What's Your Story?

[KingNoahTheThird]

So basically, I think a big part of martial arts are thee stories that they produce, the journeys people go through. So I have to ask, what's YOUR story? What martial arts have you trained in, who have you trained under, have you made any friends, rivals, enemies? Entered any tournaments? I'm just curious to know your tales.

 

[Stuarto]

So basically, I think a big part of martial arts are thee stories that they produce, the journeys people go through. So I have to ask, what's YOUR story? What martial arts have you trained in, who have you trained under, have you made any friends, rivals, enemies? Entered any tournaments? I'm just curious to know your tales.

Some of the members have put up their stories on the forum. Here is one you might enjoy reading:
Journey to a new style...

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

While she's not active here, this person's story may be interesting to you. It's all in one thread, and basically her story from her first month or so training up until second degree black belt in TKD. I think she also became a teacher at the school

One small step closer...

I realized I never posted about my level 1 test! I messed up my board breaking rather horribly but the rest went well. I'm well on my way through the level 1 requirements now and hoping for a level 2 test maybe next month. I've been working on improving the rhythm of Koryo and those pesky side...

www.martialtalk.com

 

[Zealot Flame]

So basically, I think a big part of martial arts are thee stories that they produce, the journeys people go through. So I have to ask, what's YOUR story? What martial arts have you trained in, who have you trained under, have you made any friends, rivals, enemies? Entered any tournaments? I'm just curious to know your tales.

I've trained Muay Thai, BJJ, and Boxing. I also engage in studying war theory, and playing live action war games. I enjoy total war, and steel division.

I have many rivals, growing up as a teen my friends would box each other. I don't have any enemies. I'm planning on getting really really good first then going to tournaments, cause when I lose I get depressed . I have some sort of warrior gene because I have a reserve of energy, I have keen senses, and sometimes when someone strong comes nearby me I can sense it and feel like wanting to challenge them. I even smell blood when someone strong comes into frame sometimes.

 

[Buka]

I've trained Muay Thai, BJJ, and Boxing. I also engage in studying war theory, and playing live action war games. I enjoy total war, and steel division.

I have many rivals, growing up as a teen my friends would box each other. I don't have any enemies. I'm planning on getting really really good first then going to tournaments, cause when I lose I get depressed . I have some sort of warrior gene because I have a reserve of energy, I have keen senses, and sometimes when someone strong comes nearby me I can sense it and feel like wanting to challenge them. I even smell blood when someone strong comes into frame sometimes.

Welcome to Martial Talk.

Try not to let a loss depress you. Make it drive you improve going forward.

 

[isshinryuronin]

I have keen senses, and sometimes when someone strong comes nearby me I can sense it and feel like wanting to challenge them. I even smell blood when someone strong comes into frame sometimes.

You need to chill out. You sound like someone I wouldn't even let inside my dojo, much less teach. May I suggest you take up the bamboo flute for a pastime? It has a soothing effect.

 

[KenpoMaster805]

So my story i started doing Martial arts on august 2013 at the age of 35 ive been doing American Kenpo Karate for 11 years i train with Jesus Flores at Flores Bros Kenpo Karate and its very fun i learn a lot over the years and i just got my black belt in august of this year and oh ya each belt we have 24 techniques so from orange to 2nd brown you have 24 technique and you have to memorized all of them but once you get to 1st brown you have to do the orange belt extensions then for your black you have to do your purple belt extensions its hard and challenging but worth it and when i tested for my black belt i was by my self let me tell you about my pretest i tested by my self ad i was sick that day to i was coughing hard and the next thing you know the next day boom i had covid after my pretest and i was like oh man but i pass my pretest so after 2 weeks i dont have covid and i did the real test and then i got my black belt i dont make enemies we are family we look for one another and woohoo im happy to be in the Flores Bros Family tree of black belts i entered all the tournament except this year caused i moved outa my town and i do zoom but when i visit my town i would always train at the studio ive been doing tournament since 2013 and i love tournament i do kata and self defense

 

[Stuarto]

So my story i started doing Martial arts on august 2013 at the age of 35 ive been doing American Kenpo Karate for 11 years i train with Jesus Flores at Flores Bros Kenpo Karate and its very fun i learn a lot over the years and i just got my black belt in august of this year and oh ya each belt we have 24 techniques so from orange to 2nd brown you have 24 technique and you have to memorized all of them but once you get to 1st brown you have to do the orange belt extensions then for your black you have to do your purple belt extensions its hard and challenging but worth it and when i tested for my black belt i was by my self let me tell you about my pretest i tested by my self ad i was sick that day to i was coughing hard and the next thing you know the next day boom i had covid after my pretest and i was like oh man but i pass my pretest so after 2 weeks i dont have covid and i did the real test and then i got my black belt i dont make enemies we are family we look for one another and woohoo im happy to be in the Flores Bros Family tree of black belts i entered all the tournament except this year caused i moved outa my town and i do zoom but when i visit my town i would always train at the studio ive been doing tournament since 2013 and i love tournament i do kata and self defense

Thanks for sharing your story, and congratulations on achieving black belt. I started training in Kenpo Karate myself about 5 months ago. I go to a school that teaches Professor Cerio's Kenpo. He spread his Kenpo throughout New England, and it is still prevalent here to this day. My journey is still just starting out, but I am enjoying it and have no desire to stop.

