Finding Your Path!

[Brian R. VanCise]

Okay I know how I found my path in the martial arts. Basically as a kid I wanted to physically feel effective. See some movies and demonstrations hooked me that I could get this from the martial sciences and the rest is history. So how did you find your path?

[Bigshadow]

Since I was young teen, I have always wanted to learn martial arts. I believe it was when I found a Karate book when we moved into another house. But for one reason or another, taking Karate was not possible. Then later in the mid 80s, it was the ninja movies that caught my attention, then I stumbled onto Stephen Hayes' books and read them. After reading them I realized, THAT is for me! :D At that time, I had no means to train and training was far away and not even in the realm of possibilities.

It wasn't until my 30s, watching my son in his TKD class that I was reminded of what I had wanted to do all these years. I was torn between the choices of training with my son or following my heart (so to speak). I found someone right in my backyard that taught Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, and the rest is history.

My life has been greatly and positively influenced by my training! I am no longer the same person I was before. :)

[Infinite]

I was / am a Bruce Lee kid.

I saw a documentary where he was explaining the concept of beauty and fear based on understanding. He then went into some hand strikes and said it was the same for Kung Fu people fear it but it is beautiful.

I agreed and as they say the rest is has already happened :)

[morph4me]

I watched alot of TV as a kid, there was always a TV show where the hero did something I thought was cool, then the Green Hornet came on, and I was hooked. Then it was the library, movies, etc. until I went into the service, and had the money to train.

[King]

As a young kid I was facinated and watched the TKD club practicing in my school. I was too young to join as they didn't have any kids programs. Every year I asked my mom if I was big enough to join but was told no. So I guess you can say I found out martial arts was my thing since I can remember. I've tried a few arts such at TKD, Kempo and Okinawan Karate, Bujinkan Taijutsu, Iaido, Escrima and Muay Thai but I didn't truly find myself until Thai boxing. I like the fact that there were no rigid rules concerning the art (apart from the guidelines). I was taught how to punch, kick, elbow and knee and I was free to create and experiment with my tools having no extensive forms to memorize. So with Muay Thai, I felt alive.

[bydand]

I have been interested in the MA's for as long as I can remember. I tried Judo as a kid, but the instructor, while probably being very skilled, didn't know how to teach kids; my interest level dropped and I didn't last too long. Later I was living in Southern Michigan and tried several different arts, a few were interesting, but none "grabbed" me. A few I realize now were McDojos' and those just had a flat feel to them, a couple the "Instructors" were less skilled in SD than I was already. (Didn't exactly grow up on the Choir Boy side of life. :) ) I had almost given up finding an art that would fit until I moved to Presque Isle, ME area. My brother went to a class and the following week he told me I had to come check it out with him. I walked into John Poliquin's "Discovery Institute of Martial Arts" which was teaching Ninjutsu, under Hatsumi Soke's Bujinkin orginization. After about 10 minutes I KNEW I had found what I was looking for. Been involved for a long time now, but had to take a few long years off training due to marriage and starting a family. Proud to say I'm back training now and still know I made the right decision all those years ago. There have been changes to the school, and some I do not agree with, but it isn't enough to detract from the path I have taken.

[KempoGuy06]

I was like any kid growing up seeing movies and shows with MA's in them. I was in aww, i wanted to do the things they were doing. I am 21 now, so I was in 1st or 2nd grade when Power Rangers hit TV. As you can imagine I was in absolute heaven. I remeber watching the show and punching and kicking everything in site. I wanted to take lessons so badly but I never signed up. I played soccer, baseball, basketball and football all through grade school so my parents thought i had enough on my plate. I started high school and dropped the sports and picked up a job instead. The start of college was the same. Work and homework were the only thing i ever did. I started going to gym to get back in shape and this is where I agrivated an old injury. I was not able to go to the gym for a while but i need soemthing to keep me active. So thats when i decided to look into taking martial arts lessons. I did my research and found a school that interested me, Bluegrass Martial Arts. I had my introductory class and was hooked. My instructor talked to me like a person and a friend instead of acting as if i was only more money to him, this is what appealed to me the most. Now im an orange belt in Shaolin Kempo Karate and rapidly approaching my purple belt. I have made some really good friends and met some very impressive people. I love the martial arts i hope to obtain my black belt and then branch out and study other forms maybe so Hung Gar or Aikido.

This is my story.

B

[Bigshadow]

At 21 I was in 1st or 2nd grade when Power Rangers hit TV.


