Why did you join MAs???

[NewEnglands_KyoSa]

I joined martial arts because when i was about 6 i did karate with my dad who did karate at a local studio with a really close family friend and of course i was real young so it didnt mean too much to me. my mom joined after a while as well, and when i got to purple belt my whole family quit because my mom had twins on the way. as a little kid i knew nothing of humility, so i'd tell all my friends and acquantences all the time that i did karate, so one day my parents got sick of my childish ways and said..."katie, hunnie you never really earned those belts, they were given to you." so, i was disappointed and never spoke of karate again, but it always stuck in the back of my mind. so one day, in middle school i saw an ad come home for after school programs and on the list was karate, so i picked it up with the intent of proving everyone wrong. it's safe to say i have done so many many years later with dan degrees in two arts and an instructor of the art.

that's my story, now why did you join martial arts?

[The BB of C]

My older brother taught me a few very basic techniques when I was seven or eight years old. I've also watched "Dragonball Z" and played "Street Fighter" all my life. Those are my beginning influences.

Later on, in school, it turned out that I needed to learn how to fight because I was kind of a target at school. At the time, my dad didn't want to sign me up so I got back into it around the age of eleven or twelve and started studying all by myself. I got okay good. It wasn't any real skill but it was enough to turn me into one of the best fighters at school.

Eventually I devised my own theories, philosophy, forms, everything springboarding off of nothing but what my brother taught me when I was seven and what I've seen from movies and video games. Whenever I wasn't working on my books or watching television, I was practicing the movements. There was (and still is) a lot of "Street Fighter" looking moves in my style

After a while my father realized how interested I was and then, when I inquired again about starting classes, he let me. When I was fifteen I started in Kuk Sool Won and have been improving rapidly in every aspect of myself since.

[NewEnglands_KyoSa]

My older brother taught me a few very basic techniques when I was seven or eight years old. I've also watched "Dragonball Z" and played "Street Fighter" all my life. Those are my beginning influences.

Later on, in school, it turned out that I needed to learn how to fight because I was kind of a target at school. At the time, my dad didn't want to sign me up so I got back into it around the age of eleven or twelve and started studying all by myself. I got okay good. It wasn't any real skill but it was enough to turn me into one of the best fighters at school.

Eventually I devised my own theories, philosophy, forms, everything springboarding off of nothing but what my brother taught me when I was seven and what I've seen from movies and video games. Whenever I wasn't working on my books or watching television, I was practicing the movements. There was (and still is) a lot of "Street Fighter" looking moves in my style

After a while my father realized how interested I was and then, when I inquired again about starting classes, he let me. When I was fifteen I started in Kuk Sool Won and have been improving rapidly in every aspect of myself since.

wow that's a great story BB...keep it up! and good luck with your style!

[pittbullJudoka]

I guess I have my older brother to thank. He started when I was in eigth or ninth grade and I would see him practising his kata in the basement or in the back yard depending on the season. I guess I watched this and tape of him at tournaments for around a year. And decided to go try it out after he had shown me the basic kata and how to punch correctly. I picked karate up to stay in shape for wrestling season for the summer so I thought. I stuck with it for about a year and a half until I got a job were I could be off on nights that class was held.

Fast forward eight years. Again my older brother calls me up and says come work out with us. I got and this time it's a driffent style and they incorperated grappliing into it. Instant winner in my book since I loved wrestling when I was in high school. After that day he only had to ask if I had to work late to know if I was going to be at class.

And again fast forward 3 years 10 months and 21 days I am sitting here typing this thinking about next week classes.

[bushido_man96]

I got my first exposure of TKD with my dad, when I was around 4. I did it for a while, but I never even got a uniform; I just went and tried to follow along with what the adults were doing.

Later on, in middle school, a friend of mine signed up for classes, and asked me if I wanted to go check it out, too. I did, and the rest is history.

When I was in school, I always got picked on, so that was one of the main reasons for getting into it. Now I do it because I can't imagine not doing it.

[DWx]

When I was younger I used to enjoy watching MA flicks like The Karate Kid and various Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Bruce Lee stuff. Had always wanted to do something but never got up the courage to ask my parents (they were the type who wanted me to dance and play the violin..). Anyway, did various sports as a kid, netball, tennis, swimming etc. but didn't get very far with them and gradualy became more and more overweight. Then when I was 10 my Dad mentions that he saw an article in the paper about a local TKD school and knowing that I liked MA films and stuff like that, suggested that I might like to go along. I'd never heard of it but went to my first lesson anyway. Never stopped training since.

[IcemanSK]

I joined martial arts because when i was about 6 i did karate with my dad who did karate at a local studio with a really close family friend and of course i was real young so it didnt mean too much to me. my mom joined after a while as well, and when i got to purple belt my whole family quit because my mom had twins on the way. as a little kid i knew nothing of humility, so i'd tell all my friends and acquantences all the time that i did karate, so one day my parents got sick of my childish ways and said..."katie, hunnie you never really earned those belts, they were given to you." so, i was disappointed and never spoke of karate again, but it always stuck in the back of my mind. so one day, in middle school i saw an ad come home for after school programs and on the list was karate, so i picked it up with the intent of proving everyone wrong. it's safe to say i have done so many many years later with dan degrees in two arts and an instructor of the art.

that's my story, now why did you join martial arts?

Ugh, what a story. I'm sorry your folks told you that. But it seems as tho it's motivated you to some degree to train to the level you are at now.

I got interested in 1981 when I got 3 free issues of the short-lived "Kick Illustrated" magazine. I was hooked! The next year, my folks won free lessons at an auction & my best friend & I started training. Everyone figured I'd give it up & he'd stay with it. He quit within 6 months. I've been training for 25 years. I even taught him & his son about 15 years ago.

[tori]

I took Kung Fu as a child for 4 years. I really liked the discipline I learned and know that it was what gave me the self confidence to get through those dreadful teenage years. My instructor died, so that was it for our classes. Skip ahead many, many years...I started taking Shotokan because I needed to get my self confidence back, get some exercise, and get control of the stress in my life. I have been there now for 8 years. I am really glad that I was exposed at such an early age to the Martial Arts, because I learned the benefits it can provide. So later in life, I went back to what was so good for me years ago.

[S.Q.A.I]

I was awkward and skinny, and afflicted with every kind of childhood angst imaginable. The funny thing now is , Im being completely serious, I hated my childhood. I never fit into anything anywhere, scouts, sports, friends all non existant. My parents started me in a Judo class because I lacked so much confidence. I hated it, I tried to quit several times in the first year, but my Mother of all poeple wouldnt let me quit. I wish there was something great and powerful to inject to the story, but the fact is I just began to excell at it. Then I liked it. I would grow and venture to new styles but I never left Martial Arts again to date. I feel the same now as i did then, its the only thing I ever felt good at. I still do feel good at it lol.

[wushu2004]

For me, it was in like 2nd grade when I joined my MA group. I was a really short and small kid. My parents wanted me to be able to defend myself and to get involved in something, so it was both MA and Cub Scouts. Gradually, I watched The Karate Kid, Power Rangers, and related things and I put forth more effort in my training. Then, about 4 years ago, my MA group also added Chinese Wushu to their repertoire and unfortunately, due to a scout campout in Canada, I was unable to attend the first camp. But since I started Wushu the year after, I have been more dedicated to Wushu (too much for my dad's taste, cuz he wants me to get Eagle Scout before I'm 18) and I've never regretted it for a minute.

EDIT:

the red smiley is supposed to be "18"