When you first set out to begin your journey in the Martial Arts, what was it that made you choose the art that you did?

For me, the Kenpo school I joined was the closest and most convenient for me at the time. Not knowing much about the art, I figured I'd at least give it a try. I soon saw how effective the material was and how well rounded the techniques were as far as nature of attack goes. Kenpo is and always will be my base art.

BJJ- I was introduced to this art by a training partner. Not knowing much about the ground game, I really didn't know what to expect. Needless to say, my eyes were opened to a whole new world. While its not always the best idea to go to the ground in a fight, its a good idea to have some knowledge of the ground.

Arnis- One of my Kenpo instructors was ranked in Modern Arnis and offered classes a few times a week. My eyes were opened to a new world of weapons as well as some devastating empty hand SD. The beauty of this art, is that there is a smooth transition between the empty hand and weapon based material.

For me it was fortunate happenstance.
I initially joined the club to train in Kung Fu, but my instructor was planning on starting a Kenpo class (I was the first student) and suggested that Kenpo might be more appropriate (I am less like a crane than a blundering klutz....)
A few years later, I am glad I followed his advice, and although I have tried several different martial arts before and since, I am quite satisfied that Kenpo is the most appropriate for me, and at the end of the day I think that is the most important factor.

I wrestled in high school. When it was over I started looking for arts that were comparable so I could stay on the mat.

My dad took me to a karate class when I was four and that is where I started.

Well...I kinda fell into mine...At my school no specific style is taught, we take Bruce Lee's Phylosophies(sp) and apply them effectively...My instructor has had a background in many styles...So in other word's I train in Livingston style....(Livingston=Instructor's Last name) and he has named it China-Te.

Getting too old to do all that jumping up in the air and spin kicking..Besides the gun belt, boots and ballistic vest makes such moves even more difficult.

I started in TKD when I was 14. I was interested in MA, and had a friend who did TKD.

In college I switched to the MSU Karate Club, where we teach Pukang Tang Soo Do. The club is actually quite eclectic (which was what attracted me in the first place), and we have always fought with 'open' rules (hands to head, groin techniques, etc), which was different than my old WTF TKD school. I liked it so much I am still training and teaching there 17 years later (man, am I THAT old?).

I was introduced to BJJ and Kali in the early 90s through a couple of friends who trained at a school that taught both (among other things). I knew nothing about ground fighting, and getting choked out for the first time was a revelation - I knew something had been missing from my training. I also picked up some of the Kali just because I like weapons and thought it was practical.

There is my training history, in a nutshell.

Peace,
Mike

In the simplest terms, my style was local and inexpensive. I was interested to discover that it was an amalgam of techniques and styles and I believed that would be enjoyable.

When you first set out to begin your journey in the Martial Arts, what was it that made you choose the art that you did?

For me, the Kenpo school I joined was the closest and most convenient for me at the time. Not knowing much about the art, I figured I'd at least give it a try. I soon saw how effective the material was and how well rounded the techniques were as far as nature of attack goes. Kenpo is and always will be my base art.

BJJ- I was introduced to this art by a training partner. Not knowing much about the ground game, I really didn't know what to expect. Needless to say, my eyes were opened to a whole new world. While its not always the best idea to go to the ground in a fight, its a good idea to have some knowledge of the ground.

Arnis- One of my Kenpo instructors was ranked in Modern Arnis and offered classes a few times a week. My eyes were opened to a new world of weapons as well as some devastating empty hand SD. The beauty of this art, is that there is a smooth transition between the empty hand and weapon based material.I wanted to train in the same school as my dad. So I didnt make a educated choice on what art I wanted to learn, I just basicly wanted to train with him. Now that I am older I have cross trained in a few standup and ground styles.

Seig dragged me to a class one night:)

Back then, to me, there was only Karate.. I was so naive. I didn't realize there were many different systems. But over the years, I've tried a few others and really think Kenpo is what I'm to do :)

Well in Jr High and High school the big schools were either Tae Kwon Do or Modern Arnis or both.

