Naaaw! Look at my avatar. I am just a cuddly Chinese lion. It's just like the muppet show.
Yes, the media portrays martial artists as being tough through shows like UFC and exaggerated fighting scenes in movies. So people believe this and are often intimidated when they know that a person does martial arts. I never tell people I do martial arts right off the bat. I want them to get to know me and judge me on other qualities first, especially since some people see martial arts as only the ability and the person wanting to fight. So I think people are greatly misinformed about martial arts, sometimes even the ones who do martial arts.
Being tough is not just physically. There is an inner strength too that some develop that makes them pick themselves up by their boot straps and keep going. This ability does not need the knowledge of martial arts and I know plenty of heroes that are tougher than most martial artists. That is reality not the obscure picture media paints of martial artists.
No.
A lot of people take one karate class and they walk around pretending they're kimbo slice or something. This is a terrible mistake. Most martial arts takes years to master or even to become combat-effective.
Now its all about the person, a guy may like to brag a lot about practicing taekwondo, some dont and instead preffer to reveal their expertise when threatened.
In the end its all about the person, also keep in mind that martial arts dont make you invencible...you shouldnt mess with a guy who is several inches taller and way heavier than you, even if you practice some martial art.
No there are many who take martial arts for sport.
There are many who take martial arts who aren't taught very well.
And being tough is more than knowing how to fight. To me it's both physical and mental.
Shaeeck covered the mental aspect which IMHO is very important. So I'll only add that being physically tough takes years of conditioning. And size doesn't matter as I've seen very tough tiny women and very soft big muscular guys.
The only people i consider tough are the ones who are repeatedly brave in the face of adversity. This could be a teacher, a single parent, a homeless person, a war veteran etc... I do not consider a martial artist as tough until they have proven themselves to be tough.
Tough is not physical strength nor is it the ability to physically fight. It is the ability to show strength and fight from within, that is the sign of true toughness.
Someone who is tough is honestly the person who has been pushed into a physical fight and has the ability to be able to walk away despite being pushed by people to fight. It is the person who knows that they do not need to fight to be tough. The ones who tend to want a fight are far from tough, they are insecure and want to prove themselves to people because they need those peoples approval to prove it too themselves. This is weakness from within, not toughness.
