martial art as a hobby ?

[skinters]

do you see your martial art as a hobby?

now the defination of a hobby is An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure...fair enuff.

the reason why i ask this is,i spend a lot of time on my martial art im either practicing,talking ,or writing about it etc.now i have had those close to me say that its only a hobby wich really annoys the crap outta me,and i know it shouldnt make no difference what others think,but to me its a lot more than a hobby,and more a way of life.

on the other side of the coin i suppose there are those who collect stamps ,wich has always been seen as a hobby,and consider that a way of life to them .

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

For me it is a way of life. It is not a hobby for me because I am able to use my martial art skills in everything I do be that working or cooking or anything. From the food that I eat to the amount of sleep it is all for my martial art training.

 

[jarrod]

it's all semantics to me. what somebody labels your training doesn't alter the effect it has on you.

jf

 

[tshadowchaser]

Never thought of it as a hobby, more a pursuit of an unattainable perfection

 

[DojangMom]

Well, the whole "engaged in primarily for pleasure" part makes me think that, no, martial arts is not a hobby. Yes, we enjoy what we do, as do most atheletes no matter which sport/discipline they choose. Wouldn't make much sense to continue if we didn't enjoy it. But is that the primary reason we practice? I don't think so.

...i have had those close to me say that its only a hobby...

Would they say that to the body builder or football player? I think you should invite them to attend one of your training sessions before they decide that "it's only a hobby".

 

[jkembry]

Hobby...certainly not!

Way of Life...not that either.

To me more of a discipline that provides me tools that help be live my life better. Things like awareness of self and the goings on around me, increased confidence, better health...etc.

I am not sure what one would call it...but that is what it is for me in a nutshell.

 

[YoungMan]

A hobby is something that, if you didn't do it, you wouldn't feel a great loss. You might miss it for a while, then move on to something else. For many of us, martial arts is a part of our life, part of our identity.
So no, martial arts is not a hobby. When I'm 80, I'll be the old guy who's kicking and punching up and down the halls of the nursing home. The interns better watch out.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Well to me it is not a hobby I have been at it too long and it takes up to much of my thinking to be jsut a hobby. But my wife says it is just a hobby and I am not a professional. But then she grew up in China were guys spend their entire lives doing Martial Arts and nothing else and making their careers out of that.

This of course leads to me saying “GREAT” I will quit my job and just do CMA 24/7.

Guess who won that argument, well I got to get back to work :uhyeah:

 

[Brian S]

do you see your martial art as a hobby?

now the defination of a hobby is An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure...fair enuff.

the reason why i ask this is,i spend a lot of time on my martial art im either practicing,talking ,or writing about it etc.now i have had those close to me say that its only a hobby wich really annoys the crap outta me,and i know it shouldnt make no difference what others think,but to me its a lot more than a hobby,and more a way of life.

on the other side of the coin i suppose there are those who collect stamps ,wich has always been seen as a hobby,and consider that a way of life to them .

It's much more than a hobby for me,but it doesn't bother me if others think it is.

What it is to each of us will vary as much as our philosophies.

 

[Kwanjang]

For me, it might of started out as a hobby, but quickly turned in to my passion. I beleive we are put on this earth for a specific reason. We all have our unique calling in life. some go through life not knowing what their calling is. I don't beleive (for humility sake) martial arts in my path, but merely a part of my path and should it take me to the end of my life- only then can people say it was my destiny!

Live Long and Prosper

 

[bowser666]

I look at it as a passionate hobby. At the moment anyways. In the future it may evolve into something else. I might hopefully be able to devote more time than I currently do to its study. For now though 10-15 hours a week will have to do.

 

[zDom]

It is a "do", a way, for me.

Even though I think Moo Sul Kwan is a very "justu"-ish style of hapkido, there is no doubt it has permeated my life.

Everything I do from training on the mat to opening a stuck door is done In the Way of Coordinating Inner Power for me now ...

 

[Flying Crane]

I can see where people might get the idea that it is a hobby. I don't think of it that way, but you can be very very engaged in a hobby and spend years on it, devoting hours and hours every week to it, so in a way it's not entirely wrong to label it that way if it isn't your profession.

I don't really like to call it "a way of life" either, something about that description just doesn't quite sit right with me.

I guess it's just an interest that I happen to be very passionate about, that I've been involved in for the past 24 years, and that I currently spend as much as 30 hours per week engaged in. It's a huge part of my life. To me, that's more than a hobby.

Why label it at all? It's just something I do.

 

[zDom]

Why label it at all? It's just something I do.

Yea... but for me its something MORE than just another thing that I do.

It is part of who I am.

I mean, I also like going to the lake and doing some boating on the pontoon, but I don't consider myself a "boater." THAT, for me, is just something that I do. And there is a long list of things like that, for me.

But I am ALWAYS a hapkido person (hapkido-in? hapkido-ist?); it is an ever-present part of who I am even when I am not wearing a uniform on the mat.

Granted, for some people it MAY be just something they do.

 

[Flying Crane]

Yea... but for me its something MORE than just another thing that I do.

It is part of who I am.

I mean, I also like going to the lake and doing some boating on the pontoon, but I don't consider myself a "boater." THAT, for me, is just something that I do. And there is a long list of things like that, for me.

But I am ALWAYS a hapkido person (hapkido-in? hapkido-ist?); it is an ever-present part of who I am even when I am not wearing a uniform on the mat.

Granted, for some people it MAY be just something they do.

Yeah I understand, and I actually feel the same way. I just haven't found a label that quite sits right with me yet.

 

[Kwanjang]

Yea... but for me its something MORE than just another thing that I do.

It is part of who I am.

I mean, I also like going to the lake and doing some boating on the pontoon, but I don't consider myself a "boater." THAT, for me, is just something that I do. And there is a long list of things like that, for me.

But I am ALWAYS a hapkido person (hapkido-in? hapkido-ist?); it is an ever-present part of who I am even when I am not wearing a uniform on the mat.

Granted, for some people it MAY be just something they do.

Remember the floor grate, you do? Hmm...? (Great Times)

zDom, it was always a part of you...even before you actually started formal training, Me thinks!

 

[Kwanjang]

Yea... but for me its something MORE than just another thing that I do.

It is part of who I am.

I mean, I also like going to the lake and doing some boating on the pontoon, but I don't consider myself a "boater." THAT, for me, is just something that I do. And there is a long list of things like that, for me.

But I am ALWAYS a hapkido person (hapkido-in? hapkido-ist?); it is an ever-present part of who I am even when I am not wearing a uniform on the mat.

Granted, for some people it MAY be just something they do.

Sorry doubble post

 

[Deaf Smith]

The martial arts are my avocation. Not truly what I do for a living, that is my vocation.

But actually I live more through it than what I do for a living! My living, as a programmer, is a J O B, not so the martial arts.

Deaf

 

[Mimir]

Not sure I ever thought about it either way. My kids said that it was part of my "Mid Life Crisis" when I first started. It didn't take very long before it just became part of who I am.

I like the way zDom said it. Last year I was at a leadership seminar for work and the teacher asked us what our goals were. I didn't even hesitate when I said getting my black belt. Of course they were looking for things like being a better manager, etc.

 

[mook jong man]

Collecting stamps is a hobby , for me Wing Chun is more akin to being an obsession , there is not a day that goes past that i'm not thinking about some aspect of it.