Giving up then returning back to martial arts

[Alan Armstrong]

Have you given up martial arts only to return to it again?

It is not uncommon for people to start matial arts then to put it on hold and return later.

How difficult was it to return to martial arts?

How long of a gap have you had between stopping and returning to your martial art journey?

Why did you stop your martial art training and what brought you back on track?

[Lupin1]

I did. I started when I was 8 years old and trained until I was 12. I then quit to join the basketball team.

After I finished college and moved back home, I was looking for something to get involved with to socialize and give my life some purpose (I graduated in the middle of the recession and I had a rough few years right out of college). I looked up my old instructor on Facebook and sent him a message.

So it was about a 10 year break. It took a few months to remember things, but since it was the same school and I remembered some of the more basic forms, I got back up to snuff quickly and was moving forward again within six months.

[ashworth]

I stopped when I was about 12 but only for 2 years, started up again at 14 with a new style

Stop due to family issues, missed it and wanted to get back into it.

[JR 137]

I trained for a little over 7 years, from 1994-2001. I was 18 when I started and 25 when I had to stop. I was preparing to test for my 2nd dan.

Mid-August of 2001, I was offered a graduate assistantship 5 hours away. I was scheduled to test for 2nd dan the first weekend of October, but obviously couldn't make it. I figured I'd be back in 2 years and pick up where I left off. I met my wife during a trip home from grad school. I was offered a good job 2.5 hours away from my home in the opposite direction a few weeks before I graduated.

I worked evenings, weekends, and travelled a lot. Working with a Div I soccer and basketball team does that to you. Add my by then fiancé and a completely new town, and I genuinely didn't have extra time for anything. Marriage, my first daughter, moving back to my hometown, then another daughter.

I finally found the time after changing careers. It only took 14 years

I've been at my current dojo since February of 2015. Karate has always been on my mind, and it was always a matter of when I'd start again, not if I'd start again.

The organization I was in first was started by 2 former senseis from my current organization (Seido Juku), so it was an easy transition back. The syllabus from both organizations are about 90% the same in both. I honestly remembered just about everything; it was a matter of sharpening things rather than relearning.

Within a few weeks, my speed, power, timing, and sharpness came back to close to where I left off. The only thing that lacked, and still does, is my flexibility.

I'm honestly a far better MAist now. At 3rd kyu, I honestly feel better than I was at close to 2nd dan. A lot of that is due to maturity, not chasing rank, and having the sole purpose of my training being improvement rather than promoting to the next rank.

Sorry for the autobiography

[MatsuShinshii]

I'm honestly a far better MAist now. At 3rd kyu, I honestly feel better than I was at close to 2nd dan. A lot of that is due to maturity, not chasing rank, and having the sole purpose of my training being improvement rather than promoting to the next rank.

To the bold above. Love that mind set.

[Nidan Melbourne]

I stopped for a total of 1.5 Years, because I was completing Year 12 at the time and also needed the extra 1/2 year off cause i needed a break.

It wasn't hard for me to get back into it, because it was a relatively short break.

[RobertAslin2]

As some of you may know, my MA school had to shut down. I did a couple of classes at a couple of schools here and there but I was never able to get a good rhythm down between work and school.

I'm honestly thinking of finding a good TKD, karate, or even something completely new like Hung Gar, and completely starting over. White belt and everything.

[Bulltahr]

I did Shotokan in high school for 2 years before I stopped once I joined the Army. 33 years later I started again, really, really wish that I had re-started alot earlier....

[Byzantine]

I have been training in MA for 21 years , but last trained full time at a dojo ten years ago after my judo school closed down.

Since then I have been training at home or at various different clubs in various different styles trying to find the right "fit".

Weirdly its been difficult for me to garner motivation and stick with a club...Its almost like I have lost interest, but as MA has always been a huge part of my life and identity Im driven to continue looking.

Anyway, I'm starting Kyokushin again on Monday so hopefully this time I will stick with it and settle back into a proper training routine

Cheers

[sensei8]

No, I've never stopped learning/training in the MA, to only resume learning/training later on; in which, it'll be 53 years this October since my MA journey began.