To tell or not to tell....

[Tom Yum]

Should your employer know that you practice muay thai/boxing/jkd/grappling etc?

I work in an industry that is currently under ethical scrutiny due to high flying egos, power struggles and office politics. There are lots of management styles; some better than others. In general I have found that most people react adversely when they find out that I practice/spar on a regular basis. It also draws unwanted social attention from office bully types and gossipy cheerleader types.

What do you guys think?

[ryanhall]

I don't advertise the fact that I practice martial arts/combatives. A lot of people don't understand them and get a bad impression of your intentions--especially employers. Secondly, there is no reason to go spouting off about what you do in your spare time. In the event that you actually have to defend yourself, it is better for your abilities to be a surprise to your attacker rather than something he expected from the start.

[swan104]

I don't advertise the fact that I do JKD, but I don't hide from it from my friends or work colleagues either. Most (if not all) the people at work have no idea what I do. The people that I do hang around with think I do that, "knive fighting stuff". I don't bother explaining exactly what I do to people at work, and most of my non-martial artist friends to be honest.

I'm Chinese, but was born and lived all my life in the UK. I do get a bit of racial abuse now and then, so I've learnt from an early age to try keep a low profile. If I announce that I do martial arts, then people will just think I'm trying to be Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li etc...and I could do without the hassle.


Steven

[skilzkid]

I don't advertise either, but I think it comes up more often for me...we have a little workout room at my work, so I take full advantage of that on days I'm not going to the gym (and on some days that I am ). After a shower, you get questions about your wet hair, to which I generally respond "just working out during lunch". Then your co-workers/boss have emergency questions for you at high noon, and they know you're in the workout room...they go to ask you a question and they see you with boxing gloves shadowing punches/knees/plumb and then you get questions about the art. The only time I would mention it on my own is if someone brings up Pride/UFC in detail when talking sports and its not to complain about it, and I just mention it at that point to see if that person trains as well...it would be great to have a sparring partner at work

[ceasarx]

I think that if my supervisor new I studied TJJ and Grappling arts he would put himself on a power trip trying to bully me the only way he could. But then again he is that kind of a guy. I generaly never anounce or talk about my training unless someone is asking serious questions about the martial arts or If I meet someone who is wearing a Gi or a Jacket with a Dojo name on it. I think if you talk to much about it it sounds like your bragging or being a tough guy and it tends to promote problems within your work place. As far as my friends go most off them are into one type of training or another so we are always talking about what we are learning and how our work out is comeing along.

[Kingston]

i talk about my MA with my friends alot, one of em is serious about jkd, i got another guy who will never tap out no matter how hard we try, so hes kinda fun to use as a grapling dummy.
(my jkd buddy a little more then me, i dont always feel like tormenting this guy to much )

its something im intrested in so i dont realy feel it matters if people know about it or not. just making conversation it may or may not come up, i dont realy think about it that much.

i think alot of people know i take MA's, not many know which one it is....or how long. But being in highschool there are plenty of people taking different arts, it would be nice to get sparing more sparing partners....

i dont have any problem telling people who i think would be intrested about my MA, who know maybe they mite want to try it out as well.

i treat taking martial arts just as i treated playing football, or rugby. Its just something i do, i dont make an effort to hide it or show it off.

as far as telling your boss or co-workers....well if its not important to the job and the boss doesn't ask then i wont tell him, but the people who i become friends with at work know about it.

[Tom Yum]

I guess it depends on your situation. From your replies, it also depends on what kind of boss/colleagues you have. If you have a laid back work environment, I think ones colleagues will take interest only as a means to get to know you better and its no big deal. If you have an ultra conservative environment or power trippin' boss, then its best to keep things under the radar.

What I've found in general is that any hobby that is outside mainstream (i.e. MMA, foreign languages, beer brewing..you name it) is looked upon in a strange way in the corporate world.

[retired]

if you compete in martial arts just do what i done once, when i was getting hassle from people in work i brought in a video of me fighting in thaiboxing, & whatever the outcome of your fights (i won & lost) when people see what you take & give they suddenly go all quiet.....especially when you KO people.

[darrianation]

Where do you work? I dont go around bragging I know ma, but if people at work find out that I know ma they are like cool.Will you teach me? I tell them where the local dojo is. I'm the biggest recruiter on the local ma scene here. theres only one school. There's one on the way that hasnt sarted yet but I have 5 guys/girls already signed up for it.I think most people are interested. So far in all my travels(lived in phoenix,san diego, ft. lauderdale, baltomore and va. beach, denver, and so on) and know one has wanted to fight me , just because I've taken ma.

[retired]

wales of course.........us welsh talk about anything!!!

[Khun Kao]

Based on your situation, I'd keep quiet.

I really don't like talking to people about my training, usually, but because I am a teacher, I need to advertise my school to get the word about our program out to the public and get new students. So I actually end up talking about it quite a bit.

Khun Kao

[retired]

khun kao who where you refering to?

[Khun Kao]

I was responding to the original inquiry.

[retired]

ok thanx as i thought i upset someone for something i didn't know about
mike

[terry]

Do I tell other people about my involvement in the martial arts? Well, earlier in my career it was more of a worry. At that point I was dealing with lower level people in old economy companies. Some of those people have small round thoughts in small round minds, and often they have trouble recognizing even one ability in another person, let alone several. So, I just kept my mouth shut. To this day I shiver at the thought of people like that ever getting power over people's careers.

Do I worry at this point in my career? No way. I'm working with more senior people that frequently have artistic or athletic passions of their own. The understand that people who achieve usually achieve in multiple endeavors simultaneously. In addition, the corporate cultures I work in have changed to encourage more out-of-the-box thinking.

The interesting thing to note that on my staff, which is half Chinese BTW, it is the white guys who are doing martial arts. Heck, we can't even get the Asian guys to go for a jog before work. They just smile and shake their heads at us.

Terry