I have really enjoyed reading this thread, its interesting to have a peek at different peoples roads in life.
For myself I think I became initially aware of Martial Arts because I was an impressionable young child in the 80's whos two favourite films were Rocky and the Karate Kid! When I was an older child I loved films like Bloodsport and The Kickboxer! (fond memories!)
When I was a kid I tried to convince my mum to allow me to join martial arts but she would often let me start the free initial lessons and then not want to pay when those ran out. So through my childhood I sampled very small amounts of kickboxing, kung fu and karate but of course never getting anywhere past the first few lessons for financial reasons.
When I came of age so to speak and had my own money I was still keen to start martial arts as I felt it was something I always wanted to do so I tried Judo (wasn't for me) and Goju Ryu Karate. I loved Goju Ryu Karate! I quickly started feeling the benefits that others have talked about on this thread - improved stress levels, confidence, inner strength. Unfortunately after three months I had to quit as I started working in a restuarant that demanded unusual shift patterns (the club only trained two nights a week so I would sometimes go weeks without a class so dropped out).
Never went back for years as there was always a reason why I couldn't join (nurse training, working shifts as a nurse, moving towns etc etc). Now I am 28 and out of shape! I have started to eat healthily and wanted to fit some exercise into my routine and remembering the psychological benefits of karate looked towards martial arts again.
Unfortunately as a nurse I still work weird and wonderful shifts but where I live now there are lots of clubs that train in excess of 5 nights a week so making two a week is achievable. I tried my local Goju Ryu club but didn't like the way the sensai ran the class (Hardly any teaching going on - we would warm up and then play fight with the instructor doing the same at the front without even looking around at the beginners to see if they are doing it right). I tried some BJJ and MMA clubs because of the good things I was hearing about them on the internet but again felt that my local clubs were not particularly interested in novices and it was often just like having a punch-up with no attempt to teach me how to fight. I finally walked into my current Tae Kwon-do class and found my perfect fit!
It's interesting as when I was researching which martial art would be best for me TKD was at the bottom of my list due to the bad mouthing on various forums and internet sites (not this one I may add). But I have discovered that its not the style that is important its the way that its taught. My Sabum is wonderful and takes a lot of pride in his teaching and I have found my particular class to be much more self defence orientated than I was led to believe from *********.com! I am enjoying the challenges, the improved fitness, the structure of the lessons and all of the psychological benefits that I remember from my brief stint at Goju Ryu. I love Tae Kwon-do and can't imagine ever leaving martial arts behind again now.