I have no time or reason for when I first started training in the combative arts. It simply seems to be something that has boiled in my blood since birth. As early as I can remember I would play-fight with my brothers as indians, knights, or robin hood and developing drills and techniques to better defeat my brothers with my hands and feet, knives, swords, maces, bows, and staffs.
Being the quiet bookworm type who corrected the teacher in class and who moved around a lot I was a high-powered bully magnet. I'd walk by them and their hands just couldn't help knocking me around. It wasn't something that I wanted to live with, so nearing the end of the 2nd grade I wanted to end it. I had never seen a movie nor had I seen a TV show so I didn't even know that the "Eastern" Martial Arts existed. I went to the library to check out books on Wrestling and Fencing and happened to find several books by Bruce Tegner, Stephen K. Hayes, and a few others. Due to pride I didn't let anyone know that I was learning because I didn't want anyone to know I was having trouble in school, so I practiced my punches, kicks and throws on trees. At first I totally bounced off the trees with my strikes and hurt my back while practicing the throws, but finally as I learned how to put my hips into the action the tree would respond by its leaves shaking. <I imagined they were shaking with fear, but I am sure they were really shaking with laughter>
I continued to practice in secret for 5 years all the while struggling to get better because if I was practicing how to fight, wasn't everyone else? I never felt confident enough in my ability to defend myself that I endured the hands of the bullies. Finally, when I was in the seventh grade <and the new kid once again> some huge overgrown ape of a kid took a particular disliking to me. He took offense to something I said and came after me. He had me backed in a corner with no escape and something just erupted inside of me. He threw a huge roundhouse punch and I just ducked and popped him square in the kisser <I've still got the scar from where one of his snaggle teeth busted his lip open and embedded itself in my hand>. His hand hit the wall and then some how we went to the ground. I immediately got a backmount, but didn't know how to choke so I just stayed there to keep away from his fists <got a lot of jeers about that> and luckily a teacher showed up. I expected only bad to come from that since I am the son of a preacher, but my Dad only had two questions when I handed him the piece of paper telling letting him know I was suspended: "Did you start the fight?"and "Did you finish the fight?" After that people came to me asking if I would teach them and I did.
My Dad took a little notice in my practicing and told me that he had trained in several arts as a young adult and promised to teach me and would correct my technique on a very rare occassion as did some neighbors, but I mostly just learned from books and from trial and error. When I was 15 my Dad finally decided to make good on his promise and showed me a few stances to which I told him "Yeah, I know em." and he asked me to demonstrate what exactly I knew <I bet he was thinking, "Here we go with the teenage know-it-all phase."> but after I finished demonstrating my ability and then sparring with 4 of my students at the same time he told me that he couldn't teach me anything and that I was far better than he ever was so he decided to send me to a dojo and that is when I began my formal training in Goju-ryu karate.
Its a part of who I am. I can't imagine the person that I would be without the martial arts playing a huge role and I can't say that I would want to imagine it. If the practice hasn't saved my life, it has at least saved me from injury on several occassions. I've only been in 5 or 6 real fights in my life, but most where against multiple opponents or against someone with a weapon and one time against multiple opponents who had weapons, but when someone asks me if I've ever used the martial arts I use one of the last things that have happened to me:
One day I was working on a house, and I was on a ladder removing staples from christmas lights that were getting in the way of the project. Well, the ladder was on unstable ground and just fell. Everything just seemed to stand still. I placed my forearms on the roof and hooked the top of the ladder with my leg as it was falling and reset it just using my feet. I didn't feel any fear and I don't think my heart rate went up very much, if at all. My father, who was on the roof looking at me at the time, later said that he wouldn't have known anything had happened if I hadn't told him <as if I were just having a normal conversation, so he described it.> that there was no ladder supporting me.
Sorry for rambling