Why did you start?

[gman]

I started because my son was having problems at school and needed some self confidence. He has since dropped and I still go.

 

[Disco]

I was in the military and in a club with a buddy. He was of oriental extraction. he stood 5'6" and was 140lbs soaking wet.
Long story short. He had an altercation with two larger guys in the club. They took it outside and I tried to assist. He politely told me to stay out of it and proceeded to put both guys on the ground post haste. Never saw anything so fast in my life. From then on, I was hooked and started training. That was in early 1964. Been going at it ever since.

 

[Ceicei]

When I grew up, all my playmates in the neighborhood were boys (I'm a girl). I played the things they do...baseball, football, kickball, climbing trees, jumping off houses, fighting, etc. There was one boy who knew martial arts. It looked interesting. I saw several martial arts movies. I didn't get started into martial arts until I got into college and took a class. I loved it. I changed 6 studios during the 18 years studying before I found an instructor that knew how to bring out my best abilities and strengthen my weak ones.

- Ceicei

 

[Shinzu]

i have always been facinated with the martial arts. it was always a goal of mine to join and be the best i could be.... a journey that i am happily enjoying.

 

[goju.glenn]

I originally started training in Goju Kai Karate when I was about 10 - 11 years old. I was introduced to the style by a good friend who had just unsucessfully attempted their 9th Kyu grading, so I was brought along to help motivate and train with.

So a friend got me introduced to the art. I trained until I was about 15 when I was a junior 3rd Kyu. Then, I basically went on a sabatical until I was 26 upon which I have now rejoined [under the auspice of Internationl Goju Karate (IGK)] .

Looking back at it now, its the greatest regret that I've missed some 10 years training. :wah: but I suppose I was too young to realise what I was giving up.

Oh well ......

 

[gojukylie]

I would have to say that my brothers training was my first introduction to Karate. I used to watch him and I used to copy his moves. I pretended to spar with him when I was about 10 or so, and I really liked it. I asked my mother if I could train but she said it was for boys and that it wasn't very appropriate.

So I left college and moved to Qld and decided to start, so it must have been on my mind all that time. Now that I have started, I now know that I was meant to do it. Sometimes you are born to do certain things. It is my life now and I love every minute of it.

I must admit though, watching the original Bruce Lee movies when I was a kid may have had more impact on me than I thought.

As for the Karate Kid...... It is not a movie, it is a documentary.

 

[Senfeng]

1) I saw my first Bruce Lee flick when I was 4 or 5. I thought he was the most amazing, dominating personalities ever. He scared the chicklets out of me, but I wanted to be him.

2) My uncles (MAs themselves) used to tell my mom that they were taking me to church on Sundays. In reality, we would go to watch a Shaw Brother's flick at a run down theatre called the Plaza. My cousins all knew some martial arts and could easily duplicate some of the techniques we just saw on the big screen. Eventually, my uncle began teaching me a type of Kempo mixed with other styles that he had studied.

 

[twinkletoes]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Heroes on the Half Shell....Turtle Power!

:ninja:

~TT

 

[OULobo]

I wanted to be a ninja because they are sweeeet. :ninja: Seriously I found MA movies the coolest and my brother was already in MAs for a number of years. I started in a club at 9 and continued until college. Then things really got cookin. :EG: I was exposed to so many different arts and found the true grace and effectivness of MAs. After college came the combatives and guns. :2pistols: Now I do it for the knowledge, culture and tradition as much as the effectivness. I'm too old and injured to flex and posture, or at least I feel that way.