I became a Martial Artist because...

[Zero]

I also like to fight, plain and simple. I don't want to hurt someone on the street and am happy to diffuse confrontations but I have no issue with a street fight or one in the ring (I have felt bad at times when I have hurt someone seriously in competition, particularly when I know them, but generally I have shrugged off the injuries I had sustained over the years as part and parcel of the game). I also, like everyone, like to win when I do fight and have always loved pushing myself physically to see what the body can achieve.

My folks put me into judo early in primary school, so initially I am not sure if it was even my choice. The good thing with judo was, and this followed through to high school, if you got into a scrap on the school field you could do a leg sweep and if required follow with a head lock and pretty much end things there without the need for any fisticuffs; therefore avoiding any disciplinary issues.

Later I made the call to switch completely to TKD throughout high school as I wanted to be able to kick well and high. For some reason I prefer competing in striking styles and even with freestyle fighting prefer a KO to a submission. I guess this may also have been triggered by years of watching kung fu movies which focused much more on flashy kicks and strikes.

I started becoming a little fed up with TKD in my early twenties and wanted something with more contact in the fighting and also more focus on hand use. I then switched to goju ryu, after trying several karate forms; funny as goju ryu (the name gives it away) is not the most contact focused style in its applicaitons, compared to say kyokoshin. The real reason I stuck with the goju club is that I got a real hiding from the sensei on the first night and was so impressed by his and his shihan's skill. Not being arrogant but it had been a long time since I had my be-hind wooped - and comprehensively! - and I left that night with no doubt these guys were a mile ahead of me; that was where I wanted to learn.

 

[Razor]

I started just over a year ago, but wanted to before that and did not have time. I began studying martial arts for self-defence as I want to be able to defend myself and others. In a more general sense, I suppose my father was an influence as well, because he studied Tae Kwon Do for a long time, and Judo briefly. Although he never overtly suggested I should start any martial art, he was always encouraging my brothers and I to be physically active and we talked about martial arts quite a bit.

 

[oftheherd1]

Funny, I don't recall exactly (I started with TKD about late 1964). I guess I was impressed with MA like most people back then. I spent 18 months in Okinawa and never darkened a dojo door. One night after I returned to the USA, I exited a restaurant at Connecticut and S, in Washingon, DC, and heard some Kiyai. I got curious and followed the sound up the stairs to the 3rd floor, and found Jhoon Goo Rhee's studio there. Every one there was friendly and encouraging. I decided that night and signed up the next time I went. It just seemed the right thing to do and looked like a good and fun place to learn. It was. But I had to stop after about a year. I didn't get back into MA until about 1984, in Korea, when I took up Hapkido. That fit better than anything else so I stayed with it.

 

[sfs982000]

My journey started back in the early eighties, there was a local t.v. station that showed martial arts movies on Saturday evenings and from the first time I watched it I got hooked big time. That was all I wanted to do, I read anything I could find on the subject and watched every movie I could find. It was almost a year later before I was able to find an actual school. There was a police officer who taught poekelan out of his garage, I loved it, but after a few months he transferred to another job out of state. From there I switched to shotokan and studied that for about 4 years until the school closed down for financial reasons. From then on it's been hit or miss for me studying whatever I could when I could afford to do it. I joined the air force after graduating high school and was stationed in Korea for a year and studyed for a bit over there. After I came back state side I studyed Kuk Sool Won for a bit until I got injured and I didn't do anything for almost 15 years or so then about 3 years ago I started studying Tae Kwon Do and have been doing it ever since. So basically in a nutshell I started studying martial arts because of the discipline, conditioning and history/culture behind it.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

To crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and to hear the lamentation of their women.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Well since Bill MISAPPROPRIATED:tantrum: (aka plagiarized) :flammad:my usual plagarism to all such post on MT I guess I shall ahve to go with

I started martial arts mostly to strike fear in the hearts of my fellow man

:uhyeah:

 

[Zero]

To crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and to hear the lamentation of their women.

Do you often hear the lamentation of women?? Hey, just kidding big guy!

 

[Champ-Pain]

I understand this. For me, martial art became a catharsis; a way of feeling that I was in control of at least something. And so then can I ask did you fight before you began martial arts?

I started M/A at the age of 7 and I was fighting as far back as I can remember... Carol City, now Miami Gardens, was and still is a very tough neiborhood to grow up in. In second grade - I fought 3 times on the first day of school. Willie Armstrong, before class even started - Tizy Taylor, during P.E., and Michael Johnson, during lunch... I was already doing Judo, and I slammed all 3 of them pretty hard on the ground. I can still remember all their names. LOL

 

[Jenna]

I started M/A at the age of 7 and I was fighting as far back as I can remember... Carol City, now Miami Gardens, was and still is a very tough neiborhood to grow up in.

I have only seen Miami on CSI I think there always have been social problems arising from drugs yes? And so if you began your MA journey at 7 and you started because you like fighting, were you having to fight with neighbourhood kids? I am sorry you had a difficult time at that age.

