Why did you start in TKD?

[Manny]

I began TKD at 16 because I wanted to learn how to defend myself against bullies, however I think I had the MA thing inside me since I was a kid.

Manny

 

[terryl965]

Well I was in Okinawa Karate and Korean karate until 1981 and I moved to Southern California and at that time there was alot of Mc Dojo's around and the only smelling and sweaty place was this little **** in the corner and the instructor was just what I been doing for years and that was full contact after a year or so did I care it was TKD no it had what I wanted and the rest is history.

 

[igillman]

I started to lose weight, get fit and have some fun.

 

[epi-do]

My five year old wanted me to do it with him. We test for our orange belt on Saturday.

 

[Manny]

Well I was in Okinawa Karate and Korean karate until 1981 and I moved to Southern California and at that time there was alot of Mc Dojo's around and the only smelling and sweaty place was this little **** in the corner and the instructor was just what I been doing for years and that was full contact after a year or so did I care it was TKD no it had what I wanted and the rest is history.

.

In fact back in 1983 I did not know anything about Tae Kwon Do, the dojan I afiliated said Korean Karate in the entrace, in those days TKD was a name not know for every one so it was called Karate Koreano, so I figured out I was learning Karate.

Manny

 

[d1jinx]

I wanted to be like bruce lee and the other kung fu guys in the movies. Me and my friends used to try kicking everything like on tv. One day my friends sister kicked us back. She was a Blue belt in TKD. been hooked ever since. Back then... everything was called karate.

 

[searcher]

I started it to help me with my kicking. And the fact that everyone was competing in so many different divisions that I was not. So I found a school and the rest is history. I have now found it to be very helpful in gaining insight into my Okinawan MAs training.

 

[ATC]

Started when I was a kid at 8. In the 70's that was the thing to do if you wanted to be like Bruce

. Did not pick it up again until about 7 years ago when my kids started. I had to get in there and show them how it was done. Now they show me. Well they think they do. I just can't do all the stuff I use to. But I still got a pretty mean back kick.

 

[clfsean]

To deal with culture shock moving from a small town to a major city & living in an apartment complex that had more people than my county did.

Also, there wasn't anything else around so that's what my parents enrolled me in.

 

[KickFest]

I've been interested in MA for as long as I can remember, but the reason I started was so I had some way of keeping fit during university that wouldn't bore me to death (I'm not the gym type). Quite a boring way to start but I'm glad I did!

 

[dortiz]

I was training Kung Fu and a TKD guy came one day. We did forms and whats called two man sets where its all pre arranged. He started free sparring with the group and no one could handle him. I was left in awe and shortly thereafter left in search of...


Dave O.

 

[Manny]

To deal with culture shock moving from a small town to a major city & living in an apartment complex that had more people than my county did.

Also, there wasn't anything else around so that's what my parents enrolled me in.

That sounds like The Karate Kid (The movie).

Manny

 

[clfsean]

That sounds like The Karate Kid (The movie).

Manny

What can I say... I had an impressive childhood... too bad they never paid me for it.

Pero me empezó a estudiar en 1981. Karate kid no fue hasta 1984.

 

[DMcHenry]

I was athletic, quick and strong for my size. Played football and ran track in highschool. I had thought about gymnastics but I was way too tight. MA looked exactly like something I'd like to do - very physical and detailed. Being the lightest guy on the varsity football team - TKD looked like a way to compete more against myself then guys twice my size. I was recovering from a broken foot from playing football when I started prior to beginning my senior year. I still played football my senior year, but loved TKD. Besides, my sister wanted to begin training and took me along to her boyfriend's dojang to watch him test. We got hooked - she dropped out after a year, I just kept going. Began my training with Master Kim Chang-soo in Houston. Sadly, he passed away some years back.

 

[chrispillertkd]

I started back in 1981 when I was 10 as something to do with my dad. I did not enjoy it one bit. The work was hard (kids and adults trained in the same classes and were expected to do the same thing at my instructor's school, something that still holds true), the black belts were intimidating, heck even the green belts were, and did I mention it was a lot of work? Anyway, I did last maybe 6-8 months before quitting.

Fastforward to 1986. I was 15 and decided that since a friend of mine was doing Judo I could certainly do a martial art. I had always been impressed with MA movies, even as a kid before I joined TKD the first time, and figured I'd give it another try. Sign back up for classes. Still hard work. Still intimidating black belts (if anything, the crop of BB's my instructor had then were even more intimidating than when I joined the first time; these guys were animals).

But this time I decided to stick with it. There was soemthing there I wanted. Couldn't really put my finger on it, but there was something. I realized that my instructor was one of the most impressive people I'd met and, at the same time, one of the humblest. If Taekwon-Do had anything to do with him being like that I figured I would see if it would work for me, too. At some point around green belt (6th gup) I decided that I wanted to spend a good portion of my life in the DoJang. 23 years, so far.

Pax,

Chris

 

[Tensei85]

I started when I was 8.

Don't really have any interesting reasons as to "why".

But I was always interested since 3-4 years old, my dad had previously trained a little in various practices.

And it worked out conveniently as it was something close, occupied a lot of my time and kept my interest.

And later I pursued everything else and gained a further interest in other arts as well.

 

[Miles]

I remember watching the Green Hornet and Kung-Fu series as a kid and wanted to train.

 

[Joab]

I started because it was the only one offered at my college. If it had been kenpo, I would have studied kenpo, wing chun I would have started wing chun, etc.

 

[K31]

The owner of the school was afraid that if I kept going to his cardio kickboxing class I'd have a heart attack. Little did I know...

 

[Stac3y]

I do American Karate, not TKD, but I started because my oldest son was training and it looked like so much fun. Now I'm more into than my kids are.