How do you integrate MA into your life?

[Matt Stone]

Carrying over from several different thread elsewhere...

How do you integrate MA practice into your daily life? Is what you do hobby, religion, sport, meditation, fitness, preparation or recreation?

Are you a functional paranoid, training for that highly unlikely singular confrontation? Do you train because you have goals of being the Ultimate Super Being Fighting Champion God? Are you simply overly aggressive? Do you train because you hope to emulate the myths of Shaolin?

Please share...

I started in Yiliquan in 1985 or 86 in Omaha, Nebraska. I had planned on taking a more manly martial art like karate (though I didn't know there was more than one kind of karate at the time) or ninjutsu (bear in mind the time frame and the fact that I was 16 or 17) instead of some foo-foo girly pansy flowery kung fu class. I spent a week of evenings helping Sifu Starr prepare the storefront of his school, building railings, hanging doors, etc., and talking for hours about MA in general. He answered every question I had, and for the things he wasn't altogether clear on, he was honest about his lack of info. He didn't color things by opinion, and actually went out of his way to remain unjudgemental about other schools...

Been doing Yili ever since.

Why did I join? Couldn't tell you for sure. I wasn't a tough guy, but I wasn't a victim either. Wasn't getting beaten up, wasn't out of shape and looking for a workout. I have no actual idea why I joined, just that I knew I had to...

Yili has permeated every part of my life. I illustrate moral examples to my kids in MA stories. I make comparisons between difficult military situations in terms of one on one combat. Nearly anything I see I can figure out a MA analogy for. My training has kept me in shape despite one herniated disk, one bulging disk (both of which press directly on my spinal cord at times... woohoo! THAT'LL wake you up in the morning! ), arthritis and degenerative joint disease. It has allowed me to better understand certain "truths" about life in general...

And I'm quite the entertaining guy at parties... NOT!

So how about you?

Gambarimasu.

 

[Deathtrap101]

Well i always wanted to be supreme being fighting god. But its not gonna happen. Last year before joining karate i was working out lots at the gym tryin to get big because my theary was that if im big enough that little tequnicle guy is no good if he cant move me...

And well nobody really taught me a lesson i just kinda thought it through a little more and after watching 7 hours of street fighter episodes i decided martial arts was the way to go.

I joined as soon as i could after looking at a total of 3 choices(excluding boxing qhich i have taken for a few months)TKD karate and judo. the TKD looked pretty orgonized and they had the TV and VCR set up and everyhting, he held up all the chest protecters and handed out panflets. Then i checked out hte karate stand, very simple plain table with a few weapons set out, something that looked like an old nightstick and a psi. Ownedby the guy that was there signing people up.

He talked me into it and i wont go into details.

But yea once and a while ill go into my basement(have no ride to the dojo this summer.) and mostly jsut work on my kicks back and forth and work on the bag a bit bein sure to stay in good shape and flexability.

I do martial arts for fitness, hobby, waiting for that one moment when i might need it. So i can show off, wont be pushed around (im pretty big 6' 170lbs and going into grade 10 this year, and i dont get pushed too often.). And well i wanna be the best, too bad im too damn lazy to be traiing a little more....

 

[Laevolus]

Well, I don't know when I first got interested in the subject of martial arts, probably waaaayyy back in the mists of time when I first saw the Karate Kid movie back when I was 12 and started my belief that Karate was the be all and end all of all martial arts in the world and was the answer to all my problems with bullies at school.

Being a bg reader I soon learnt there were lots of different styles and eventually found someone in my home town teaching Karate, so I signed up but had to stop after about 2 motnhs due to lack of cash.

I then got on with my life, but always wanted to go back to to learn how to defend myself if i ever needed to.

Anway, after splitting from my wife a few years ago, I decided to take control of my life, went back to the club I went to ten years earler and found out it had closed but discover Black Cat Do club and the rest is history.

The only reason I've ever wanted to do it was for self defence, pure and simple. I was bullied a LOT at school due to being quite small and having an unfortunate surname (it's Ducker..guess what that rhymes with....kids can be merciless with a line like that one ) so I just wanted to be able to stop it happening.

I've never nbeen the type to want revenge and to go back and beat up all the people that did it to me, I just wanted to be able to look after myself and the people I care about, I have a new partner and two lovely kids, so protecting them is very high in my mind.

I've since learnt the other benefits to training, better fitness, different outlook on life and the world, so there's a lot of ways it's integrated into my life. I feel more confident in myself and a lot happier, especially since the dark days of my divorce.

I also work in high street retail in a store that doesn't have any security guards, so I often have to help stop shoplifters, o the training I do will be useful in that respect, especially if we get some doped up nutter with a knife or worse still, a needle. I'd still not make much of an attempt to stop them, but if they attacked I'd feel a little more confident I would be able to defend myself.

So i guess the general integration for me has been the outlook on life it's given me, the different ways I percieve the world. iIno longer go around with blinkers on not thinking about my surroundings, I'm a lot more aware of possible dangers an I'm more alert as well.

Also I 'd love to pass on any help to my kids in the future when they are a bit older, hopefully if they get into it young enough, they won't have the trouble with the bullies that I did, after all, they do have the same surname as me

my word, that was a bit of a ramble..wasn't it?

Laev.

 

[D.Cobb]

The question, "How do you integrate MA practice into your daily life? Is what you do hobby, religion, sport, meditation, fitness, preparation or recreation? "

The answer, In everything I do. Part of our training is to self evaluate. Give yourself a rating out of 10, for Attention to detail. Focus. and Effort. I just decided to take this and apply it everywhere. Also we are taught to ask ourselves,
Where am I?
What am I doing?
Is it real?
Is it worth it?

I took these and applied them at work, where I had been a bit of a goof off. Within 3 months, of consciously applying these things, I was given a pay rise ahead of people that I thought were more deserving. When I left that company, my boss shook my hand and told me there would always be an opening there if I needed it.

I spent a better part of my life being rude and obnoxious. I felt that if you hated me then you couldn't hurt me. I took up martial arts so that I could push you into trying something, then legally take your face off.
Around 3 years ago, I started training in Ryukyu Kempo. My master is the only man I have ever met that I am totally in awe of.
He has become somewhat of a Mr. Miyagi to me. He say... I do!
In fact, everything that is good in my life, I attribute to him.

For me, KEMPO IS LIFE!! The rest is just details.

--Dave



:asian:

 

[bscastro]

For me, martial arts is a way of relaxing, exercising, self-defense, and fun! I also enjoy understanding the mechanics of the body and pushing it to its limits (training hard mentally and physically).

As for integrating it into my life, I think it is more than the physical. For example, in situations where I am confronting someone at a meeting, I think the composure and perspective doing martial arts has helped developed helps me to dissolve the tenseness and calm the situation. Also, I think that understanding human nature has been developed through my practice of martial arts, so I guess I use it whenever I am interacting with others whether it be in my job or in social situations.

Cheers,
Bryan