More Than Just A Hobby

[Headhunter]

Im not offended at all by the word hobby. I've got hobbies myself. Some people do martial arts as a hobby. What I disagree with is when people refer to the martial arts exclusively as a hobby. For some martial arts is a hobby, for others its much more.

For some it is for some it's not it's as simple as that. Everyone has their own priorities there's no right or wrong answers

 

[Buka]

It's not a hobby to me. Maybe it's an addiction, I don't know, could be though. I wouldn't call being an addict a hobby.

Some of my best friends in the world I met through Martial Arts many years ago. I'll be staying at their homes over the next few weeks when I visit. And they'll feed me! I met my wife through Martial Arts. We dated for nine years while she was training....and nobody at the school knew it. Because it wasn't a hobby to me even back then, running a school was serious stuff. Then, my instructor was my best man.

I taught for a living for many years, on my marriage license it says that I was a "Karate Instructor". As a cop I was listed as a Defensive Tactics Instructor. It's what they paid me for. It was listed as my profession on my taxes. I taught DT at the Academy. Four of my black belts were the DT instructors there for several decades. It twern't no hobby, it was serious business.

I've taught a lot of folks. I taught many of their kids. I even have had some third generation kids that I taught. I competed in the seventies, eighties, nineties, in the oughts - and I'm competing in a Karate tournament next August just to get in a fifth decade. My body has been beat up, smacked, crushed, choked, broken and scarred. And I don't give a F.

But it's more than a hobby to me. It's what I do. It would be like saying being Italian is a hobby. Or being good looking.

 

[_Simon_]

Yeah I think it just comes down to how much you value it, and how much a part of your life it is and means to you. Wouldn't even worry about the word hobby .

Hard to put such a dividing line of 'hobby' or 'profession' when it comes to MA specifically, and moreso I think definitions are getting blurred perhaps. Everyone values it to different degrees, and how it impacts them and their life is what we're really talking about (well in the original post I think that's what's being referred to).

 

[PhotonGuy]

Not unless you're insanely literal.
Unless you're talking to someone with a fair knowledge of MA, or publishing your C.V., saying "I have A rank in B, C rank in D, E rank in F, G rank in H" is just going to make you sound arrogant and/or pedantic, and quite likely won't mean anything more to them than saying "I'm a black belt." And I really really really doubt you're going to find anyone who seriously thinks that means I'm a piece of cloth.

You do have a point there and Prostar made a good point too. There is a difference between having a black belt and being a black belt. Having a black belt means you somehow came into possession of a physical black belt. Exactly how you came into possession of it can vary. You could've bought it at a MA store, it could've been given to you at a MA school, ect. Being a black belt is different. Being a black belt means that you've earned the rank of 1st Dan at a MA school which is a rank thats represented with the physical black belt that's worn. So when you say, "I am a black belt" it means you're of the rank of 1st Dan or higher at a particular school. Sometimes we are too literal but you're right that when you declare you're a black belt just about everybody would take it to mean you've earned the rank, not that you're literally a physical belt.
So Prostar points out how being a black belt is different than having a black belt and I agree. When you are a black belt you will have a black belt but when you have a black belt that doesn't mean you are a black belt. When you're a black belt owning and wearing the belt is a result of earning the rank, not the other way around.

 

[Kababayan]

Some people think martial arts is just a hobby, well I say its more than just a hobby, its a way of life. At least for some it is.

For some of us it's how we made/make our living.

 

[PhotonGuy]

I love it, I've discovered that if I go somewhere between 1-2 months without training I get really irritable, and people tell me I need to go back.

You can go 1-2 months without training? I got to give you credit. If I go 2 weeks without training I start to get irritable.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

You can go 1-2 months without training? I got to give you credit. If I go 2 weeks without training I start to get irritable.

I've had to a few times. Trust me, it is not something people enjoy. If it gets close to two months, I'm dragged to a dojo, or a friend 'volunteers' to be a training partner.

