martial art as a hobby ?

i get up in the morning shower, clean my teeth,have breakfast,practice martial art .of course im doing everything else such as work and spending time with my wife and kids,but i dont call cleaning my teeth or having a shower a hobby,just part of following a hygienic lifestyle.

so to me i agree with those who dont name it such as a way of life etc, and ive gone and completly contradicted my first post .you cannot stop change eh? hehe

jase.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene
 
The martial arts are my avocation. Not truly what I do for a living, that is my vocation.

But actually I live more through it than what I do for a living! My living, as a programmer, is a J O B, not so the martial arts.

Deaf

Hey Deaf, thought I was the only programming martial artist :)
 
do you see your martial art as a hobby?

now the defination of a hobby is An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure...fair enuff.

the reason why i ask this is,i spend a lot of time on my martial art im either practicing,talking ,or writing about it etc.now i have had those close to me say that its only a hobby wich really annoys the crap outta me,and i know it shouldnt make no difference what others think,but to me its a lot more than a hobby,and more a way of life.

on the other side of the coin i suppose there are those who collect stamps ,wich has always been seen as a hobby,and consider that a way of life to them .


I call it a passion. A hobby may not be what you make your money at but it does not describe the proper state of activity and of mind.
 
do you see your martial art as a hobby?

now the defination of a hobby is An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure...fair enuff.

the reason why i ask this is,i spend a lot of time on my martial art im either practicing,talking ,or writing about it etc.now i have had those close to me say that its only a hobby wich really annoys the crap outta me,and i know it shouldnt make no difference what others think,but to me its a lot more than a hobby,and more a way of life.

on the other side of the coin i suppose there are those who collect stamps ,wich has always been seen as a hobby,and consider that a way of life to them .

I don't see my journey in the arts as a hobby. IMO, a hobby is something that is done every now and then. Example. My wife and some of her cousins, aunts, etc. are into crafts. They get together once a week, and work on various projects. This is done 1 time a week for just a few hours. Many of us train on a daily basis. If we're not in a class, we're working on our own, either by ourselves or with others outside of class.

Now, I've seen many people in class, who just have a different attitude about their training. IMO, its those people, the ones who just don't seem to take it as serious as others, those are the hobbists.

Mike
 
do you see your martial art as a hobby?

...the reason why i ask this is,i spend a lot of time on my martial art im either practicing,talking ,or writing about it etc.now i have had those close to me say that its only a hobby wich really annoys the crap outta me...

Funny, I have the opposite problem. I claim that my martial arts training is just a hobby. Everybody else around me insists it is an obsession that annoys the crap out of them! Some people just don't appreciate the good things in life...
 
If you are paid to do martial arts, then you are a professional. If not, then you can classify it in whatever manner you want.

People don't like words, such as "hobby" or "amateur", because there is a connotation that it means "I have no skill" or "I am not serious about this".

I like to think of martial arts as a means of education. All that training after all.....
 
Funny, I have the opposite problem. I claim that my martial arts training is just a hobby. Everybody else around me insists it is an obsession that annoys the crap out of them! Some people just don't appreciate the good things in life...


I relate to your problem bro. Now I think peopel are seeing me as 1 dimensional because I am always talking about Kung Fu. I mean , I am a musician, Sales Planner ( work) and love to read, watch movies, and do tons of other things, but I guess Kung Fu is usually at the forefront of my mind because I am quite passionate aboutit. It is changing who I am as a person and I can;t shut mah trap about it apparently. So I feel what you are sayign Geezer.
 
It really is quite important not to get too caught up in overly aggrandising the arts we practise.

My iai is very important to my spiritual well-being and I am quite upset if I have to miss a training session. At this point I do not envisage ever stopping my travel along the path of the sword-arts.

But it is a hobby. It's not my profession and in any given week I spend far more time tuning cars in Gran Turismo than I do swinging a sword.

It's one of those times when identifying what you do over who you are is a warning signal. Granted there is an intertwining of the two aspects but it is important to be able to tell the difference between them.
 
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...but it is a hobby.

It is for me as well. I think that what's important is that when I'm training with my classmates, then it is a hobby that I focus on to the best of my ability. I train in a community centre setting -- I've learned over the years that my partners and I all have different expectations of our training. For some of my classmates it's some exercise for a couple of weeknights, for others it's an opportunity to work off stress, and for others it's a path. At different times it's been all of these things for me at different times in my life.
 
