I was four, and my big brother practiced\. Naturally, being the clingy little bugger that I was, I made my parents sign me up as well. However many years later, he no longer practices and I still do.
What got you into martial arts?
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Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
My early years were largely made up of quick advancement, on to the next thing, keep it interesting. In hindsight and with the wisdom of years I began to realizable how shaky my foundation was. In recent years I have embraced the repetition and the boring, the stuff that should have been in my early training. It is really fulfilling and it's where you can see the progress.Looking back, I think some people would find my early training-as in the first 8 years or so- "boring." It's also about the individual attitude...I'm almost of the opinion that most Americans should take up knife-throwing before starting martial arts, so they have some experience with practicing the same thing over, and over, and over again, and getting it wrong many times before they get any gratification.........or piano.....or guitar.....
Ah, I see. Yes, that would be a completely different style. I have no idea about whether or not that style is either effective or boring, so please carry on.
For what it may be worth, despite "Ticky Donovan's" convictions, Isshin Ryu existed quite a long time before he seems to have spontaneously invented a completely different style of martial arts with the same name spelled with one less 's' in it. Isshin Ryu means "One Heart Way," not "everybody with one heart." But he's entitled to believe whatever he wants.
I apologize for my response defending Isshin Ryu, as I see now you meant a different style entirely, one I was ignorant of until now. I would only add as an aside that 2 and a half years is hardly enough to learn any martial art, but again, since I know nothing of your former style, carry on. Perhaps it is useless and boring, I don't know.
Langenschwert
Master Black Belt
Swords. Who doesn't like swords? I had the opportunity to learn how to use one, so I took it. Haven't looked back, though I've looked sideways and added various other things to my training.
Swords. Say it with me now, swords.
Swords. Say it with me now, swords.
MMAexamined
White Belt
I started after Cro Cop popularized massively MMA in Croatia... I started training because my neighbour had gym across the street. Muay Thai was the discipline I choose because I have been playing basketball for my whole life and thought I could use footwork in that discipline well.
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A little background: we moved from NYC to Peekskill, what qualified as "upstate" at the time (though it never really was, and is even less so now) in 1968....I'd led a pretty sheltered life: private school, 20th floor apartment.
No one had ever called me "n!gger." Dad wanted me to be prepared to defend myself: I was one of three black kids at my school that first year, one of two the next-and the other one was my brother...and I wasn't at all like what anyone expected a black child to be like, back in 1968......what he taught us was largely "stuff," to make sure we could handle ourselves against bigger kids, or more than one.....or just one....I had to fight plenty between 1968 and 1970-some people in our (somewhat exclusive and upper middle class) neighborhood had tried to buy our house out from under my parents, to keep us out of the neighborhood. Some moved away.....I can remember fighting a kid named Robby Brass at the bus-stop, which was on the corner of his yard, right after school, and his dad yelling for him to "beat the crap out of that little ******!" even as I bloodied his mouth and his nose at will........fighting.it..turns out, I liked.
The Brasses moved that year.....
As for the "stuff," the judo served me well when I began formal training,and still does-though judo competition has changed considerably since then.The boxing was and is fundamentally the same.....I never really did figure out what kind of karate it was that my dad picked up in Hawaii, though I narrowed it down some.....
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crazydiamond
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A bit complicated but I started very late in life as a means to explore something outside of my normal self, be uncomfortable, explore new frontiers.
I joke that after so many years as a St. Bernard, I wanted to see what being a German Shepard was like. Old dog - new tricks.
I joke that after so many years as a St. Bernard, I wanted to see what being a German Shepard was like. Old dog - new tricks.
kuniggety
2nd Black Belt
I think it still is pretty popular with the Marines. Some guys also just really get into MCMAP which requires belts in other styles to advance in it. Submission grappling (nogi BJJ/etc) is getting pretty popular amongst the Marines too.
I don't remember how old I was now but I studied Shuri-Ryu karate for 2 1/2 years as a kid and made my way up to yonkyu. I remember enjoying it and not sure really what happened but I stopped going, lol. I remember being into TMNT and the Karate Kid movies and all that. It was exciting. Why Shuri-Ryu? There wasn't a whole lot available where I lived at the time. I think it was that or TKD and it's just what my grandma signed me up for.
When I was 19 I did O-mei kung fu and sanshou for a couple of months but then joined the Air Force and so that was that. I didn't do anything in the way of martial arts for some years. I was later stationed in Okinawa and studied aikido briefly but I was working a night shift at the time and it didn't really work out. There was other options but I didn't push it. I should've revisited Okinawan karate since that's what I did as a kid but didn't. I kick myself for it now.
