Courtyard training

[Darthwing Teorist]

I am sure that there are at least a few people here training in the courtyard. I have a few questions about your experience:

- When you train with friends and do drills and sparring, does it damage the lawn?
- How do you deal with neighbours for those times when you make some noise (like hitting a bag/wooden dummy, sparring)?
- Are your neighbours intimidated by your antics (sparring, weapon drills, firing your AK-47 in the air etc) and how do you deal with that? (Besides threatening to kill their family pet and feeding it to them, of course)

[Daniel]

...LOL...yeah...most of my "situations" have actually been while practicing in parks, schoolyards, train-stations, airports, etc...

...my neighbours have not complained all that much. People who practice Xingyi wearing mirrorshades and who carry sharp swords around don´t get asked too many questions, in my experience.

Damage to the lawn has happened. I have a long line from doing, well, lines of Fists, and a circle from doing circle-walking...and two foot-prints next to a tree in my garden where I do qigong in the mornings...

God. Sometimes you really feel like such an alien, being a geek in this field.

Edited: by the way, it´s interesting how big a charge that phrase has in chinese tradition, "learnt in our courtyard", "taught in our courtyard".



D.

Sarcasm. Oh yeah, like that´ll work.

[Jeice]

I'm always very leery about training in public, I have an aversion to the spotlight I guess. I have mad respect for anyone who wants to just go have a session in a park or on their lawn, but I haven't been able to do it with any kind of comfort or regularity, ever.

[mixjourneyman]

I'm always very leery about training in public, I have an aversion to the spotlight I guess. I have mad respect for anyone who wants to just go have a session in a park or on their lawn, but I haven't been able to do it with any kind of comfort or regularity, ever.

I get lots of Bruce Lee noises thrown at me while I do the fu at the park after the kiddies get out of school.
So now I just practice at times I'm pretty sure kids wont be around.

[BonesCom]

We're lucky in New Zealand to have fenced properties as a standard (as I understand this is not case in some Amercian cities), so privacy isn't too much of an issue. In saying that I train under my carport (to keep out of the weather) which is visible from the street. I have had 2 instances where people have stopped to ask what I was doing (one really drunk girl and some random trash), and I do get the odd car horn sounded (not sure if it is at me since I usually have my back to the road). I assume most people just think I'm a random weirdo, if they do see me, so they leave me alone. Also I mostly train early morning so there are not that many people are around anway. My problem at the moment is I am supposed to be practicing the lei shen (thunder/lightening; dai xinyi, explosive squatting monkey with vocalisation) but I train early in morning and don't want to disturb the neighbours...

In terms of intimidating the neighbours, yeah maybe a little but I don't want to talk to those neighbours anyway so it works in my favour, and the others are cool, leave to my training, are considerate with disturbing me, pretty cool really

[quoteI'm always very leery about training in public, I have an aversion to the spotlight I guess. I have mad respect for anyone who wants to just go have a session in a park or on their lawn, but I haven't been able to do it with any kind of comfort or regularity, ever. ][/quote]

Yeah I don't relish the thought of where I'm going to train when I have to move somewhere that doesn't have a place to train. Not too keen on going 100% public.

[David Boxen]

These days I play outside on a brick road. I get people asking me what I'm doing, if that is taiji, plus the occasional I do shaolin/yongquan/taekwando let's spar. The middle-aged ladies playing badminton next to me never pay any attention to me walking around in circles like a weirdo.

I had one guy wanting to spar with me a couple of weeks ago, and I told him I don't know how, as per usual. I don't think the university would take too kindly to a teacher breaking a student. Anyways, he hung around, staring at me, doing all these splits, showing off how flexible he is. Most douchebaggerie I've had to put up with.

[Mut]

I have a theory.... if you train in the carport, hang a bag, even if you never hit it people that walk past assume you do and leave you alone. the assumption must be if you have a bag you are legit. I sometimes train in my garage with the door open, before I hung my bag I had the odd random disparaging comment, since hanging the bag nothing....

- When you train with friends and do drills and sparring, does it damage the lawn?

yes so much so that my mrs prefers i don't use the lawn as a regular training point.

as for the neighbours never had a problem with them regarding noise, its not like using power tools and the like, but similar to New Zealand we tend to have pretty large blocks of land.

[Walk the Torque]

People are not that much of a problem. Dogs on the other hand! They don't like people walking around in circles much.

[Teazer]

speedbag, sandbags & wooden dummy in the basement, heavybag on one of those free-standing devices. A backyard - more gravel than grass, with hanging car tire for pole, escrima & knife practice + tolerant neighbours that don't mind the sound of airguns and beating stuff!

[DeusTrismegistus]

shuai jiao will kill your grass. I had to ease up when after a few hours of shaui jiao a few days a week I had a spot where the grass was think and short.

[Bhassler]

I lived in a place where we had a lot of crack heads knocking at the door wanting to borrow money, use the phone etc., so my room mate and I went in the front yard and sparred with a spear and 3-section staff. After that, no one wanted to use our phone any more.

[qiphlow]

sf and oakland both have parks where there are loads of folks practicing their MA.

[Mut]

People are not that much of a problem. Dogs on the other hand! They don't like people walking around in circles much.

QFT

Teazer: ahh, beating off?!?! now I understand your name here...

[Craig]

We managed to completely destroy my coach's back yard in late january when we were there every night doing intensive training for a few hours. started off as grass ended up as dirt...he didnt mind he was planning on paving anyways hehe.

I sometimes practice at the oval across from my place. There's a lot of activity there (those bootcamp fitness thingos, and there are some karate guys there too doing their thing). I usually get acouple odd looks, especially when i am practicing with weapons. On Sunday that just passed there were a bunch of kids playing soccer just near me and I could hear them chatting about me and daring each other to go up and immitate me. They eventually worked up the courage and three of them came over and asked what I was doing and I just said "Xin Yi Liu He" and they kinda just went uhh ok and then had a short chat. I told the two kids they should use their skills to spar each other and they ended up doing karate kid poses which quickly turned into wrestling Had the cops called on me a few times too.

[mrtoes]

I used to practise in Richmond Park in quite long grass I would practise my hsing i up and down and then my bagua to one end. It left a lollipop shaped crop circle in the grass! Another mystery explained. In another park near my work (a very small and well trimmed park) I would do my hsing i between two trees, I realised I would have to vary my path somewhat when I turned up and there was a line worn down to the earth between the two trees. Oops, wasn't me, it was the squirrels! The workmen never used to bother me, but I stopped going there during school lunch times after groups of kids would gather round making gunshot noises... Um sorry last time I checked you were posh kids from the all boys private school up the road, you iz not from tha ghetto you get me blud...