If you didn't have Karate what would you be doing now?

[ps1]

Wow...this is a very difficult question. To say where "I" would be without Karate is nearly impossible. This is because "I" use Karate (martial arts in general) to define me. I have been training since I was 6 years old. The martial arts are so wrapped up in the fiber of my being that I would no longer be me without them. Of that much I am sure.

[white owl]

Wa-No-Michi I do agree that you can "burn out" I sometimes feel like that and then my addiction kicks in and I go to class and think, Oh I am glad I came that was a good class. But I have had days when I wish I never showed up.

If I did not have ma I probably be spending more time with my horse's like I did before ma.

You have a horse??!!!

aw heck, I'd be riding every day !!!!!

Yep! I have 2. My mother put me on a horse when I was a month old. Then we moved away from her family farm and came back when I was 10 years old. Shortly after my parents got me a 14 teen year old horse which she is now around 35 years old and I also have 9 year old. I wish I could ride every day.

[bushido_spirit]

I have thought about this a lot of late and karate has changed my life so dramatically it would be hard to imagine life without it. The only other discipline which I was never terribly disciplined at was music, so I guess if I didn't have karate I would be doing more music than I am now. I have only ever trained in 2 styles of karate and maybe I would have tried something like aikido or kung fu or kendo I guess. I have been thinking about doing that soon anyway just for a bit of extra knowledge outside my current sphere.

[sensei8]

WOW! What a question! The martial arts is all I've ever known and it's all that I'm truly passionate about.

To answer the question at hand...

I'd be BORED out of my skull! I just don't truly know what I'd be doing if it weren't for the martial arts. Having said that...

I would've been a police officer if I wasn't a martial artist. Yes, I know that as a police officer I would've been able to do both. That's fine, but, I would've dedicated my life to law enforcement and I would've done some self-defense as part of being a police officer.

[bushido_man96]

I'm not sure where I'd be without the Martial Arts. I met my wife in my TKD school, so that might have turned out differently. I've done it for so long that I can't imagine not doing it in some capacity. It has really changed the way I look at things, being aware, contemplating how I would approach different scenarios, and things like that. I try to think with an MA mindset all the time, geared toward the physical aspects, for the most part.

[brokenswordx]

I'd be very depressed, unsure of myself, and without music.

Karate gave me the confidence I needed to pursue music, so without it I never would've picked up the guitar, piano, and singing.

[BDPulver]

I'm with the old timers here. been doing ma since 8 now 38. Getting rdy to look into opening my school if all goes well.

I'd probably wouldve stayed in the army. So in that, I probably would've picked something up. Not sure, never really crossed my mind.

[Patrick]

Nice idea for a thread, Dobbersky. Thanks for sharing, everyone!

Patrick

[tallgeese]

I've thought about this for a while now and still have no answer.

Martial arts have been such a major feature of my life now for so long I can hardly define myself without them.

[furry_Homeboy]

I think it's really hard for a lot of us to figure out where we would be if not for our martial arts. So many of us have become shaped or at least heavily influenced by them.

I began practicing karate right around the time I began to go through adolescence and so it helped guide me and still does through those years of adolescence. It was a major influence during the years where I began to shape my identity and figure out who I am. Of course though I still am going through similar stuff since I'm 17, but not quite as much as before. I honestly feel good about the place I am in right now.