I've been practicing martial arts for about twenty years. Unfortunately that isn't as impressive as it sounds, as it's been on and off and in a variety of schools and systems.
When I was young, my family moved around quite a bit, and I was interested in martial arts, and I studied at a few different schools, mostly generic Tae Kwon Do and Karate schools that I don't even recall the exact system/school, and some time with Shaolin-Do back when they called themselves Karate instead of Kung Fu.
When I grew up I went to college my interest in the martial arts continued. I majored in History and took every class in Asian history and culture available at my university and took a few semesters of Japanese language for my language requirement. I looked around the martial arts clubs on campus and studied with a few of them. I spent a few months with a Kendo club before the instructor graduated at the end of the semester, I also practiced with the Judo club for a while, I also spent a couple of years with a Kempo club as well, and took Tai Chi classes that were offered at a local bookstore for a couple of years (before the instructor quit teaching).
At the end of all this I have kyu ranks (or no rank but non-negligible experience) in a lot of different arts. I know I'm no expert, but I'm not a total novice, and now I'm out of college and looking for a good instructor. I want to stay away from the McDojo chains (I know all the warning signs, and sadly too many schools trip way too many of them), and I want a good well-rounded martial art that is self-defense oriented and not tournament oriented, preferably one with a large number of instructors so if I have to move again I can keep learning easily.
When I was young, my family moved around quite a bit, and I was interested in martial arts, and I studied at a few different schools, mostly generic Tae Kwon Do and Karate schools that I don't even recall the exact system/school, and some time with Shaolin-Do back when they called themselves Karate instead of Kung Fu.
When I grew up I went to college my interest in the martial arts continued. I majored in History and took every class in Asian history and culture available at my university and took a few semesters of Japanese language for my language requirement. I looked around the martial arts clubs on campus and studied with a few of them. I spent a few months with a Kendo club before the instructor graduated at the end of the semester, I also practiced with the Judo club for a while, I also spent a couple of years with a Kempo club as well, and took Tai Chi classes that were offered at a local bookstore for a couple of years (before the instructor quit teaching).
At the end of all this I have kyu ranks (or no rank but non-negligible experience) in a lot of different arts. I know I'm no expert, but I'm not a total novice, and now I'm out of college and looking for a good instructor. I want to stay away from the McDojo chains (I know all the warning signs, and sadly too many schools trip way too many of them), and I want a good well-rounded martial art that is self-defense oriented and not tournament oriented, preferably one with a large number of instructors so if I have to move again I can keep learning easily.
