Why did you start?

[Shodan]

I am new on here and maybe this topic has been discussed already........but was wondering.......why did all of you start the martial arts or what did you see/hear about them that made you want to join?

As for myself, back when I started, there were not a whole lot of females in the sport. I happened to be at a park where there was a man and woman putting on a demo. Both were very flexible and looked very good. This was my first viewing of anything having to do with Kenpo. I immediately wanted to try it out after that. I had seen Bruce Lee stuff before that and other martial arts things and found it fascinating.... but seeing that demo. and that women could join too really made me want to try it out. Now, 17 years later, I am hooked for life!!

:asian: :karate:

[A.R.K.]

In the early 70's I read a Bruce Tegner book on karate in the back of my grandparents pickup truck that they bought at a garage sale. From that moment I was hooked.

Thank you Bruce :)

[Cruentus]

Tired of getting my arse kicked by everyone around me when I was a kid.

Then, I found, that when I train I am truely at peace. Other then prayer, or relaxing with my significant other, no other activity does this for me as well.

So, I've been hooked ever since I started! :D

[phlux]

I was a kid I would imagine about movment and things that I wanted to do. i used to daydream constantly about different types of movement and techniques.

I knew that I wanted to study ninjitsu - but I had no idea how, where or even where to start.

Then I met someone that was in a class - and he convinced me to come try it out.

I didnt know how much a part of my soul martial arts and the studying of movement was until I found that I was doing certain techniques in class that I had been daydreaming about years before.

From that moment, I realized that mastering movement in this body - and studying martial arts is the most important thing in the world to me.

[stickarts]

i had always been pretty competitive and the sparring, in the beginning, is what I really liked.
after awhile, i started to love it all. The physical training, later on, the teaching. the real key for me was meeting the right teacher.

[Cryozombie]

I wanted to be a Jedi Knight.

Seriously. My parents refused to let me train as a kid tho, they were under the belief that you had to be in a "chinese religious cult" to study martial arts...

So I didnt get to start until I turned 18 and joined the Army.

[DAC..florida]

I was forced to take martial arts by my parents, I was always a very hyperactive kid and I guess I used to drive my parents insane by doing the exact oposite of what they asked. One of my fathers life long friends taught TKD and told my father that he would straiten me up and teach me some respect if I were to join the dojo wich he taught at, my father agreed. At first i hated it but eventually I learned to not only learn but began to enjoy it, 21 years later here I am still learning as much as I possibly can about martial arts and trying to teach others to enjoy it as I did.
:asian:

[Mace]

I was very small in high school and wanted to know how to defend myself. Why I stayed with it is another thread entirely. :asian:
Sean

[progressivetactics]

big mouth and sharp tongue....I knew if i didn't learn to back up my mouth, my behind would be getting calloused from being knocked on it. SO I joined the local TKD club.

As someone else said, you just need to find the right instructor. I learned that Martial arts is what i wanted/needed, but I had to find the people to give me what I needed.

[tkdcanada]

A cool useful activity I could do with my kids. It has since become sooo much more and now I'm hooked for life!

[Shodan]

A big Thank you to everyone who has replied to this so far......so neat to see all the different reasons/backgrounds, etc. And how much all of us may or may not have liked it at first, but now are hooked!!

:asian: :karate:

[Shuri-te]

I played lots of sports in High school, and I found out the hard way how common it is for big guys to pick on little guys. This was back in the early 70s when the television show Kung Fu was on the air and the theaters had their first Bruce Lee/Kung Fu movies, and like many teens, I was very impressionable.

I was too busy with high school sports to make the commitment then, but I did get to train informally with friends training in American Goju, Kyokushin and Kung Fu. I was lucky to find a good school when I went off to college.

I had a passion for it then, and it has grown significantly over the past 30 years as my appreciation for the great depth of the arts has increased.

[kilo]

I wanted to be a bully so I chose Aikido. No really I was looking for some thing to do and cose the martial arts.

[TallAdam85]

Chuck Norris is one of the big reason cause I loved all his movies expect top dog and realy like walker also I like power rangers so So now i am hook on it like many of you

[jfarnsworth]

I wanted the competition and work out routines in between the wrestling seasons. 14 yrs. later I'm still learning.

[wongfeihung]

I used to go with my Father to watch him train with his Sensei (who was also a family friend) 4 to 5 nights a week. The guys in the class were all so cool and the stuff they could do blew my 5 year old mind -- it's been blown ever since!

My Sensei and Father began training to improve his stamina and coordination for his career as a professional drummer. It didn't take long until Martial Arts became his new career.

Travis
www.JRRoy.com

[YouAgain]

I started when I was 7 because I wanted to 7 years later im still training.

[J-kid]

I started because i became a little bored and one day mentioned that i might want to start judo (not really knowing what it was) Then one of my friends gave me a good butt kicking in sparring, i wasnt the strongest but i wasnt the weakest so i started training and now i am the strongest in our group and people turn to me now and use me as the stepping stone to see how tough they are by how long they last fighting me.

[KenpoMatt]

Originally, I joined b/c a buddy of mine was a TKD instructor. I had a huge amount of respect for him and the things he could do.
I started training and enjoyed it. Once I learned more about other arts I transitioned to kenpo.

[redfang]

I like to wear pajamas.

[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.:D

[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. :rolleyes: