessons a long time ago so that he wouldn't be assaulted over his sexual orientation or the way he looked.

Perhaps the same message is being conveyed here? "Gays who know karate don't get bashed?"

[flvegan]

3. ...unless little Suzy has been taking Muay Thai, that is.

Willy would more likely get buried in the sandbox.

[Flipper999]

4. If I had a son who I suspected was gay

I'd encourage him to take MMA or Brazillian Jiujitsu classes so he could protect himself if one of this school's homophobic pretenders wanted to mess with him.

*Sigh* I used to take martial arts classes, and I saw a lot of psuedo-macho guys with a weird instinctive fear/hate of gay folk.

[damntexdem]

5. Not to mention his life.

And we all know that the best way to teach kids is to violently terrorize them. Trauma has lasting effects that lectures just can't match.

(I need a vomit icon.}

[spin]

9. A good martial arts class can provide skill and self confidence ...

that can help a person throughout his/her life. Marital arts teach a great deal of discipline and can greatly develop a person's character. The exercise is beneficial for many younger children who tend to sit in front of computer games for endless hours eating snacks.

The ability to fight can help a child overcome a problem with a bully. If nothing else, the child has had fighting experience in the dojo and isn't totally terrified by the threat that the bully hopes to project. Often a good instructor teaches young people how to properly react to bullies.

I personally prefer teaching a child judo over karate as judo teaches far more methods of subduing an attacker without inflicting blows with the hands or feet.

Judo or Jūdō (柔道, jūdō?, meaning "gentle way") is a modern Japanese martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Dr Kano Jigoro. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an opponent to submit by joint locking or by executing a choke. Strikes and thrusts by hands and feet as well as weapons defences are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms (kata) and are not allowed in judo competition or free practice (randori).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo

Unfortunately, it's hard to find a good judo teacher. My daughter was very lucky to have the chance to learn from one of the best judo instructors in the country, Ed Maley of Tampa.

Prof. Ed Maley

Ed Maley is a legend, not just in Tampa Bay but across the world. Prof. Maley introduced martial arts to south Tampa while still a member of the US Air Force stationed at MacDill AFB in the late 50s.

His dojo has produced Olympians such as Dewey Mitchell, and many of the top Judo stars in the country.

Ed Has over 50 years of experience teaching and coaching Judo, and is nationally recognized as a Master, holding his 8th degree Black belt in Judo.

Ed has been involved with the YMCA, and The Brandon Recreation Department and many other organizations, dedicated to physical health and well being of youngsters.

His teaching style is one that has been copied by many of the top teachers of the sport, never duplicated.

This 8th Dan is a toughie, and is no one to mess with with, yet he is the most gentle person on the planet. Those that have come to know Ed love him, he has touched so many lives and positively influenced so many of our children.

For his work in the area of physical fitness and self defense, we proclaim Prof. Ed Maley a true Tampa Bay Legend.


http://www.teddwebb.com/legends/prof_ed_maley.html

[Uben]

6. My 10 yr old has a black belt

...he has a brown one, too. Got em at Walmart!

[spin]

7. I've known gay people who were martial artists ...

and gay people who legally carry firearms.

Just because you're gay, doesn't mean you are a wimp.

History shows that gays are excellent warriors. One example is the Sacred Band of Thebes.

The Sacred Band originally was formed of picked men in couples, each lover and beloved selected from the ranks of the existing Theban citizen-army. The pairs consisted of the older “heniochoi”, or charioteers, and the younger “paraibatai”, or companions, who were all housed and trained at the city’s expense. During their early engagements, in an attempt to bolster general morale, they were dispersed by Gorgidas throughout the front ranks of the Theban army.

After the Theban general Pelopidas recaptured the acropolis of Thebes in 379 BCE, he assumed command of the Sacred Band, in which he fought alongside his good friend Epaminondas. It was Pelopidas who formed these couples into a distinct unit: he “never separated or scattered them, but would stand the brunt of battle, using them as one body.”<5> They became, in effect, the “special forces” of Greek soldiery<6>, and the forty years of their known existence (378-338 BCE) marked the pre-eminence of Thebes as a military and political power in late-classical Greece.

The Sacred Band under Pelopidas fought the Spartans at Tegyra in 375 BCE, vanquishing an army that was at least three times its size. It was also responsible for the victory at Leuctra in 371 BCE, called by Pausanias the most decisive battle ever fought by Greeks against Greeks.

Rumour has it that Sparta also allowed gays in their military. Just sayin…
http://afarensis99.wordpress.com/2010/02/04/gays-in-the-military-the-sacred-band-of-thebes/

[rucky]

8. I'm really wondering about the market research (if any) that went into choosing this message.

Are there really that many parents worried that their sons will turn out to be "sissies"? Or did the agency just think they had a clever concept and decided to go with it?

I'm calling this one a FAIL

[RamboLiberal]

10. Sorry but I think those ads are homophobic

And I have no problem with martial arts for kids. Spent 25+ years myself in MA and taught a ton of kids.

This ad reminds me of the time I was a ref in a young kids match. At that age the girls and boys weren't segregated for sparring. One girl was really dominating the boy. His dad came stomping down from the stands, grabbed the kid, and stomped off yelling at the boy about being beat by a girl!

Wish my master instructor would've given the dad an attitude adjustment.

And getting back to the ad I'd question this school's instructors attitude.