When did your MA become part of who you are?

[IcemanSK]

This is a question for each individual to answer for themselves. It will be different for everyone.

At what point in your training did you feel that your Art (or training in general) went beyond just something that you "did" to become something that you "are" (or a part of who you are?)

No one is "only" an MA-ist, that's not what I'm implying. I'm just curious as to when it became a part of who you are.

I'll answer for myself after a few others have chimed in.

 

[clfsean]

This is a question for each individual to answer for themselves. It will be different for everyone.

At what point in your training did you feel that your Art (or training in general) went beyond just something that you "did" to become something that you "are" (or a part of who you are?)

No one is "only" an MA-ist, that's not what I'm implying. I'm just curious as to when it became a part of who you are.

I'll answer for myself after a few others have chimed in.

For me... because it is "what I do", it is "who I am".

I've practiced & taught martial arts longer than anything consecutive thing I've done in life minus the obvious eating,breathing,etc...

 

[Nomad]

For me, it happened somewhere around Blue or Purple belt (~2-3 years in).

 

[searcher]

It has been 32 years and I am still waiting.

 

[Narges]

Right from the beginning for me. I had a very unhealthy lifestyle at the age of 14 and karate started the change within the first month of training. It's been three and a half years now and I'm a completely different person (and still improving).

 

[MA-Caver]

Wow... GREAT topic (honestly).

As you noted MA is only part of who we are. Ya'll know that caving is a big part of me but MA likewise incorporates my life in ways caving couldn't.
As to WHEN... wow... probably when I was about 15 or so... when I first started seriously doing it. From there my self-confidence began a slow but steady climb.

 

[Cirdan]

Right from the start or very nearly so.

 

[seasoned]

I never participated in sports in high school, was a bit of a wise guy in my teen years. Also in my teen years trouble seem to look for me, as I found myself in it's grip often. Late teens and early 20's found me in the US Navy, still looking for my niche in life. While in the military (late 50's to early 60's), I heard of a sailor on base that was challenged in the base night club by a few marines. He ended up using some moves that sailor's weren't suppose to know, and were new to most, at that time. Come to find out he had a karate club on base. I went there a few times, but for me it was a bit late as I was in the process of being transferred to the west coast aboard ship.
While aboard ship I befriended a few guy's that had some martial arts back ground, and when possible, we would train with what limited knowledge we had.
Needless to say my interest of martial arts was peaked, and upon my discharge from the service, I looked for a dojo back home. Dojo’s at the time were far and few between, but to my credit, there was one in my home town. After a few visits, and some soul searching I decided to take a stand and commit to this new form of life style, called Okinawan GoJu.
I am sorry it took me so many words to get to this point in my post, but for you to know where I am, you needed to know where I came out of.
At my point in life now, and as I look back, this love affair started in the mid 60’s, with martial arts giving me the things that I lacked in my teen years and looked for in my early adulthood, which was purpose, focus, dedication to something, and a discipline that to this day still dictates my life. 45 years later I still get a kick out of doing my kata

, and so it is with love affairs that start slow, and stand the test of time. Back to the OP, from the moment I made the “commitment“. :asian:

 

[IcemanSK]

It has been 32 years and I am still waiting.

Well, maybe it will happen for you too.......someday.



I started in my sophomore year of high school. I'd say it was within the first year of training that it became part of who I am. It was at the point that school became "that thing I did in between class."

 

[Big Don]

May 5th, 2005.

 

[bushidomartialarts]

Sometimes I feel like it was always part of who I was. I grew up protecting the people I cared about, listening to music or loving books about honor and courage and fulfilling responsibility.

When I finally walked into my first dojo, it felt like I'd come home. It filled a need in me I hadn't realized was there.

 

[Blade96]

I guess when i won my first medal (dec 2009) and got my first belt earned (feb 2010) and i realized I can do this and learn it despite my balance issues. And I felt like I belonged there.

 

[Kacey]

I don't remember.... I looked around one day and realized that TKD had gone from hobby to lifestyle without my really noticing.

 

[Aiki Lee]

I was born into this craziness. I started when I was 6 in Isshin ryu, but I didn't start taking it seriously until I was 12 when I was bullied in jr. high.

It wasn't until I was about 17 that I said to myself, "hey, I could really do this forever."

and it was about 2 years ago that I recognized that the ideal martial artist I always dreamed I could be could in fact be reality.

to me this is not a hobby and is more than just an enjoyable activity. It has defined me since high school when I realized I found a place I belonged with people who understood me on a deeper level. I actually went into social work because of martial arts.

Martial arts training made me realize my calling was to give power to those who feel powerless and free them from fear and the mental prisons people create for themselves.

I am committed to this for life.

 

[ETinCYQX]

Who knows...I was maybe six when I defined myself as a martial artist. It's hard not to when you start that young.

 

[ppko]

This is a question for each individual to answer for themselves. It will be different for everyone.

At what point in your training did you feel that your Art (or training in general) went beyond just something that you "did" to become something that you "are" (or a part of who you are?)

No one is "only" an MA-ist, that's not what I'm implying. I'm just curious as to when it became a part of who you are.

I'll answer for myself after a few others have chimed in.

To be honest I used to think from the day I started, but I now know that isn't true. I would say the day I became a free thinker and stopped taking everything said to me as the truth. Once I started to truly integrate the arts that I have studied along with some scenarios I have been in.