What inspired you?

[kilogreen]

Why did you start karate? What gave you the impetus to go along and have a bash?, please excuse the pun...

I always enter the class after a bruce lee film has been on the night before to see a few new faces who want to learn...i still think its great that Mr Lee still hold such an influence years after his death...

..For me it was people like muhammed ali, jackie chan and bruce lee all inspiring enough for me to learn a martial art.. i havent looked back since..

[MizuRyu]

For me it was needing to defend myself in the environment in which I lived. I had a real 'bully' problem and was tired of getting beat up, so I started mowing lawns, shoveling snow, watching pets... whatever I could to make enough money to go to karate class. I rode my bike 3 miles just to go 4 days a week for 6 years. More than learning how to fight it taught me how to control myself and talk my way out of things. Plus, all that bike riding helped my sprinting lol.

Now I just do it for the art and the love of doing it. It's really a whole different sort of hobby.

[lordtariel]

If you're asking why I started karate, it's because the karate dojo was the best school in the area. If you're asking why I started martial arts, it's because I've always been into weapons, even when I was a kid and my grandfather used to make me wooden swords so I could do war with the blackberry bushes.

[GMac]

My son had started karate and after going along to watch a few times, I decided to join as well. And I don't regret it at all

[daizyblackbelt]

my parents signed me up when was 6....

but i kept doing it because i love it. Kata is fun, a good workout, i made excellent friends, i gained confidence, all the stereotypical stuff.

Now, i continue for the same reasons, but also because i want to be able to defend myself, and am supplementing my karate with other styles.

but mostly i just love the martial arts, whether it be practical, or impractical, they're just so much fun!

[bushido_man96]

The martial arts have always interested me, and my dad took me once when I was around 4 or 5. I loved it, but had to stop after a while. Later on, I took it up again at the advice of a friend. I outlasted even him, and have been doing it now for the last 13 years. I hope to go another 13 and beyond.

[Brandon Fisher]

A friend of mine was training when I moved to Cleveland in 1984 and I took interest and my mom and dad signed me up. I needed something to help with my self confidence and something I could do even with my sight problem. Well I have been doing it ever sense now almost 23 years.

[Shotokan-kez]

my parents took me and my bother when we were 7 years old. They divorced and we quit but in high school i went back because i was being bullied and needed confidence. I think once someone has had a real taste of it it stays with them forever as it has me.

[Holland]

I started Tae Kwon do at 8 and did that for 3 years. Then I started Isshinryu and have been with it ever since. I just think that some people have "the itch" to do martial arts and are not happy until it gets scratched. I am definately one of those people.

[Empty_Hand]

My son had started karate and after going along to watch a few times, I decided to join as well. And I don't regret it at all

My story is very similar, except it was my daughter. Now we both take karate!