I had a friend in college who was ranked in Modern Arnis. I had seen some of the people move and liked it. The idea of weapons training from the beginning intrigued me. It also gave me a chance to learn how not to break everyone I came into contact with by learning control levels.

When I first started, there was a Shotokan school in my area that was heads and shoulders above everyone else in the area, yet they didn't charge as much. I had briefly thought about joining one of the other schools, as it wasn't too bad, but during my visit to that school, the owner of that school (he taught his own style of Karate, similar to Shotokan, but under a different name) held a ceremony at the end of the class where he promoted himself from 5th dan to 7th dan, and I never came back.

When I went to college, the only Karate classes available were in direct conflict with my mandatory classes that I had to take for my major, and they were only available twice a week. So, I trained in Tae Kwon Do during my time as a college student. No regrets there, since it gave me a new perspective on things, and my teacher was a darn good one.

When I started grad school, I went back to Shotokan, seeing that there was a good school in my area.

When I switched graduate schools, I switched Karate styles again... Living like a gypsy wasn't too much fun in terms of having a stable life, but I don't regret it, since I got to train with a superb teacher, who also taught me a lot about myself.

When I left graduate school and started my postdoctoral fellowship, I was fortunate that I could continue training in the same style of Karate at a new dojo there.

When I left my postdoctoral fellowship, and started my first "real" job, I hunted high and low to see if I could continue in the same style, but there wasn't a dojo within 3 hours' drive. After a while, I finally found yet another style of Karate taught at a school that emphasized traditional teachings, and hopped on. I don't regret this choice, either, since it brought yet another world of wonderful experiences.

Thus, I've been pretty lucky in terms of finding good schools, and more importantly, excellent teachers.

Sheer dumb luck. I went to the school on the advice of a friend as a good thing to do with my kids. I was hooked five minutes into the introductory lesson.

Aikido is a good complement to my other training. Also, utilizes some distinctly different ideas.

I had a job that I felt that I needed to learn self defense (I worked as campus security). And I knew about martial arts from watching the Karate Kid movies, but I didn't know anything about "styles" ect. So I just hunted for dojangs in my area. To make a long story short, I ended up taking TSD, because the dojang and the people just "felt right." Like I belonged there. I went with my gut feeling, and I was right. They mixed Hapkido, a little Jujitsu (there was also a seperate class and instructor for it), and Thai boxing in with TSD. It was perfect for me.

When I moved here (NY), I again hunted around for a TSD dojang. The nearest one was/is three hours away :( So I settled with a TKD dojang (my present one). I left feeling like they were too "sport" at the time. I ended up in a TKD style similar to TSD, but it was a mcdojang. I found out that this school (current one) changed there curiculum. They work a lot more self defense. So I came back. I've been here ever since.

I have also cross trained in a few other styles for fun. But I currently do Jujitsu. I found this instructor by word of mouth (through a friend).

I started in TKD after reading an article in Kick Illustrated (anyone remember that magazine?) in 1982. My parents won intro lessons for me at an auction. I was hooked.

In the 80's PKA fullcontact karate was also really big. I thought "Bad" Brad Hefton was the greatest thing since sliced bread! In the early 90's, I got he opportunity to train at the same kickboxing gym as world kickboxing champ, Marek Piotrowski. It was a great complement to my well developed kicking skills.

When my trainer died in 1999, I started just boxing. I was content until I got re-itroduced to tradition MA (Okinawan Karate) again. That lead me to being asked to teach a TKD class at my local community center. That will start in April.

I can't wait.

I signed one of my sons up for TKD intentionally because having mild CP, I thought all the jumping and flexability required would be good therapy for him. After watching him and seeing the physical and cardio workout he was getting, I reluntantly admitted to myself I was in dier need of the same and threw my tired, flabby, out o' shape butt in also. Who knew at the time it offered so much more.

When you first set out to begin your journey in the Martial Arts, what was it that made you choose the art that you did?