 

[JR 137]

You can go 1-2 months without training? I got to give you credit. If I go 2 weeks without training I start to get irritable.

I’m definitely not the same if I miss a week. I joke around about it, but there’s definitely some truth to it: it’s my therapy It’s the only place I can go for an hour and a half where the outside world doesn’t exist. The only place where I can COMPLETELY clear my mind.

I missed almost 4 months of training about 2 years ago due to Lyme disease. Lyme itself was brutal enough - zero energy and my joints just ached. Not being able to get on the floor and do my own thing made it 10x worse.

 

[dvcochran]

Ah, but will it?

If you still practice outside of what is required for the profession then it's still a hobby imo.

Na, OTJ.

 

[dvcochran]

No one cares buddy....rank means nothing it's actual skill that counts

I think you are missing the question.

 

[dvcochran]

The line of profession vs hobby can be quite blurry. My teacher and his wife own the dojo. I can’t see how it’s much more than break-even. Judging by the number of students and what we pay for tuition vs the cost of keeping the place open, I doubt they’re pulling more money out of it than paying for them to go on vacation for a couple days a year. While they’re not ridiculously wealthy, they both had pretty good paying day jobs before they retired and have excellent pensions (he was in one of the local trade unions and she was a higher level office worker for an upper level state judge).

They opened the dojo after a split in the organization as a way to keep training and teaching because they love that.

One could convincingly argue it’s a hobby for them because they’re not living off the income nor attempting to. My argument is it’s not a hobby because they’re teaching professionally.

A low level pro fighter who makes minimal money to fight and still works a day job is still a pro fighter, even if he loves fighting and would still train and fight as an amateur. One could argue that’s a hobby or it’s not purely a hobby anymore.

There’s no good universal line here. The line I take is if they’re making money (doesn’t have to be a profit), it’s no longer a hobby. What they’re doing within it, even if it’s far more than the minimum, still contributes in one way or another to that profession. It’s professional development of sorts.

A bit of semantics I suppose but as far as your retired friends are concerned, I would have to call that a passion. Something more than a casual hobby. Kudos to them. Since they are retirement age it sounds like one of the best "hobbies" they can have.

 

[dvcochran]

Not unless you're insanely literal.
Unless you're talking to someone with a fair knowledge of MA, or publishing your C.V., saying "I have A rank in B, C rank in D, E rank in F, G rank in H" is just going to make you sound arrogant and/or pedantic, and quite likely won't mean anything more to them than saying "I'm a black belt." And I really really really doubt you're going to find anyone who seriously thinks that means I'm a piece of cloth.

I love when I get a chance to use the word pedantic.

 

[dvcochran]

MA is my hobby. I have a day job and I'm certainly not an MA "pro". I just run a small club. I started it up again about eight years back when the previous instructor, my si-dai (younger kung-fu brother) moved away. Rent, insurance, inflated association dues, and the cost of my own continued training (which involves traveling out of state) all add up to more than I receive in student tuition. In good years I've broken even.

More recently, I've had to kick in around $100 dollars a month to keep things going. I still do it because I enjoy it, and because if I didn't, there would be nobody teaching my lineage of WC in my area. So, it's a hobby and a personal commitment. And it costs less than golf, skiing, or a lot of other hobbies.

I call that a passion. Very good for you and MA.

 

[PhotonGuy]

I've had to a few times. Trust me, it is not something people enjoy. If it gets close to two months, I'm dragged to a dojo, or a friend 'volunteers' to be a training partner.

Well I will be honest. This year I did go for over a month without training due to injury. It was a miserable time, but I came back even stronger.

 

[JR 137]

A bit of semantics I suppose but as far as your retired friends are concerned, I would have to call that a passion. Something more than a casual hobby. Kudos to them. Since they are retirement age it sounds like one of the best "hobbies" they can have.

They’ve been running the dojo for 30 years this year.

 

[PhotonGuy]

For some it is for some it's not it's as simple as that. Everyone has their own priorities there's no right or wrong answers

Exactly.