How did you get started in martial arts?

[whitewolf2213]

i guess i got started when i was in 1st grade i just wanted to have something to do then but now i am happy i started because i could never quit its too much fun where else can u be around other people like tht

[Spirit At Choice]

I sort of fell into it. I took a self-defense class at the local dojo. The sensei there really pressured me to try the Muay Thai or Cuong Nhu. They gave me a 2 mos free and a gi so I would be able to sample it. I am now crazy about Cuong Nhu. I absolutely love it.

[marie curie]

When I was 11 the boy that I had a crush on did karate, so I talked my mom into letting me join by telling her that I should learn to defend myself. (I know that's a dumb reason, but I was young and silly) Anyway, the boy stopped comming soon after, but I couldn't quit- I loved it!

Also the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were awesome and I loved them.

So, i did 4 years of Seiei Kan Karate (AKJU). In high school I got busy with school and organizations, so I started comming less. Then, my sensei had to stop teaching due to health concerns and my only option was one TKD McDojo in my town. During this time I also attended Hapkido seminars in neiboring states.

Upon coming to college, I wanted to begin martial arts agian, and so I started training in Olympic-style Judo. During the summer after my freshman year, I studied abroad in China, where I practiced Tai Chi early in the mornings with probably 150 seniors in a town square. I also studied a form of Kung Fu, but the language barrier between the professor and me was a bit too much to gain an understanding of the origins of the particular style.

My sophmore year I continued studying Judo and took a semester of Olympic Tae Kwan Doe to get the experience and see if it was for me... it wasn't.

I started studying Kajukenbo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu last year and fell in love with both of them!!! I like to BJJ because it makes my judo better and Kaju is just a really fun and effective striking MA.

[DragonMike]

I was really out of shape as a kid, and I wasn't getting any physical activity. I was also recovering from surgery on my legs. My parents knew I loved anything to do with karate so they signed me up thinking I would do, but not really progress.

I fell in love with it. I'm still practicing 19 years later with the same instructor/orginization.

I feel very lucky.

[karatekid1975]

As a kid, I liked the karate kid movies (my screen name LOL). I fell in love with MA. But my parents couldn't afford to put me in class (I was like 12 or so).

Then I fell in love with music. I played drums for about 8 years off and on. That had my attention for a while.

Then I had a job as a campus cop. We did some self defense training, but I felt I needed more. So I hunted for dojangs in my area. I tried one. Mcdojang (except for one person who taught ... now has his own place ... Good luck to you master Kim ).

Anyways, I found my TSD dojang, and I was hooked! The rest is history I am still hooked! LOL

[P.A.L]

i started to learn from my father, he is a shotokan karateka, we used to march up and down the room and he was teaching me kihon katas, i was off and on into martial arts like TKD and Judo too, till on day at front of a barber shop we were killing time till our turn, we been kicking each others leg with other kids, the barber came out and said ," you may injure your foot this way" then he kicked a 7-8" dia. tree with his shin, it was something you know ,the whole tree shaked.

so he took us to his kyokushin/kongFu class and i stayed in martial arts from that day.

did he have a shin guard on ,that day? we never know i guess.

[shogeri]

Very insightful and thought provoking stories!

Thanks!

[tominie]

My Bruce Lee story goes a generation further! My father saw Bruce Lee on the big screen when he was a kid(ish), he got hooked on the apparent fad at the time. in 1984 i was born and by 1986 i was running at him from one side of the room to other as he threw me in a tome-nage into the sofa! I started properly when i was six as i idolised my father and tried to do whatever he did but better! By then he was a fist dan black belt Judo sen-pi and had just started ju jitsu with the legendry Ray Wonacott in Cardiff, Wales. I got my Cadet, Shodan-Ho when i was 11 under Wonacott and when i was 18 gained my Shodan status (finally!). My second dan will surely come in 2 years when i believe i am ready. My father is still one of my instructors and currently keeps the tittle of 4th dan black belt.

[Anbu Alex]

My dad studied Martial Arts while he was stationed in Japan and then Learned Kung fu from alan lee with the addition of USMC (Hurrah) cqc and there was also the Bruce Lee movies

[Shadow90]

I was always interested in MA and fighting stuff. But my mom is kinda old fashoined so I wasn't really allowed to do MA. ''You cant do that go do ballet or something else, stuff like this is for boy's like your brother!'' (he did Judo) I'm a girl and girls have to wear dresses and be pretty and other nonsense blablablablah.

Couple of years later I wanted to do karate and my mom agreed. But she thinks its just some sport that I will lose my interests in... She was all like ''If you want to quit, you can do that in March or just quit now before Im going to pay'' Now I pay it myself, my mom isnt the nicest

Im 15 now and why Karate? Well I wanted to learn some self defense in the first place, the world is hard and cruel in my opinion. And since I really love fighting I just thought; ''Karate!!!'' Sometimes I wanted that I did MA on a younger age though...

But now it has become more then just self defense, I want to join tournaments and win some prizes or something. And even though I'm still a white belt I just love to help the other people who just started karate. Its so cool when you explain something, and theyre like ''Yay thanks :)''

I think I see it as... the way of life... no seriously its more then just a sport...

So yeah thats my story

And I love sparring btw Long story huh?