 

[Tigerwarrior]

So my story i started doing Martial arts on august 2013 at the age of 35 ive been doing American Kenpo Karate for 11 years i train with Jesus Flores at Flores Bros Kenpo Karate and its very fun i learn a lot over the years and i just got my black belt in august of this year and oh ya each belt we have 24 techniques so from orange to 2nd brown you have 24 technique and you have to memorized all of them but once you get to 1st brown you have to do the orange belt extensions then for your black you have to do your purple belt extensions its hard and challenging but worth it and when i tested for my black belt i was by my self let me tell you about my pretest i tested by my self ad i was sick that day to i was coughing hard and the next thing you know the next day boom i had covid after my pretest and i was like oh man but i pass my pretest so after 2 weeks i dont have covid and i did the real test and then i got my black belt i dont make enemies we are family we look for one another and woohoo im happy to be in the Flores Bros Family tree of black belts i entered all the tournament except this year caused i moved outa my town and i do zoom but when i visit my town i would always train at the studio ive been doing tournament since 2013 and i love tournament i do kata and self defense

Your story is an inspiration. True dedication to your art sir! I salute you

 

[Tigerwarrior]

Thanks for sharing your story, and congratulations on achieving black belt. I started training in Kenpo Karate myself about 5 months ago. I go to a school that teaches Professor Cerio's Kenpo. He spread his Kenpo throughout New England, and it is still prevalent here to this day. My journey is still just starting out, but I am enjoying it and have no desire to stop.

Nick cerio is a legend in these parts. I've never trained in his system but when I was younger trained with an instructor who did some training with him. If you ever get a chance check out kosho Ryu kempo, there should be someone near you. I think you might like it. Keep up with the cerio kenpo brother. I trained kosho before, those guys seemed super human. The cool thing about kenpo/kempo Is how guys can take bits from sub arts and learn and it's still kenpo. I moved so couldn't continue training but I loved training in it.

 

[Tigerwarrior]

My story: started at 5. I was bullied for being special needs. The school did nothing about my bullies, In fact I got into trouble for being bullied, can you believe that? I didn't have many friends and no friends to stick up for me and as the school was doing nothing my parents put me into karate as I idolized, bruce lee and Chuck Norris. My sensei taught me karate is about self defense and to only use it for that. The bullying got worse and one day one of my bully's took it too far to the point I was bleeding. He swung at me again and I blocked it and reverse punched him and broke his nose. I got into trouble for that but it was worth it, he never bullied me again at that school. So yeah bullied by this kid from 5 to 8, started karate at 5 and ended that situation at 8. Kind of crazy to think of how young I was when this was going on.

I got into boxing in my early teens. A really bad fight with some older guys who mistaken me for someone that wronged them. So I got into boxing for a few years.

Then in my late teens to my mid 20s I trained in mma bjj and kickboxing. Then i moved and stopped for a bit. Eventually got into kali and after doing that for a few years learned about kung fu. I dabbled in tkd. There were other styles like judo and kenpo in there, but these were the most notable ones.

 

[KenpoMaster805]

Your story is an inspiration. True dedication to your art sir! I salute you

Thank you sir I appreciate you

 

[Buka]

Nick was a nice man and the best tournament ref I ever saw. He never missed anything.

And he wore really cool dress shoes.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

My story: started at 5. I was bullied for being special needs.

I share the same story as you have.

When I was 5 in my 1st grade, everybody in my class were all 6 years old. I was the youngest one in my class. Ther were a HUGE Mongolian girl who loved to beat me up daily. Every day I came home with bruises on my body. My father asked me why I didn't fight back. I said that HUGE Mongolian girl was twice about my size. When she mounted me on the ground, I couldn't move. One day when she mounted on top of me, I bite her. She cried and let me go. I then realized that "biting" worked great in ground fight. That girl later on became the women swimming champion in Taiwan. Since that day, I decided that I would never let any girl to mount me again. I started to train MA.

 

[windwalker099]

I decided that I would never let any girl to mount me again. I started to train MA.

5 is a little young, hope you made some exceptions later on ..
sometimes it can be fun..

My story:

In the troubled times of the city, I found refuge in Chinese martial arts in 1973, as a young teenager growing up in San Francisco. My first style was Tibetan White Crane. Spent a lot of time "testing" it against other stylists, trying to disprove some of the common misconceptions of CMA back in the day.