It is for me as well. I think that what's important is that when I'm training with my classmates, then it is a hobby that I focus on to the best of my ability. I train in a community centre setting -- I've learned over the years that my partners and I all have different expectations of our training. For some of my classmates it's some exercise for a couple of weeknights, for others it's an opportunity to work off stress, and for others it's a path. At different times it's been all of these things for me at different times in my life.


I agree. It probably means something different at 50 than it did at 20,lol.

Some people use it as a form of excercise and some go to extremes, believing they are reincarnates of okinawan masters. I kid you not.
 
do you see your martial art as a hobby?

now the defination of a hobby is An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure...fair enuff.

the reason why i ask this is,i spend a lot of time on my martial art im either practicing,talking ,or writing about it etc.now i have had those close to me say that its only a hobby wich really annoys the crap outta me,and i know it shouldnt make no difference what others think,but to me its a lot more than a hobby,and more a way of life.
.

A hobby and a way of life can be one in the same. You are spending your free time doing something you really enjoy, and that is a lifestyle not everyone has the luxury of living!

Not to mention that this "hobby" is benficial to you unlike stamp collecting. It builds your body and mind, discipling and spirit.

Keep training my friend!
 
For 90% of those who practice, it is a hobby. Not a putdown, just the truth. I know tons of people that 'did karate' for a few years and then moved on to other things. I also know a lot of people who take martial arts for enjoyment and fitness.

Everyone is in martial arts for different reasons. Each person seeks something specific for themselves. For some, its just to see if they can do it. For others, they like being around people with good attitudes who encourage them. And for some it is a way of life and an obsession.

Me personally? It is a part time job for me and I aspire to either own or run a school, so it does not qualify as a hobby at that point. More of an internship.

Daniel
 
That's exactly it...90% of people who do most things non-professionally are doing at some level as a hobby. The status of an activity can change over time.

When I was young, playing music was a hobby, then became an avocation (when I joined a band). When the band tried to go pro, it became a vocation 9even though i had to work other jobs to support myself). then later as I branched out into psychology it became an avocation (giving piano lessosn to help pay th ebills) and is now a hobby once again as I don't make money at music but still play for fun.

Martial arts is my hobby. I get paid for helping with classes and that helps defray the costs of tuition. I have aspirations/delusions of perhaps running my own program someday...but that may never happen and that's cool. It's a serious hobby.

Peace,
Erik
 
As defined by American Heritage Dictionary

"...An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure."

To be honest, this definition sums it up for me. I am not a LEO, I am not in the armed forces, I live in a nice suburban neighborhood, I don't go out to clubs, and I am rarely out late at night. So for me, I guess I can call what I do a hobby. I train in the martial arts because I like it, that's all. I don't care if you call it a hobby...I just call it what I do. I pursue it outside of work and it gives me pleasure. Gardening...for me, also a hobby, but I am not trying to win the Landscaping of the Year award. It IS a hobby just as one would call jogging a hobby, if they aren't training for the Boston Marathon. There are plenty of people with fitness center memberships that don't train to be Mr. Olympia. My hobby could be hunting, fishing, or a number of other things that people engage in to escape from reality, relieve stress, or to just hang out with other people with common interests.
 
do you see your martial art as a hobby?

now the defination of a hobby is An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure...fair enuff.

the reason why i ask this is,i spend a lot of time on my martial art im either practicing,talking ,or writing about it etc.now i have had those close to me say that its only a hobby wich really annoys the crap outta me,and i know it shouldnt make no difference what others think,but to me its a lot more than a hobby,and more a way of life.

on the other side of the coin i suppose there are those who collect stamps ,wich has always been seen as a hobby,and consider that a way of life to them .
For me, it is a way of life. I eat, sleep, and breathe karate. Even if i'm not there (i'm on an elongated break due to family medical problems for the past two years) i'm always thinking about it, talking about it, etc.
 
For me, it is a way of life. I eat, sleep, and breathe karate. Even if i'm not there (i'm on an elongated break due to family medical problems for the past two years) i'm always thinking about it, talking about it, etc.

We are on the same page.
 
TKD is not a hobby for me at this point - it's who I am. I have hobbies - I read constantly, I cross-stitch and crochet - but I do not identify myself in regards to those activities the way I do with TKD. Teaching TKD is not my career - but it is an avocation, which (despite the dictionary definition) I feel goes beyond a mere hobby.
 
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