MidnightBlue
Yellow Belt
Greetings, all,
I am new to MT, and newly returning to martial arts. I'll try to make my story short:
When I was about 9--I'm turning 27 in a few months--I grew very interested in martial arts. I lived in a suburb of Pittsburgh where there weren't too many martial arts schools at that time. I trained in Ishinyru for a few months at the local American Legion until the instructor suddenly stopped showing up for lessons. Saddened, but with limited options, I did as much research as a child could, reading books on martial arts from the local university library. Then, I visited every martial arts school near me to meet instructors, ask questions, and observe. I joined a Tang Soo Do school at that time and loved it! While there, I trained on weekends in Hapkido, Aikido, and Jujitsu, thrilled that I was learning how to use various holds effectively even though I was tiny. I trained for about two years at that school until that school had to close because of a highway expansion project that took the building. That instructor moved away to start a new career, so a few months later, I joined another Tang Soo Do do jang in a nearby town. I took some time off in high school--I wish I could say it was all to excel in my studies, but I was also young and did not quite realize how important martial arts was to me. As a senior in high school, I started training hard and regularly again--I earned my black belt as a sophomore in college. I trained and helped teach until I graduated from college.
Then, I moved to Delaware to start my career. For the past six years, I have not trained at all--I pursued my Master's degree, took a new job that was a major vertical move but also takes a great deal of time, and worked on balancing everything else in life. Now that I'm nearly 26 and haven't trained for years, I find that my passion for TSD is stronger than ever, but my balance, power, flexibility, and endurance have sadly suffered. I've officially been training again for one week and one day. I'm loving it, but I cannot WAIT to get back into shape like I use to be so I can begin to advance my skills again and be a leader and role model for the younger black belts and color belts. I also hope to get some real training in grappling and weapons, but not until I've gotten back into the swing with TSD.
This looks like a great community to belong to--I look forward to collaborating with many of you. I hope to be able to receive and provide advice as part of the MT family! Right now, my biggest need is support in getting back into shape--martial artist caliber! If anyone has also taken a hiatus from training and lost these things (balance, flexibility, and endurance most of all--power will come when those three are in harmony), I would LOVE your feedback!
Have a great day, everyone!
I am new to MT, and newly returning to martial arts. I'll try to make my story short:
When I was about 9--I'm turning 27 in a few months--I grew very interested in martial arts. I lived in a suburb of Pittsburgh where there weren't too many martial arts schools at that time. I trained in Ishinyru for a few months at the local American Legion until the instructor suddenly stopped showing up for lessons. Saddened, but with limited options, I did as much research as a child could, reading books on martial arts from the local university library. Then, I visited every martial arts school near me to meet instructors, ask questions, and observe. I joined a Tang Soo Do school at that time and loved it! While there, I trained on weekends in Hapkido, Aikido, and Jujitsu, thrilled that I was learning how to use various holds effectively even though I was tiny. I trained for about two years at that school until that school had to close because of a highway expansion project that took the building. That instructor moved away to start a new career, so a few months later, I joined another Tang Soo Do do jang in a nearby town. I took some time off in high school--I wish I could say it was all to excel in my studies, but I was also young and did not quite realize how important martial arts was to me. As a senior in high school, I started training hard and regularly again--I earned my black belt as a sophomore in college. I trained and helped teach until I graduated from college.
Then, I moved to Delaware to start my career. For the past six years, I have not trained at all--I pursued my Master's degree, took a new job that was a major vertical move but also takes a great deal of time, and worked on balancing everything else in life. Now that I'm nearly 26 and haven't trained for years, I find that my passion for TSD is stronger than ever, but my balance, power, flexibility, and endurance have sadly suffered. I've officially been training again for one week and one day. I'm loving it, but I cannot WAIT to get back into shape like I use to be so I can begin to advance my skills again and be a leader and role model for the younger black belts and color belts. I also hope to get some real training in grappling and weapons, but not until I've gotten back into the swing with TSD.
This looks like a great community to belong to--I look forward to collaborating with many of you. I hope to be able to receive and provide advice as part of the MT family! Right now, my biggest need is support in getting back into shape--martial artist caliber! If anyone has also taken a hiatus from training and lost these things (balance, flexibility, and endurance most of all--power will come when those three are in harmony), I would LOVE your feedback!
Have a great day, everyone!