To me it's always about location and convenience. At junior high I practice Taekwondo, which was available in my school as extracurricular activity. Same with Goju Karate in my high school. After I graduated from hi school, I looked for a martial art club near my house, and found the one I'm with currently. This club however, teach many arts instead of one, so I ended up studying Jujutsu as well, not just Karate. My current teacher studied Hakko-ryu and Takagi Yoshin-ryu and Wado-ryu and he teach us many things, in fact too many things, so I am always behind in everything and it's rather hard to keep up. :( But it's all fun anyway, after all, we train not to become superman, but to fill our leisure time with something useful :)

My down syndrome brother (before finding the right balance of medication) would occasionaly get violent against my mom and I. My dad goes out of town often so we needed to find an art where we could defend ourselves without hurting my brother. Martial arts that focused on kicking and striking were out of the question. My mom asked the advice of a friend (who is a cop) in our church and he suggested that we try Aikido (his friend and former police partner teaches it). We had never heard of Aikido before then, but it's been the perfect choice for us and we've been hooked ever since. The dojo is farther away than we'd like, but it's worth it. :)

Robyn :asian:

I was talked into starting by the guy I was dating at the time... that was 19 years ago, and I'm still with the same TKD instructor - I got very lucky!

I signed one of my sons up for TKD intentionally because having mild CP...

Cerebral Palsy?

Because it is the best for me..HKD is suited to my body type, I have just the right amount of everyting for it....everything IO learn outside of that is just to increase my ranges!

After many years in Jujitsu and TDK (which I got into because I had friends that went), I hurt my back severely and had to stop for a couple of years. I just happened to find a Tai Chi/Kung fu school and I ended up studying A little Yang style, Wu Style, Chen Style, Bagua and Xingyi. I now only train Yang Style but I am considering a return to Xingyi.

Cerebral Palsy?

Yes. That's correct.

It's a family thing. I come from a family of Taekwondo practitioners so it was just natural for me. Great stuff... :asian:

I joind a gym. Found out that a guy was starting a TKD school and holds his classes there until he got enough students to open his own school.

$65/month for 3days a week training and sometimes more I said why not. I was always interested in learning MA and with someoen starting their own business I felt it was best to get on and especially get private lessons until class got big.

Well, when a man considered a master teacher invites you to be his only student, you don't say no... especially if your only other MA experience was a summer camp taught several years before - by the same man.

Has anybody else noticed how many of the responses have to do with benefiting somebody else? Do you feel that this could be a trait that in part takes us to this path in the first place?

To start training in some kind of martial art was something I had wanted to do for a long time, but I had been living for a few years at a military base where there was no clubs nearby. When I moved back to town I decided I wanted to try an stand up art that didn`t involve too much use of ground work or weapons.

Boxing and kickboxing are too much about competing. My opinion of TKD was not too good because I`d met some practicioners of the art that were hardly nice people. Ju jutsu was just an other form of judo or so I tought. Capoeira music made my ears hurt. I`d never heard of FMA or aikido. That left Kung fu and Karate.

When I saw a poster about a wado ryu school practically next door to where I lived I checked it out and have stuck with it ever since.

Since then I`ve also tired kobudo since I wanted to learn weapons. This club got my attention trough a web page. The instructors was great but after six monts I decided to try something else again. Last summer there was a two day demonstration of different martial arts during japanese week here in Oslo. Still with the kobudo club I was helping setting things up. At this point I had considered trying judo but the judo demonstration did not impress me. The Ju jutsu however certainly did. This club has added karate kicks and punches and the result is similar to wado. Now I train both. Wado gives a deeper technical undersrstanding and ju jutsu gives me the opportunity to to train more throws, some ground work and sparring without adding different principles.

Well my art is TAE KWON DOE i started taking the class for exicerse and then really started to get into it. now I am almost a black belt and have begun taking JONG HAP MU SOOL which is a combination of different martial arts styles

Short answer: Dumb luck that it was the closest available.

Long answer: Being from a small town in Northwestern PA, there wasn't very many options within a 20 min drive...there was a TKD school about 30-45 min north, a Shotokan and an Indonesian school (I can pronounce it, but I can't spell the style..."Pokemon" Jminde is close, no offense intended to students of this art!) school about 30 min to the south and a Goju Ryu School about 10-15 min to the south west.