Alrighty then..... :p

[KempoGuy06]

Alrighty then..... :p

:whip: for me. I bet that gave you a good laugh. I now it made me laugh pretty hard when i read it again. LOL. thanks.

B

[Bigshadow]

:whip: for me. I bet that gave you a good laugh. I now it made me laugh pretty hard when i read it again. LOL. thanks.

B

No worries... I knew what you meant. The mind is faster than the fingers. Laughing is healthy! I got a good laugh from it. :)

[Xue Sheng]

THERE’S A PATH!!!! DAMN!!!! I wish someone told me :uhyeah:

I happened to be at a mall with my parents when I saw a Jujitsu demo and a friend of mine was in the demo, 2 weeks later I was in Jujitsu. This was either just before or just after Enter the Dragon came out.

[kcast]

I have always been amazed by MA, ask a child I loved the ninja turtles and any martial arts movie, however my parents didn't think it would be a good idea to take it. Years went on and then I got hired with the city police department, took a few DT classes and realized that it was not enough and I wanted MORE! I met my current sensai (sp?) at the gym and he enlightened me about shaolin kempo, he is a 5th degree BB and a great instructor! Ever since then I've been hooked!

[KempoGuy06]

! I got a good laugh from it. :)

Thank you. Im here all night!

B

[chris_มวยไทย]

i found myself at just 9 years of age , i had always loved the bruce lee films and my uncle and brother were both black belts in jujitsu so i took classes for 3 years but it didnt fit me at the time , i got bored of it and its slow gradings (i saw impatient) and wanted to do a striking art at 11 years old , i went to taekwondo classes for a few months and got bored and realised i was too young (all the people in my classes were always much older than me). then at about 13 i just suddenly started training again , me and my brother trained jujitsu and taekwondo together in my living room for a couple of weeks (i was trying to focus on learning about the martial arts rather than learning them at the time so i could pick an art i thought would suit me). then i saw a muay thai video and i was hooked , a couple of months after my 14th borthday i started going to a boxing gym near me where my instructor rented a room for muay thai training , and ive been training there ever sinse.

soon were hoping to get a place of our won rather than a rented gym hall

[stickarts]

It clicked for me since i like physical and mental training, I like to teach, and I like seeing others improve.
It helped that I had a great role model also very early on.
Since then having some great students has also kept me on the path.

[Shotgun Buddha]

I just always wanted to be the guy who got say this:

"Fear does not exist in this dojo.
Pain does not exist in this dojo.
Defeat does not exist in this dojo.

We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the weak. Here, in the streets, in competition. A man confronts you he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy."

I mean thats just god-damn classy.

[Infinite]

I just always wanted to be the guy who got say this:

"Fear does not exist in this dojo.
Pain does not exist in this dojo.
Defeat does not exist in this dojo.

We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the weak. Here, in the streets, in competition. A man confronts you he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy."

I mean thats just god-damn classy.
You DO know he was the bad guy right ? :)

[matt.m]

As a preteen and teen I studied hapkido from dad in the summer and played school sports during the year. I loved judo and wrestling. I am a small person in height and weight at the time so those were perfect for me.

I did Judo and wrestled for the Marines. I have found my favorite flavors of arts as an adult have to be MSK TKD and HKD without a doubt. The calibur of instruction is 2nd to none in my opinion.

I have been around a lot of schools and arts during my travels so I feel lucky to be where I am at. Put it to you this way. If MSK TKD or HKD I would work out in my basement and not go anywhere else.

[exile]

I came into the game very, very late. It was rather odd, in a way. I spent a good deal of one year when I was in my early fifties worrying about some very strange and ominous symptoms that I had, which also disturbed my doctor, enough that he made appointments for me to be checked over first by a rheumatologist and then by a neurologist. They were investigating the possibility that I had an incurable and invariably fatal neuromuscular disease, one which my father in law was dying of during that same period. I had a passing thought at one point during that period that if it turned out all right, then I would start studying some martial art... not sure where the thought came from, but there it was, and it persisted. After waiting several months to see the neurologist and then have a followup EMG, I learned that I was fine, and I remember that one of my first thoughts was, now I need to find a MA to study.

Very soon after that we learned that there would be a TKD class offered at a nearby rec center, and that many kids from our son's elementary school were going to be taking the class, including a number of his friends at the time, so it seemed reasonable to sign him up. I took him there for a couple of months and stayed to watch, and it looked very good to me—I'd had a hard, linear approach in mind—so I joined the class... and that was that!