Almost 4 1/2 years ago is when I seriously got back into martial arts for the first time since I was a kid. I studied Bak Sil Lum and a little Seven Star Praying Mantis in private lessons a couple of times a week (1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hr lessons) for a year and got to be an intermediate student. The head instructor made many comments about how fast I picked it up but I think that just had to do with how much time I was spending in one on one instruction. I then moved and did some individual practice of the kung fu forms but had no one to continue learning under in Japan. About 6 months in I decided to give BJJ a try. 3 years later that's still my main focus. I'm fortunate that it's so popular that I could move and find another great instructor to keep learning under. About 2 years ago now, when I spent 6 months in Thailand, I did some private instruction in Chen style taiji while doing some BJJ too.
I didn't mean to turn this into a life story but I think martial arts are a reflection of your life. At different points in my life my focus has been different things. These last few years, as I get a little bit older, I have been focusing on my health and fitness. BJJ perfectly aligns with that.
I was 12 and my best friend signed up for the Isshin-Ryu class at the local community center. I didn't do it for self-defense, I did it because it was fun. I remember getting my butt kicked at my first tournament and I remember testing under Sensei Armstrong which was supposed to be a big deal.
Bill, I am afraid that I cannot remember much in the way of practical self-defense instruction. I was in the adult class for several years (through blue belt). Lots of kata, lots of fundamentals, lots of line drills, some sparring. I still have seisan and seiunchin hardwired in despite it being 32 years later.
Bill, I am afraid that I cannot remember much in the way of practical self-defense instruction. I was in the adult class for several years (through blue belt). Lots of kata, lots of fundamentals, lots of line drills, some sparring. I still have seisan and seiunchin hardwired in despite it being 32 years later.
I was 7, and had a horrible violent temper. My mother thought MA training would help. It did.
Fantastic that your MA brought gains in your life outside of your training.. would you be able to say please what was the way that your MA helped in respect of a violent temper? Thank you
Lots of ways. Developing self control. Turning aggression into something useful. Beating a bag instead of a brother.
I was 12 and my best friend signed up for the Isshin-Ryu class at the local community center. I didn't do it for self-defense, I did it because it was fun. I remember getting my butt kicked at my first tournament and I remember testing under Sensei Armstrong which was supposed to be a big deal.
Bill, I am afraid that I cannot remember much in the way of practical self-defense instruction. I was in the adult class for several years (through blue belt). Lots of kata, lots of fundamentals, lots of line drills, some sparring. I still have seisan and seiunchin hardwired in despite it being 32 years later.
Blindside, is that Steve Armstrong you mentioned? If so - he was always nice to me when I was a young man, helped me with some things.
If not - never mind.
Since the answers seem to be covering more than just "how did you first get in the door of your first school"...
As a teenager I always had a general fascination with martial arts, at least enough to read all the books I had available on the subject and form opinions based on absolutely no real experience.
At 17 I was skinny, out-of-shape, uncoordinated, unaggressive, socially inept, and generally unaware of my surroundings. That made me an obvious target for bullies and after being jumped by a gang of kids at the bus stop I signed up for classes at a local TKD school.
I was paying for classes with money I had saved from my allowance and ran out of money after a few months. Next I went to some inexpensive Bando classes at a community center for a few months, but it was a significant drive and I didn't have a car and my Mom got tired of driving me there.
After that I had a couple of years where I wasn't taking regular classes but I would read books and magazines and constantly nag anyone I knew who had any martial arts training or interest in martial arts to show me stuff or spar with me or train with me on stuff I had already learned. I was still thinking exclusively in terms of martial arts as applying to (a romanticized version of) self-defense. I didn't see how the philosophy had any logical connection to the physical training.
Around this time "ninjutsu" (i.e. Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu as it was later referred to) was just getting started in the U.S. and Steve Hayes was touring the country doing seminars. I hooked up with a small club that would bring Steve (or one of his black belts) in for a seminar every 2-3 months and we would train in-between those working on what we had learned from the seminars and from Steve's books. Also periodically a couple of us would drive the 8 hours from Baltimore to Dayton to take a few classes at Steve's old school that was now being run by a couple of his black belts now that he was making more money doing seminars. At this point I was caught up in the "ninja" mystique that Hayes and Hatsumi were selling. I also was starting to understand how physical martial arts training could tie into philosophy and personal growth in a meaningful way.