I talked my parents into letting me start there and have never looked back. In the begining it was only $25 a month, 3 x 2 hour practices a week. Eventually he had to raise the price up to $30 a month... I still call him my teacher and train with him when ever my family and I go home to see the folks (once or twice a year, deployments being the exception).

The rest is easy...I moved to TKD to improve my kicks and Jujika Jujutsu as an opportunity to teach and continue study. Cheers!

It was the only school available in the area, American Freestyle Karate. Later as I began to branch out, my training is more "job specific" so to speak, Clo Qu Ba Ha-Jutsu, JJJ.

Pax
Cujo

After researching the subject, I chose American Kenpo Karate because it seemed to be the most effective form of self defense for me. I liked the way the principles and concepts were based on logic and scientific facts. I also liked Kenpo's ability to tailor these principles and concepts to each individual making it a very flexible and adaptive system of combat.

I began with Kung Fu because like many posters, it was pretty much all that was available way back in the day. I moved into Aikido [and have stayed there] simply because I truly believe in the art and philosophy of the art. Have recently started with FMA and knife arts as I feel they have much to offer in the society I live in.

At first.........
simply because it was the best art I could find available in my area.
It just made sense to me.

Your Brother
John

Moo Duk Kwan was my first style back in 1980 because it was convienent being at my High School and a couple friends of mine trained there. A little of Kung Fu at the time because I was interested in it. Jujitsu in the military and quick studies with other cohorts. Ran into a Kenpo school in '93 while looking for a place to train and liked the fact that it had the cicular movements of Kung Fu and the understanding of physics. Started Aikido living in Northern NJ as there weren't any schools close by that taught any previous art. I am now back with Kenpo and JJJ.

Dumb luck.

I previewed several schools. Like Kenpo the best and I stuck with it. Pretty simple.

Ciao

I had always grown up in Bushi related marital arts environment(Aikijitsu,Jujitsu,Aikido,Taijitsu,etc) .Even though I have always admired the nobility of the Bushi and the effectiveness of their fighting arts,they provided little intel on striking.I spent time studing all different sorts of martial arts to fill in that gap;Pak Qua,many different Ryu of Japanese Karate,TKD and many other arts,but none of them"fit" me right.In 2001 I started watching Pride FC and their was a fighter that stick out to me,he was a Muay Thai fighter(Vanderli Silva),so I started to read up on Muay Thai.A few years later I saw a K-1 fight where the fighter was strickly Muay Thai,his name was Remy Bonkasky.I have never seen a straight Muay Thai fighter so I was eager to see how Muay Thai fighters truely fight,I saw hom fight and was astonished at his methods.A few months later I found a Muay Thai gym and started training,I was first intimmedated by the art because the Thai-style round kick is very complicated but after about six months of training I perfected that kick.EVERY other I picked up on easliy,they all felt very natural,just the way they where persented to me,I have NEVER had to evolve anything that I have learned in Muay Thai.I realzied at a young age that I was a striker and I have found my way of fighting through Muay Thai!

Hmmm well I started with TKD because I don't know, just wanted to do a martial art.

The second martial art, Kuntao Silat was found by chance again. There was a school for martial arts just across the street from my high school campus I was at everyday so I checked it out. Never heard of Silat before but the little nibble I got was enough for me to bite. Stayed there for 3-4 years and then life issues came up that took me out of the region. Sucked but thats life.

