I learned M/A because...?

[Aiki Lee]

I thought it was to learn how to fight.

My dad taught me some karate when I was a kid, but I didn't take it seriously until I started getting bullied pretty hard. So I strated training seriously to learn to fight, then I switched systems because I thought I could learn to fight better. I did, but now that I'm older I realize that's not really why I did it.

I had a need to learn to fight because I was scared of other people. Learning to fight would make me stronger, and being strong would make me fearless, I reasoned. Only I found out that while I love martial arts, I HATE fighting. I think it is important to know how to fight, but it is more important to learn how to overcome fear.

I train in martial arts because it teaches me to overcome fears about everything. I can stand up to people because I know I can protect myself. I can reach out to others who are afraid and alone because I have discovered strength in myself. Martial arts give me confidence in a way no sport or other activity can because it puts me in situations where I must overcome great fear (such as being punched in the face, or thrown from a great height) and forces me to take control of the situation.

I started martial arts really because I wanted to be brave. I train in it still because bravery is a fine line to walk.

 

[billc]

I was about 4 when I was out riding my big wheel with my cousin. A group of older kids stopped us, pulled me off of my big wheel and started pushing me around in the middle of the group. All of a sudden there was a guy there, he yelled at the kids and even shoved one of them. They broke up and left and the guy asked if I was okay. It would turn out later that he was the gym teacher at the gradeschool I went to. A little while later I was with my grandfather and we started watching Robin Hood with Errol Flynn. When I saw him swinging that sword around and dealing with the bad guys, I was hooked. I started watching everything that had fencing in it. Then came Kung Fu, the television show, and I started on the martial arts path. I took a couple of months of Tracy Kempo in 2nd grade, and stopped. Then Started in an American sport Karate style in Jr. High.

In High school I read an article on Modern Arnis and Remy Presas in Black Belt magazine and there happened to be a school nearby that taught the art. I then moved into their chinese kempo program that eventually switched over to Kosho Shorei Ryu Kempo. I have continued on in the Filipino arts ever since, realizing that the weapons training, right from the start, was both really cool, and very self-defense focused.

 

[Supra Vijai]

Well no one's said this so far suprisingly but for me it was:

The Karate Kid made me start Go-Kan-Ryu - I had no idea of Okinawan vs Japanese let alone the substyles... I was 10 Realised very quickly though that the particular approach to Karate taken by the school I joined wasn't for me and never got back into it

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Pretty self explanatory Once I started training though, realised had nothing to do with anything I thought, and I love the real thing so much more!

 

[searcher]

You guys have it all wrong. I train because hot chicks dig bad dudes. They want a man that can kick the crap out of anyone who would mess with them. At least, that is what my wife likes.