 

[Champ-Pain]

I have only seen Miami on CSI I think there always have been social problems arising from drugs yes? And so if you began your MA journey at 7 and you started because you like fighting, were you having to fight with neighbourhood kids? I am sorry you had a difficult time at that age.

LOL - It was the neighborhood kids who were having a difficult time with me. Read post #28 again.

 

[Rich Parsons]

I started training in martial arts for two reasons.

1) To learn how not to break people.

2) Stress relief


Mostly Number one. The person who introduced me to my first art thought I needed some stress relief. I personally thought it was good to learn how to strike with control and to control opponents with locks and throws versus smashes and crushing and mostly interferance fit with their skull and some hard unmovable object, like a brick wall, chrome bumper, the concrete or blacktop.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

1) To learn how to break people.

Fixed that for ya.

 

[elder999]

. I personally thought it was good to learn how to strike with control and to control opponents with locks and throws versus smashes and crushing and mostly interferance fit with their skull and some hard unmovable object, like a brick wall, chrome bumper, the concrete or blacktop.

Spoken like a big guy! :lol:

[yt]xppltHZa8GI[/yt]

 

[Rich Parsons]

Fixed that for ya.

Bill for those who do not know your sense of humor, I was being serious, you were trying to poke fun at me.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Spoken like a big guy! :lol:

[yt]xppltHZa8GI[/yt]

Andre was a great guy and so was his role in "The Princess Bride".


I have a soft and sensitive side. I am real sensitive with my training and instruction. Unfortunately may people take a sensitive touch or being kind by big guys as being a sign of weakness. They attack or assault you and then find out otherwise.

 

[elder999]

Andre was a great guy and so was his role in "The Princess Bride".


I have a soft and sensitive side. I am real sensitive with my training and instruction. Unfortunately may people take a sensitive touch or being kind by big guys as being a sign of weakness. They attack or assault you and then find out otherwise.

Yer tellin' me?

Of course, I'm not really all that big.....:lol:

 

[Danny T]

I simply grew into one. It was more of a continuing of training.

Started out boxing as a youngster and did some wrestling in high school along with other sports; football, baseball, & track. Continued with boxing & wrestling in the military and shared some training time with others who were training in other aspects of fighting (martial arts) I.e., TKD, Goju Ru, Shotokan, Wing Chun and others. Never any formal martial art school, no belts, no ranking only training how to fight standing or on the ground.
After retuning home from a stint in South East Asia, I quit all fight type training for a few years only to realize I missed it. Started boxing again and working out with a few guys who also did some Muay Thai. Started wrestling again and a few months later ran into a high school friend who had a martial art school. Got my oldest son started with him and I also started training with him. From there met Sifu Francis Fong; Wing Chun, Tuhon Bill McGrath; Pekiti-Tirsia Kali, Guro Dan Inosanto; JKD, Silat, Ajarn Chai Sirisute; Muay Thai, starting training with them and it continues today. Started my own school of mixed fighting ways: Boxing, Wrestling/grappling, Kickboxing, and whatever in 1998. Today it continues with Wing Chun, Muay Thai, Boxing, MMA/CSW, Pekiti-Tirsia Kali, Shotokan, Silat, Fight Conditioning, LEO Manadnock & Control Force Police Tactics, Small arms tactics, and Survival tactics. It just happened, after many years of training I have become a martial artist.

 

[shesulsa]

The first time because I thought it was cool and wanted to see where the path would lead me or how I could be a better person with that knowledge.

The second time because my abusive ex was also a martial artist and I knew I had to keep training ... got tired of being a doormat and a victim.

 

[Flea]

because my abusive ex was also a martial artist and I knew I had to keep training ... got tired of being a doormat and a victim.

I think I speak for many here when I say ... :angry:

As for me, I'm lazy so I'll just copy and paste my response from the last time this thread came up. :uhyeah:

I used to live in a second-story apartment with its own private outdoor staircase. When I say private, I mean it was off the back of the building, facing a well-lit alley. One night around 10 I stepped out to give my dog his evening walk. Halfway down the steps, I noticed some guy in the alley who was very brazenly standing watch. Staring directly at me. It went without saying that the dog walk was cancelled at that moment, but out of curiosity I stared right back at him just as brazenly just to see what he'd do. Nothing - he just stood motionless and stared back. So I did a quick scan of my surroundings to see what he was standing lookout for. Sure enough, there was some guy crouched in the bushes right under my stairs, also staring just as brazenly up at me. I don't consider myself a weapons person (although that's changed somewhat since then,) so I opened up the classifieds in the Sunday paper and answered an ad for "women's self-defense." And thus the Flea was born. [/QUOTE]

 

[Flea]

(And while I'm at it, a technical question; for some reason I could only paste about a line and a half of that at a time. Is that normal? I don't remember it being like that before.)

Back to your regularly scheduled thread now ...