Well ever since seeing all those Hong Kong Martial ARts films and Bruce Lee I had always wanted to do kung fu but I could not find anywhere. I bought books hoping i could teach myself then i was lucky enough to receive some instruction from a Brown belt in Lau Gar, a friend of my sister. After that i had to trian myself again reading mostly about Bruce Lee. I was taken to a Taekwondo class by a friend of my mum's but somehow i knew it wasn;t for me. I didn't like the structure and it didn't feel like a friendly atmostphere.
I felt like fake for many years because i was not even learning from anyone. I made friend who had studied a little Karate and was also training himself in Bruce Lee's fighting methods and had even had to use his skills one time. He always managed to win every sparring match which frustrated me and sometimes made me cry although I never showed it to him. That was when i was in my late teens and we both used to go to th gym together. Some years later i realised there was no way i coudl study from books the rest of my life but being shy it was hard to make that first initial step into a class because it was so intimidating. I had psyched myself up to go to an Aikido class but i felt panic and never even made it to the door, then i tried a Tang Soo do class as it was teh nearest i coudl find to Kung fu but again i chickened out. As I left i noticed a poster advertising a Kung fu class! My prayer had been heard and i became more determined not chicken out. I called the number and got the instructor's assistant and i called again to make sure i ahd the right directions. I turned up and i was the first one there. And from day one i really enjoyed it and have been studying Shaolin Long Fist for over 7 years now! I am due to take my black sash grading Next month. I have also been doing Wing Chun now for about 3 months and enjoying that too. Both differ alot but offer so much!

When I first started in 1984 Tang Soo Do was the only schoold in my town, when I started in Shotokan in 1990-91 it was because I had heard that Jean Claude Van Dam trained in this and I was a teenager and a big fan. When I started in TKD in 1992 it was for a credit in college, when I decided to commit to TKD it was because of the impact that my current instructor had on me. Other styles I have studied including Judo, Aikido, American Kenpo etc.. I have specifically sought out these arts because of research and they each had something I wanted to explore and learn.

The simple, direct, brutality of the defenses. (very appealing to a young kid)

My early martial arts career was made up of hopeless misses and no hits. I finally chose Aikido because being just a slip of a thing, I really wanted something that would help me "punch above my weight". I had tried a number of places but everywhere I'd previously visited or studied seemed to accommodate a whole bunch of guys never managing to punch past their egos.

Maybe I just got lucky in the end but my Aikido club has no bluster or bravado. From the outset, nobody ever seemed as if they wanted to kill me there ;) I've seen too much one-sided Aikido practise - tapping the foot and staring up to the ceiling while you "do your technique".

Where I am now, we try openly to train WITH each other so everybody takes something away. You say, but LIFE has winners and losers. I know, I think that's because even when we "co-operate" in our workaday lives we're STILL trying to win. As odd as it might sound, I don't care much for winning. As the saying goes, when we try to win, we've already lost.

Yr most obdt hmble svt,
Jenna

For me it was a long journey to "my" art. I started looking in the mid 70's in Michigan and tried different arts off and on for the next 20 years,before walking into the "Discovery Martial Arts" school in Caribou, Maine and finding what I had been looking for. The art I had been looking for is one that even a smaller person could dump me on my butt without having to use their "might" to do so. I grew up slightly on the rougher side of things and was a good fighter from early grade school, but knew that there had to be a MA out there that didn't rely on street-wise moves to finish, or avoid a fight. Most of the other schools I tried were great at form and movement, but when it came down to "putting the knuckles" to somebody, they fell short of what I could do already to the vast majority of people. This school had me on my back, butt, and head right from the start without ever laying a hand or even finger on the other person. It helped that the person I was training with was about 7" shorter and 40 Pounds lighter than I was, the movement, distancing, and techniques were doing all the work and not the practitioner. SOLD!!! I have always figured SD is a lifelong thing, and have found an art that an 80 year old can walk away from most 20 year olds in a scuffle.

I started with TKD for about seven months. Circumstances arose and I started looking for a new school. Searched for a very long time and ended up at a school that teaches Modern Arnis. My first class I was hooked and knew I didn't need to look any farther. :D

It was the dojo closest to me, I didn't really take into consideration the kind of martial arts I was learning. It seems to have been a good choice and it broke the ice for me so now I'm not afraid to possibly join another dojo to get some experience in other styles.

I have trained in several arts. And it was so I could get an idea of what I wanted. Then I took out what was useful for me. The only Art I try to remain loyal to Is JKD and it has far to much politics But I prefure it over the other methods through the years.And I prefure what is now called Ojkd But in real aspects its just JKD Its good to study and train in other arts If you relize that it can both help you better understand your main art Or find in them something that may be useful to take.