 

[Stuarto]

Nick cerio is a legend in these parts. I've never trained in his system but when I was younger trained with an instructor who did some training with him. If you ever get a chance check out kosho Ryu kempo, there should be someone near you. I think you might like it. Keep up with the cerio kenpo brother. I trained kosho before, those guys seemed super human. The cool thing about kenpo/kempo Is how guys can take bits from sub arts and learn and it's still kenpo. I moved so couldn't continue training but I loved training in it.

Never heard of Kosho Ryu Kempo, but there is a lot of MA I have never of. I absolutely will continue with the Cerio Kenpo, it is a fun system and a great workout. I have found that my flexibility and strength have increased since starting, in addition to having learned a lot. It's true that Kenpo does take bits from other styles. Thanks for the suggestion, I might look into it later when I am more grounded

 

[Prince_Alarming]

I waited until I was sat down on the computer to write this, as it's a good question and it deserves a longer answer.

I walked into my first karate class at 17. I was a lonely, bullied kid who acted up a lot. I don't remember particularly being disruptive, the way I remember it I was being horribly bullied and the teachers at school did everything in their power to make it worse and inflicted ever more horrible punishments on me. I saw a child psychiatrist, and the school proceeded to ignore every single one of their recommendations, so I'm not sure why they bothered calling her in in the first place.

My first karate class, as I say. It was part of the duke of Edinburgh's award group. In this ultra-strict environment I flourished. I started working out quite seriously. I made plans to join the royal marines. I was extremely fit and much more confident. School was still a nightmare, but I enjoyed martial arts classes and got my first belt.

Then everything fell apart. After the course at the youth club, I continued attending karate lessons until the club folded due to a lack of members. Being more confident and less cowed, I got into even more trouble at school. I became basically uncontrollable and eventually I was expelled. So I went to a sixth form college instead, and initially I did well. For the first time I had teachers who believed in me and my ability. Unfortunately, I let them down.

Then I discovered marijuana and everything fell apart again. I wasn't expelled, but I did very badly in my A levels. I then spent years in the wilderness, got and lost a series of jobs. During this time I discovered judo and a few other martial arts and went to the kayakking club. I was off and on. I would do things for 3-6 months and then quit. I did MMA, kung fu, Taekwondo and a whole load of other stuff.l I also however began experimenting with drinking and drugs. Very little at the time, but it's a problem that would gradually get worse and worse.

Then I went to art college. Foundation year was the best year of my life. Good company, good art, good times.

Then, predictably, things fell apart again. I suffered a nervous breakdown towards the end of foundation year as a consequence of doing a 70 hour week at college, taking massive amounts of drugs, and drinking and smoking a lot. I was diagnosed with schizophrenia and hospitalised for a time. I went back to college after just a week inside, was diagnosed with asperger's syndrome, and graduated fairly comfortably. Then I had a few more years in the wilderness, working various crappy jobs, taking any old odd job, and some of them were very odd. I was hospitalised briefly for depression.

Then I went back to karate. This time I persisted for a few years, learned the kata up to passai. My problem was always fitness. I still smoked, despite a few spells on the NHS quit smoking service- I'd do the whole program and then screw it up again, usually. I worked out extensively but the gains were few and far between. But I learned a lot, had a great time and eventually became a 2nd kyu. During that time I also completed an MA in Art history and worked as a stable hand.

Then something very important happened. The vicar caught me smoking on the bench outside the church and got me to come to choir practice. One week she asked me if I'd like to come to church. I thought 'why not?' and went. Best decision I ever made. I became a practicing Christian very quickly. The drinking stopped. The drugs went completely overnight. The smoking stopped. I exercised regularly. I'd lost the stable hand job by then and immediately got a better job with more hours and better pay. Unfortunately, the man who ran the business died. I still have enough work for the present, as the owner's wife needs a lot of help sorting out the grounds, but the end is in sight.

Then I broke my hand. I wanted to carry on karate classes with my hand in a sling, but sensei and her lieutenants told me I was being very silly and to come back when I was healed. This whole sorry saga can be read here at martial talk. When I stopped going to karate, I started drinking and smoking again.

Then came a revelation. I felt called upon to serve as a priest. It happened very quickly and suddenly, and I started helping out at church. I discovered I was good at it, and that the congregation liked me. So this weekend, I'm going to a conference to start my journey. I continue to exercise as much as my hand permits, and the injury is nearly healed. But I feel more compelled to serve the lord than I do to go back to karate. I will continue to do kata and work out and run, to keep things going, but I have bigger things in mind. I'd love to try wrestling. I'm naturally talented as a grappler in a way I am not in striking arts. There is a school in Cardiff where I hope to go to theological college. If all goes according to plan I will be both a cleric and a martial artist again. Wish me luck.