[zDom]

My dad took a couple of classes (never made it past white belt) in karate because he thought he was going to be drafted into the Vietnam War and wanted to prepare himself.

He taught me the reverse punch.

I also read his copy of Bruce Tegner's Complete Book of Self-Defense (I think that was the one after googling it and looking at the book covers...) many times and tried to pick up techniques from it. Not too successfully, in any case.

When I was in 7th grade, my folks moved us to the Caribbean island (West Indies) of Montserrat where my dad attended medical school.

The island had one movie theater that was only open on weekends. Nearly all the movies that played there were Kung Fu movies (they also played the occassional spaghetti western and once got a copy of the film "Jaws").

My friends and I would, of course, play "kung fu fighting" inspired by the films.

Many, many years later after moving to Southeast Missouri to work as a DJ at a radio station and be near my folks who had moved there about two years prior, I met and started hanging out with a guy named Tim Wall who had taken taekwondo as a kid and reached blue belt before quitting to cruise cars, chase girls and work on JKD-type stuff in the backyard with a buddy of his.

One day, while hanging out at his place, I asked him about his "karate" trophies. I told him I was interested in learning some techniques, although I wasn't really interested in "belts" or anything.

So we started working out in his living room. Soon my brother and another good friend joined us. Soon after that, we had about a half dozen guys showing to work out.

While looking for a place to rent so we would have more room, Wall checked out the dojang where he had trained as a kid and found a guy named Steve Dunn was teaching.

Next time we showed up to work out at his place, he said, "You guys can do what you want, but I'm going to start training with this Steve Dunn guy."

His recommendation was good enough for me — especially since my jaw was wired shut, having been broken in a bar altercation a couple of weeks before. Training seriously seemed like an even better idea.

I only wish I had decided earlier in life to give martial arts a try as it certainly has made a significant positive difference in my life.

[Brother John]

My uncle paid for my 1st lessons when I was 7 years old.
He knew I needed better self esteem and something to do with my freetime.
He knew my first instructor and got me into it.
I was hooked and haven't given it up since.

But that was back when wheels were made of STONE.

Your Brother
John

[Steel Tiger]

When i was a kid my father took my brother and me to see many a Bruce Lee film and that started my curiosity. However, it wasn't until my late teens that I actually began to study. It all became very serious when I went to university, however.

[Shotgun Buddha]

You DO know he was the bad guy right ? :)

Yep, partly why its so cool :wink1:

[pstarr]

When I was very young I aspired to learn martial arts and once I actually began, I knew it would be something I'd do for the rest of my life. Along the way, I discovered that I love teaching....and so, here I am!

[Bigshadow]

But that was back when wheels were made of STONE.


What wheels? :uhyeah:

[Kacey]

Unlike many of you, I sort of fell into TKD; I was dating a guy who'd gotten to 4th gup blue belt in high school and wanted to go back, and I wanted to get into some kind of organized exercise... after about a month of trying to show me things he half-remembered from training 10 years earlier, he talked me into trying it. Something in it just clicked, and I've been training ever since then - February, 1987 to today. But I didn't follow a path into it; I was dragged, against my better judgment - and I am SO glad my judgment was wrong; the effect TKD has had on my life cannot be measured.

[Cruentus]

Okay I know how I found my path in the martial arts. Basically as a kid I wanted to physically feel effective. See some movies and demonstrations hooked me that I could get this from the martial sciences and the rest is history. So how did you find your path?

Good thread, Brian! :)

I was sort of born into it. My Grandfather on my moms side was a bare knuckle fighter and goldern gloves champ who also took Karate and Judo and did some wrestling. This was back in the days when there wasn't the commercial environment available for asian martial arts as there is today. He was also an avid shooter, as was my uncle. He was true "american" martial artist. My Grandfather on my fathers side was a WWII vet, and my grandma's brother on my fathers side was also an avid shooter and "back country" american martial artist; he almost always carried a fixed blade knife. These individuals also carried firearms frequently.

My whole family had an understanding of "fighting" from an american perspective; so much so that they don't even realize that this is unique compared to other experiences.

But it was my grandfather that first started coaching me, and inspiring me to train. My mom was also smart enough to enroll me in a good 'kids karate' program; one that was attached to one of the best martial arts schools in the state at the time (1985). It was important to her and my grandpa that the instructor wasn't just good with kids; but that he was also an accomplished fighter himself. Because he was a world kickboxing champion, my grandfather was satisfied with that.

