barrett@oliven.olivetti.com (Ken Barrett) (10/13/90)
Relayed by: itkin@guinan.transact.com (Steven List) Organization: Transact Software, Los Altos, CA The following is drawn from rec.martial-arts with the permission of the original poster (Ken Barrett). It seemed to me to be something that might tickle non-martial-artists at least as much as martial-artists. For those who don't know the reference, TKD is an abbreviation for Tae Kwon Do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here is another infamous story for embarrassing moments... I guess I have to be pretty sad to have so many.. but at this one I was only an observer. During my test for 2nd dan in TKD we had to break 5 bricks. Going up to do this we had no idea what technique we were to use, you found that out just prior to the break you see. At any rate there were 3 of us, and as the other 2 now have schools of their own, they will go nameless. So the first of us goes up, the instructor says "elbow", so whamm he breaks the bricks and sits down. No. 2 was me, I go up and the instructor says "back fist", so whamm there goes 5 more bricks. Now the third guy to go up has become over the years friends with the instructor, so when he goes up the instructor says, "head". Now up to this point all of us have had the good sence not to try to break anything with our heads. So my friend says "yes sir" --pause-- "how do I do that sir". By now the instructor has his hand up infront of his mouth to hide his laughter (and who says Koreans have no sense of humor..), and he says "just bend over and hit it with your head". So my friend starts to set himself up to do this, then the instructor says "no, no, I was just kidding". Now here is the part that should be sub-titled "the dumbest things I have ever seen". My friend (the guy testing) says, "no sir, I want to break these with my head" and the instructor says "ok if that is what you want". So whamm and my friend is sitting on his butt, eyes pointing in what appears to be different directions and a cut on the top of his head. The instructor says "you have to hit them on the front part of your head not the top". So, whamm he hits the bricks again, and ends up in pretty much the same position, except now he has broken the top brick. At this point my friend begins to get some sense. He says "sir, I don't think I can do this", and the instructor says "ok, you can break with a punch, but you have to go get another brick because you have to break 5 at once". To this day when I see my friend I remind him of this episode and say that I used to think he was smart. moral no. 1 = You can find better things to do with your head than slamming it into 10 inches of concrete. moral no. 2 = If your instructor wants to play a joke like this on you, take him up on his offer. Bye. Ken -- Edited by Brad Templeton. MAIL your jokes (jokes ONLY) to funny@looking.ON.CA Attribute the joke's source if at all possible. A Daemon will auto-reply. Jokes posted instead of mailed often don't have a valid reply address.