Workout Salesman?

[shaolinboxer]

Last night I was working out and there was a fellow who appeared to have previous aikido training, possibly from another school in the area (in NYC there are several schools).

After class I always take 10 min to get a full stretch, and he approached me and bagan to comment on my technique. Then he began to describe a new way of stretching, with some fancy name, and told me he'd leave his number at the desk so that I can take his class and "take it to the next level".

I told the follow I was not interested, as many years of experience and trial and error have given me a set of good stretches that keep me comfortable, injury free, and flexible. He insisted that I was mistaken and tried again to convince me I neede to take his class, and I was forced to say "I'm sorry, but am I absolutely not interested. Thanks for offering."

Am I wrong to be slightly annoyed by this? This is not the first time this has happened. For some reason, yoga people, meditation/breathing people, and stretching people always seems to want to bring you into their fold. Never have I had someone say,"you should come learn jiu-jitsu (gracie spelling :) )" or "some take my kung fu class".

Any salesman in your schools?

[MightyB]

Yes, you should be annoyed. That's equivelant to somebody walking in to your school and telling you "Hi, you teach crap. Come learn from me". You'd hope people would have more class than that. It's almost a challenge.

Quick note on how to accept a challenge: As soon as the guy announces the challenge, start punching him in the face. Keep punching him in the face until he falls down wincing in pain :)

[Robinf]

I would have been totally annoyed by that, too. Offering is one thing, but to tell you you're wrong... That's taking an insult to the next level. You handled the situation very well, though.

Robin