After extensive experimentation I have come to a number of conclusions. In this article I am going to list those conclusions in the hopes that they may help you when you are thinking about providing a demonstration to a friend or acquaintance.
After extensive experimentation I have come to a number of conclusions. In this article I am going to list those conclusions in the hopes that they may help you when you are thinking about providing a demonstration to a friend or acquaintance.
You will, at some time, run into a person whose ego becomes threatened by the possibility of somebody seeming more skilled or achieved than them. These people will go to great lengths to keep their ego intact.
When demonstrating, expect that another person will try to foil your demonstration. They may strike you. This is their problem, not yours and everything that needed to be demonstrated has been demonstrated. In the demonstration context, they may strike you for you are limiting your skill and playing within a defined set of rules called "demonstrate". The other person may not be playing by the same set of rules. As a result, there are a few things you should keep in mind and watch out for. They are:
1. You have to decide how committed you are to making your demonstration successful, and stick to that commitment. Do not touch unless prepared to abide by your commitment. It is best to not touch them at all, and if a demonstration is unavoidable, try to demonstrate on a willing participant.
2. When demonstrating against some men, your wording is very important. The phrase "I will demonstrate" is often interpreted as "I challenge you". Their ego may not allow them to sit by while somebody performs demonstration attacks. Their ego makes them believe that others think they are weak and cannot defend themselves - so they will jump into action and attempt to defeat your techniques. It is important to set the context for the demonstration to ensure it is kept on an intellectual level.
3. Expect the other person to do everything they can in their power (including cheating) to show how they can defeat you. They have, and will show, no respect for your skill or training. They have an opportunity to show how they can defeat a skilled kung fu person and they will do their best to use your defeat to support their ego. They may also feel that since you are highly trained, you will be able to stop any of their attacks and will therefore attack with full vigour. They may not realize that injury is required to stop their attack, and you may not be willing to go there.
4. They will respect nothing short of you knocking them out, even going so far as to say "He couldn't knock me out". (Some people confuse "would not" with "could not").
5. Do not consider the person a willing participant.
6. Expect the other person to be unreasonable. A person pinned facing the wall may very well retort with "If I had a pistol hidden in my sleeve I could shoot and kill you." A person I knew started with "What if I had a knife?", and then eventually escalated to gun, machine gun, and finally, "What if I was driving a transport truck - could you stop me then?".
7. Some people will ask an innocent question to get you to block or strike. They will then take advantage of your "question answering mode" to attack you. This surprise attack (aka sucker punch) will then be used as confirmation that they can defeat you. I knew a chap who claimed to be a tai chi instructor and asked me about a technique which seemed similar to one in his style. When I demonstrated the technique in slow motion, he attacked me at full speed (three attacks actually). "Oh, I also studied wing chun for a few months", he said. I told him that a teacher of a Chinese martial art would know that attacking another instructor was not cool - and thus the Q/A session was finished. I suspect he may have embellished his credentials to gain my trust in order to further improve his odds of a successful surprise attack.
Selecting a Martial Arts School
Selecting the right martial art can be a challenging and sometime daunting task. This guide was written to help you to make an informed decision about which martial art and school to choose.
Now this may all seem like a pessimistic view of people, when in fact, many people accept your skill and will be a willing participant in a demonstration. This article is to help give another perspective for when (not if) you run into a person whose ego forces him to be disrespectful to your skill. His ego will make him try to take advantage a situation for his own gratification.
I guess the moral is that one should be careful when dealing with strangers. Wow - mom was right.
Instructors and Teaching 
After extensive experimentation I have come to a number of conclusions. In this article I am going to list those conclusions in the hopes that they may help you when you are thinking about providing a demonstration to a friend or acquaintance. 
should keep in mind and watch out for. They are:
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