What made you do the Martial Art that you do?

[Midnight_kitty]

My brother had been doing modern arnis for a few years and kept practicing the moves on me and my other sisters. Soon after we all took up different styles. I tried a few different ma and then finally ended up loving shotokan karate. Though I still enjoy aikido and plan on taking it up again.

[jeffrogers]

saifights - I will be in Korea for 7 more months. Unless I extend. I really haven't gone out that much to train with any one. Hard to find time in the army over here. When your either going to the field or your schedule gets roated or messed up alot. I am going on leave soon. When I get back I am going to seoul they have a BJJ gym out there.

 

-Jeff

[aes]

I was orignally looking for a more Self Defense oriented MA, but was interested in more tradional aspects of MA as well. I checked out the local dojos and just liked the feel of the dojo I went with.

 

It also had a bit to do with being able to train under a 8th degree black belt. I thought in the long term there would be more that could be learned from his experience.

 

So really it was a number of factors. In retrospect I do not regret my decision. It does not hurt that this dojo is only a few blocks from my house either.

[White Warlock]

Hmm... well, initially i got into judo as a youngster because my parents put me in the courses and i was switched around between that, swimming, gymnastics and whatever else was being taught at the community center that month, but mostly it was judo. I learned other things here and there, but all of it was mainly 'handed' to me until i reached about 15 years old. That's when my life took a dramatic hit.

 

I won't go into details, but... essentially... i entered full-scale into studying the martial arts because i wanted to end someone's life. A person who 'invaded' someone very dear to me.

 

I studied with that one goal in mind for the better part of five years. My studies were very focused and i dismissed all things frivolous or fancy. It was 'get in,' 'get it over with,' and 'get out.' I entered into confrontations regularly, to test my readiness (yes, in the streets... as you guys call it), but i was never satisfied.

 

Eventually... as i continued studying, i forgot why i was studying. Martial arts became a part of my life... a way of life. I thought it and practiced it with every action i made. I was, essentially, at the peak of body... yet still young in thought.

 

Then... i was run over while on a motorbike.

 

I recovered somewhat, reentered my studies, and a little over 10 years after the incident that brought me to absorb the arts... almost a year after my term in the Army, i realized i had lost my way... and had fallen, instead, on the path.

 

At that point, i stopped practicing.

 

I spent about a year or so contemplating what it was i wanted, whether there was any need for me to 'return' to my initial intent. I thought long and hard... very hard. In no uncertain terms, I had switched one obsession, for another. An unhealthy one, for a healthy one... but was it what i wanted, or had i intentionally walked away out of fear of the repercussions associated with my initial goals? Or had i simply forgotten?

 

Eventually I came to the conclusion that I had never truly forgotten, but had been coming to terms with it. I realized, subconsciously, that my initial goals were selfish and that the action I had contemplated would have brought me to a state of self that i would never be able to recover from. I accepted the fact that my 'superconscious' had guided me to a better state and that I had entered the path of my own volition, and not by 'default.' I accepted, as well, that whatever happened in the past, I was too young to make a difference then and those who were old enough to make a difference, decided it was not prudent to do so.

 

From there, i re-entered the arts with a clear conscience. Because of my foundations, I maintained a no-nonsense study of the arts. I hold no regrets for my decisions, but do hold to a little sadness as to how i came to this path in my life. It would have been nice to have entered this way under happier conditions. Nonetheless, i feel good when i practice... despite the myriad of injuries and scarred muscles i struggle through every day.

 

This is the truth, however ugly or contrived it may sound. Thank you for listening.

[blitzcraig]

I was wanting to take a MA for years and years and years and my mom was always like..."we dont have the money now...maybe when your older". So I just got tired of it and when I had a car and money I decided to look into MA's. Why I picked the most expensive Karate school around I dont know...kinda dumb on my part.