After I graduated from college I moved to Dayton to continue my ninjutsu training. (I also joined the SCA and spent some years competing in their form of heavy weapons combat.) I made that a primary focus of my identity and life for a few years, but eventually gradually drifted away. The original school had split up over stupid political crap and I was starting to get an inkling of the limits of what I was learning whenever I tested my skill in a non-cooperative context. I still felt the life lessons I had learned were important, but I felt something was missing.
The UFC came out and I was fascinated to watch Royce Gracie and realize I had no understanding of what he was doing. I thought I had a pretty good survey overview of how different martial arts worked, but I was clueless as to what BJJ was about. I got some of Renzo Gracie's instructional video tapes and found a friend to drill the techniques with me. For a couple of years I was without a school again, but I got a small club going with friends from different training backgrounds to share techniques and spar and study videos. At this point it was all about training for the sake of learning new things.
Eventually I found out about a guy who was teaching Muay Thai in town and figured I should sign up because I didn't know whether I had whatever it took to handle full-contact training. He shared a location with a school that taught a Danzan Ryu spinoff (Yudansha Fighting Systems), so I signed up there also. In fairly short order I discovered the difference between cooperative training (as in the Bujinkan) or sparring with low-level opponents (my club and my friends) vs being punched and kicked hard, thrown, or choked by someone who knew what they were doing when you were trying not to let them do that. This began a process of mental and physical toughening that went on for some years.
I still was interested in BJJ, but there weren't yet any fully qualified instructors in my area. I supplemented my YDS training by studying BJJ videos, travelling to BJJ seminars, and travelling to visit BJJ clubs that had a blue belt as a leader. I was fascinated by the technical depth of the art. Eventually my YDS instructors moved out of town. I kept up with my Muay Thai and started taking Judo at our community college. Eventually BJJ had spread enough that I was able to find an instructor and I've been focused primarily (but not exclusively) on that ever since. For me, it's an art that offers endless vistas of mental, emotional, and physical growth, room for individual creativity, and a constant reality check.
(I'm leaving out various dalliances along the way with boxing, kali, and a variety of other arts. This is getting pretty long as it is.)
As of 2 weeks ago, I've started driving to Louisville to learn Wing Tsun from @yak sao. It seems like an art that might fill in some of the gaps in my skillset. It's the first time I've trained an art that uses solo forms (other than those few months of TKD 34 years ago). It's kind of fun to be able to run through the form throughout the day whenever I'm waiting for the microwave to heat up a snack or whenever I get up from my desk to stretch my legs.
As a teenager I always had a general fascination with martial arts, at least enough to read all the books I had available on the subject and form opinions based on absolutely no real experience.
At 17 I was skinny, out-of-shape, uncoordinated, unaggressive, socially inept, and generally unaware of my surroundings. That made me an obvious target for bullies and after being jumped by a gang of kids at the bus stop I signed up for classes at a local TKD school.
I was paying for classes with money I had saved from my allowance and ran out of money after a few months. Next I went to some inexpensive Bando classes at a community center for a few months, but it was a significant drive and I didn't have a car and my Mom got tired of driving me there.
After that I had a couple of years where I wasn't taking regular classes but I would read books and magazines and constantly nag anyone I knew who had any martial arts training or interest in martial arts to show me stuff or spar with me or train with me on stuff I had already learned. I was still thinking exclusively in terms of martial arts as applying to (a romanticized version of) self-defense. I didn't see how the philosophy had any logical connection to the physical training.
Around this time "ninjutsu" (i.e. Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu as it was later referred to) was just getting started in the U.S. and Steve Hayes was touring the country doing seminars. I hooked up with a small club that would bring Steve (or one of his black belts) in for a seminar every 2-3 months and we would train in-between those working on what we had learned from the seminars and from Steve's books. Also periodically a couple of us would drive the 8 hours from Baltimore to Dayton to take a few classes at Steve's old school that was now being run by a couple of his black belts now that he was making more money doing seminars. At this point I was caught up in the "ninja" mystique that Hayes and Hatsumi were selling. I also was starting to understand how physical martial arts training could tie into philosophy and personal growth in a meaningful way.
After I graduated from college I moved to Dayton to continue my ninjutsu training. (I also joined the SCA and spent some years competing in their form of heavy weapons combat.) I made that a primary focus of my identity and life for a few years, but eventually gradually drifted away. The original school had split up over stupid political crap and I was starting to get an inkling of the limits of what I was learning whenever I tested my skill in a non-cooperative context. I still felt the life lessons I had learned were important, but I felt something was missing.