So that was how I got my "start." I was basically born into it, where "combative" type stuff was always an influence on my life.

[bushidomartialarts]

it's my mom's fault.

she sang me to sleep as a baby with stuff like 'the impossible dream' and 'we shall overcome' and then went and read me lord of the rings and stories from king arthur.

long as i can remember, the word 'Warrior' was a proper noun, if you get my meaning.

it was wrestling in high school, fencing and taekwondo in college, kenpo when i moved into the real world. lot of stuff since: cane fighting, arnis, aikido, mma, muay thai.

security work. bouncing. a little bodyguard work. a lot of 'hey, jason, my cousin's boyfriend is hiting her can you help us move her out? eventually spent a couple years training and coaching in japan.

and now i'm back home running a school where i teach children that Warrior is a proper noun.

[jdinca]

Interesting replies. I had only a passing interest in martial arts as a kid. A few years ago, a school counselor (LONG story there) suggested this ma school in Alamo as something to do with the kids. I thought, "sure, why not?". I was hooked five minutes into the first introductory lesson. The kids only lasted nine months, I'm a lifer.

[bookworm_cn317]

Even though I didn't start until I was 17, I got interested in the martial arts by watching the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (when I was 12). My mom signed me up for karate lessons in 8th grade, but I kind of chickened out(*). I was 'THIS' close to getting sick over it. Before that day, I had only ever gotten that wigged out over the dentist.

Maybe I just wasn't ready at 13. At least, that's the story I'm sticking with. :)



* I was shallow enough to freak out over what people would think about a bookworm(which would be me) doing a martial art. Silly, huh?

[zDom]

Even though I didn't start until I was 17, I got interested in the martial arts by watching the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (when I was 12). My mom signed me up for karate lessons in 8th grade, but I kind of chickened out(*). I was 'THIS' close to getting sick over it. Before that day, I had only ever gotten that wigged out over the dentist.

Maybe I just wasn't ready at 13. At least, that's the story I'm sticking with. :)



* I was shallow enough to freak out over what people would think about a bookworm(which would be me) doing a martial art. Silly, huh?

Some of the best martial artists I know are bookworms :)

I'm a bit of a bookworm m'self ;)

[Kacey]

* I was shallow enough to freak out over what people would think about a bookworm(which would be me) doing a martial art. Silly, huh?

I'm a bookworm... always have been; I have one room in my house decorated in shelving; sadly, it's full, and I'm running out of places to put the books... What always seems to surprise people is that I do needlework (cross stitch and crochet, mostly) - it doesn't seem to fit with their image of a martial artist. :idunno:

[bydand]

Guilty on the bookworm brand as well. Difference was that I was a roughneck bookworm. People were more suprized to find out that I loved to read than the fact I liked the MA's. I think some of them were shocked to find out I COULD read, let alone discuss intellegently the "Classics" and the fact that my favorite authors are Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. :)

[makoto-dojo]

Hello,

for me it was the old Kung Fu television show! (when it was originally on air... yes I am that old... :( ) I instantly connected with the flash back scenes at the temple, the training, the philosophy.. I loved how Cane dealt with adversity and bullies and what not. Still have a warm place in my heart for that show...

Then what REALLY set the hook, was seeing Enter the Dragon on the big screen in a midnight movie!!!! (With my Grandmother of all people LOL!) Seeing Bruce on the big screen was astonishing!

Finally The first book by Stephen K. Hayes, shaped the rest of my adult live to the present. Thank you Mr. Hayes from the bottom of my heart!

Sincerely,

[tradrockrat]

An ADHD kid before that term was common, I had more energy than I could handle - it was very tough going through life at 100mph. Sports burned off energy and reading calmed my mind, but a martial arts camp given by my neighbor did both. At 8 years old I found my path. Pretty lucky I guess.

[JasonASmith]

I was 7, and highly overweight...And loved Kung Fu theater...
My mother gave me the choice: either a new bike or martial arts, and I had a good bike, so off I go to the local T.S.D. place(which turned out to be a McDojo) until I was 10...My mother pulled me out, because of a monetary dispute...Plus, she is a fanatical Christian(I'm NOT) and didn't like the bowing and meditation before and during class...My fondest hope throughout my adolescent life was to start again, settle down with a system, become proficient in the system, and share my knowledge with other people...It only took me 21 years to get here...