I'm not sure if this question would be considered on-topic. I originally wanted to discuss this with someone in the chat, but that has been inactive for almost a month.
How does one deal with insults towards their martial art?
I think we've all heard these:
- "Tae-kwon do is a SPORT, not a martial art"
- "Everything they teach you is just for show anyway"
- "Why learn insert technique here when it's useless in a street fight?"
- "Who even learns martial art these days when you can just get a gun?"
- "Your instructor is white? MCDOJO ALERT"
the list goes on...
I've even been in a situation where a man who claimed he had spent 30 years studying various forms of martial art only to ditch them all because of "impracticality" came up to me in a gym and told me to "stop practicing that bullsh*t" (and some other, more colourful insults).
As per usual I just smiled awkwardly and tried to change the topic, or responded with something like "perhaps, but I enjoy it". I'd never try to start an argument about this topic (unless it was with a close friend) but the more I hear "taekwondo isn't a real martial art", the more I start to subconsciously believe it is true.
Has anyone else encountered situations like these? If so, is the only course of action just to ignore and shrug it off?
To clarify: I asked this here instewd of on sites like IPS because this kind of "toxic BS" (thanks for the phrase, @Bankukei) happens way too frequently in the martial arts community (not sure if just a regional thing). People seem to take "oh, I do martial art x" as an opportunity for them to go on about how "no no no, that's not a real martial art, but martial art y (the one they're learning) is the one real martial art".