Answer These Questions!

[Patrick]

Thank you for sharing, devil dog and Canadian77.

Patrick

[wagnerk]

1. Where are you from?

Depends on what you mean

Live = GB, however have lived in the US (Cal, NYC & MD), PH, DE and GB.

Born = DE, however a mix of DE/CZ & CN/MY.

So basically all over...

2. Why did you get started in the martial arts?

For a variety of reasons:

Bullied as a youngster, wanted to know more about half of my "culture", as a kid wanted to be like one of my heroes: Jackie Chan (not Bruce Lee).

3. Please briefly describe the styles of martial arts that you have taken and your ranks in them.

Martial arts that I have done and gained ranks in

Tang Soo Do (MDK): 1st Dan

Freestyle karate: 2nd Dan

Shotokan karate: 1st Dan

Ni-Sen Karate (based on Ticky Donovan’s Ishinryu karate): 6th Kyu

Go Kan Ryu: 8th Kyu

British Kickboxing: Yellow Belt

American Kickboxing: Red Belt

Martial arts that I have taken less than 3 months & never gained rank in

Tai Chi, Ninpo, Judo, Kung Fu (Lee Family & Lau Gar), Kyokushin karate. I've probably tried out more, but can't at this moment think of any...

4. Do you remember how you found KarateForums.com? Why did you join? And why did you stay?

I found KF's by searching for forums to do with the Martial arts (can't remember if it was thru Google or MSN) back in 2006. Wanted to expand my knowledge of the various arts and styles out there as well as give back to the MA community. Why'd I stay, cause I like the atmosphere, unlike a couple of other forums I'm am inactive member of...

5. What does KarateForums.com mean to you?

A community of like minded practitioners.

6. Can you share a memorable moment within the community where you received great advice or an experience that really affected you and your martial arts journey?

A memorable moment? I guess there's been several... A couple that stand out:

1. Standards. From experience, I attended a grading where a student was promoted to a 6th or 5th kyu and couldn't even do the moves that were required for 9th kyu and still passed, on talking to the student later all the student could say was "I didn't have the time to practice" (or something along those lines). From that point on, I learnt a good lesson on standards and the types of associations out there.

2. Kata's/Forms. There is more to forms that just a bunch of dance movements. My instructor showed the effectiveness of the movements within the forms (this lead me onto the likes of Iain Abernethy) with not only punches, kicks and blocks, but also locks, throws and take downs. My instructor also goes on by saying to demonstrate the form, it'll look nice and clean. By when practicing the self-defence applications, it'll look messy.

[bushido_man96]

Thanks for sharing this with us, wagnerk.