The UFC came out and I was fascinated to watch Royce Gracie and realize I had no understanding of what he was doing. I thought I had a pretty good survey overview of how different martial arts worked, but I was clueless as to what BJJ was about. I got some of Renzo Gracie's instructional video tapes and found a friend to drill the techniques with me. For a couple of years I was without a school again, but I got a small club going with friends from different training backgrounds to share techniques and spar and study videos. At this point it was all about training for the sake of learning new things.
Eventually I found out about a guy who was teaching Muay Thai in town and figured I should sign up because I didn't know whether I had whatever it took to handle full-contact training. He shared a location with a school that taught a Danzan Ryu spinoff (Yudansha Fighting Systems), so I signed up there also. In fairly short order I discovered the difference between cooperative training (as in the Bujinkan) or sparring with low-level opponents (my club and my friends) vs being punched and kicked hard, thrown, or choked by someone who knew what they were doing when you were trying not to let them do that. This began a process of mental and physical toughening that went on for some years.
I still was interested in BJJ, but there weren't yet any fully qualified instructors in my area. I supplemented my YDS training by studying BJJ videos, travelling to BJJ seminars, and travelling to visit BJJ clubs that had a blue belt as a leader. I was fascinated by the technical depth of the art. Eventually my YDS instructors moved out of town. I kept up with my Muay Thai and started taking Judo at our community college. Eventually BJJ had spread enough that I was able to find an instructor and I've been focused primarily (but not exclusively) on that ever since. For me, it's an art that offers endless vistas of mental, emotional, and physical growth, room for individual creativity, and a constant reality check.
(I'm leaving out various dalliances along the way with boxing, kali, and a variety of other arts. This is getting pretty long as it is.)
As of 2 weeks ago, I've started driving to Louisville to learn Wing Tsun from @yak sao. It seems like an art that might fill in some of the gaps in my skillset. It's the first time I've trained an art that uses solo forms (other than those few months of TKD 34 years ago). It's kind of fun to be able to run through the form throughout the day whenever I'm waiting for the microwave to heat up a snack or whenever I get up from my desk to stretch my legs.
OP
Kenpoguy123
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I'm not saying the style is bad but the teaching was. The way it was taught made it pretty useless. In those times I must've sparred once and 99 percent of the time was going up and down the hall doing basics for an hour. I'm not writing it off completely because it did teach me basics of punches kicks and blocks which helped me transition to kenpo and I'm sure if it was taught more effectively it would be better. I did not mean to disrespect any style but that's how the style came off to me by the end
Again, I can't speak for 'Ishinryu' but with regard to many traditional Okinawan styles, you may not grasp why it is important to practice basics for hours on end, but there is a purpose to it. If it didn't work for you, then you seem to have found an alternative you like. All good.
Ticky Donovan got a lot of us into karate way back when. I was Wado though, didn't follow to new style. He's an absolute monster of a karateka though whatever style. He was awarded an OBE by the Queen for services to karate and martial arts. He says btw that Ishinryu means 'all of one heart' but not my style so am not arguing. He is however one of the most influential and inspirational martial artists going. A giant of UK martial arts, not a fly by night who just made his own style up.
About Ticky Donovan OBE – Ishinryru.org
This is the explanation of the name Ishinryu. 'Empty head' would have be good though.
Taken from an interview with Ticky.". Ticky remembers that he wanted a name that meant “open mind’ but when translated it came out as “empty head” and the idea was quickly scrapped. Meeting a Japanese Judoka while on holiday, he came up with the name 'Ishinryu' meaning “all of one heart”. Donovan asked if there was an Ishinryu style in Japan, and he said no, and Ishinryu was born.
At first, Donovan simply used 'Ishinryu' as a club name. However inspired by the suggestion of Shigeru Kimura (a famous Shūkōkai instructor), Ishinryu was incorporated as a style integrating what Donovan had learnt from previous karate instructors - Ishinryu became a unique style developed from Kyokushinkai, Wado-ryu and Shotokan."
twendkata71
Black Belt
I was a small kid and was getting picked on a lot. I started watching martial arts movies on Friday nights and was excited. saw a few demonstrations and I was hooked. plus my parents were elvis fans and he was doing karate. my father taught me some judo and boxing, but I wanted more. so he finally found a local karate class and took me. from that point on I couldn't get enough. It's been 35 years now and I still have a great thirst for knowledge.
