# why did you join martial arts



## kingkong89 (Nov 17, 2006)

whay did you join martial arts. what was the reason, for me it was thanks to four green ninjas and the rat sensei. the teenage mutant ninja turtles, i saw them on tv when i was young and have been in MA ever since. of course i have found that there is a lot more then just fighting.


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## Tames D (Nov 17, 2006)

For the babes... lol. Actually it was David Carridine that sparked my interest.


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## terryl965 (Nov 17, 2006)

My father was an Instructor so I really had no choice after over forty years it is because it is who I am and there is nothing like it in the world.


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## Xue Sheng (Nov 17, 2006)

How many times must I answer this question, for the LAST TIME. *To strike FEAR in the heart of my fellow man* :uhyeah: 

Actually a friend of mine was taking Jujitsu and he got me to go to class, the rest is history, no really it is history, I'm old.


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## bushidomartialarts (Nov 17, 2006)

for me it was primarily that i wanted to become a badder ***.

i'd always had some romantic attachment to the idea of a 'warrior', but mostly i wanted to get tougher and better than fighting.  

training grew me out of that.


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## Arizona Angel (Nov 17, 2006)

There is a time for peace, and a time to fight....got peace in my life figured out for the most part, better learn to fight, right?!


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## tshadowchaser (Nov 17, 2006)

a personal quest in my youth to try to unite my mind and body.

Well now I am older my body is aged and my mind sometimes works  so I wonder if i accomplished what i started out to do


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## searcher (Nov 17, 2006)

I started with my dad, but I did not really find what he was teaching to be good when it came to getting group beaten.   Trying to make one guy submit while the others kick the crap out of me was not very fun.   So after years of beatings I found my way to a local kenpo school.   This was where I really feel my martial walk started.   I wanted to beat the crap out of the group of guys that were beating me on a regular basis.    Later on it changed as one died in a car crash, one is dying from drug use, two are flat busted.   I feel God dealt with them before I had the chance.   Good for me, in that, now I feel pity for them.


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## twendkata71 (Nov 18, 2006)

*When I was in middle school I was getting picked on. And on Friday nights JT Will had the tv show black belt theater which showed kung fu movies, at intermission he would demonstrate several kenpo techniques. I would watch the movies and try to practice the techniques. And of course there was Bruce Lee.  One of the things that exited me was seeing Elvis Presley doing martial arts, my mom was into Presley. I kept pestering my dad until finally one day he took me to a karate class in a small building in the local town. From that point on I have been a complete martial arts addict.*


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## Cirdan (Nov 18, 2006)

I train in the arts for the same reason I would climb a mountain. IT`S THERE!


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## Drac (Nov 18, 2006)

Xue Sheng said:


> How many times must I answer this question, for the LAST TIME. *To strike FEAR in the heart of my fellow man* :uhyeah:


 
So, does it work?????


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## bydand (Nov 18, 2006)

Drac said:


> So, does it work?????



I wet myself whenever I read his posts, so it must be working! 

To answer the question, I started MA because it always fancinated me as a kid.  There was no place to get actual training in the MA's where I grew up, so I had to wait until I moved away to begin.  I started with Judo, moved on the various other arts until I landed in my current art in the mid 90's.  What got me interested in the first place had to be "Kung Fu" on TV.  My best friend and I would try to imitate what we saw and it is a wonder we never hurt each other seriously.


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## exile (Nov 18, 2006)

I started because when my son was six, we saw there was a TKD class available at one of our communict Rec centers being taught by a very experienced and reputable instructor, so we figured, great! and we signed him up. I like the look of the system, and I'd always been sort of interested in the idea of learning an unarmed fighting system---have carried weapons of various kinds ever since I was an undergraduate in the rather danger NYC of the mid 1960s, but always worried about being stuck in a bad situation without the knives/motorcycle chain/razor blades/etc. I  (and everyone else I knew, regardless of our position on the war in Vietnam!) carried or wore. Watching Adrian's class, I figured, well, it's a little late in the day, but... better late than never, eh?


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## IWishToLearn (Nov 18, 2006)

I had always wanted to get into martial arts as a kid - but my parents (misguidedly due to ignorance - their only crime was not having enough information ) wouldn't let me. When I was 18 my best friend said - hey I'm taking self defense here - come join with me. So I did. That was 8 years ago with no end in site.


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## Xue Sheng (Nov 18, 2006)

Drac said:


> So, does it work?????


 
Not nearly as well as I wished it would 



bydand said:


> I wet myself whenever I read his posts, so it must be working!


 
Hopefully from the laughter



Actually it was *really* because a friend of mine was in Jujitsu and wanted me to come to class, and I could be wrong but I think the TV Series Kung Fu had just started and I thought that was cool so I went to Jujitsu. 

I even ended up with a nick name by my sensei, although it was not grasshopper, I was Stump Jumper (my friend was weed leaper) , I was also on occasion called makawara because apparently I did not know when to fall down and stay down, and you would think after all these years I would have learned but I still have no clue.


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## tom fox (Nov 18, 2006)

I started in High School , after I was the skinny kid getting picked on and beat up by all the other bullies


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## Drac (Nov 18, 2006)

I was the short fat kid that always go picked on...


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## Goldendawn8 (Nov 18, 2006)

Kung fu, the movie


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## WyldFya (Nov 19, 2006)

I was started by my parents when I was 6.  I enjoyed it, and continued for nearly 2 decades now, and continue to train, and to teach.  Soon I hope to train with Osaka shihan.  Next april I intend to fight in an international tournament.


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## OneKickWonder (Dec 8, 2006)

I was always amazed by the way martial artists could do almost the impossible but semming with ease. When I was a kid and a young teen I asked my parents to let me try it out. They let me got to a free seminar once but never enrolled me. When I joined the Army I learned bits and pieces in our hand to hand training. This peaked my interest even more. When I finally found a school that looked like the atmosphere I wanted, I joined. Kenpo was my choice for my base martial art because it is not practiced as a sport art. Most techniques are strictly for self defense. But I do cross train in BJJ and freestyle grappling, and plan on eventually training in Modern Arnis and as many other arts as I can possibly learn to further my knowledge and my potential.


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## MMAfighter (Dec 8, 2006)

when i was little...kung fu movies, Ninja turtles, Power rangers

now...MMA


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