What got you into Martial Arts????

[Deaf Smith]

The first martial arts class I took, in college, was totaly full of young bikini clad women, even the instructor.

You believe me, riight?

Deaf

 

[Perpetual White Belt]

Why do you say that?

Because legends such as Lee and Norris have given way to the Power Rangers...

 

[bookworm_cn317]

Because legends such as Lee and Norris have given way to the Power Rangers...

If it's any consolation, I got into Lee/Norris BECAUSE of the Power Rangers.

 

[zendokai guy]

i started for the wrong reasons i wanted to hold my own and make everyone scared of me....
i have completly changed now it didnt take long before i realised that fighting on the street wasnt cool and what could actually be achived mentally and phycially by martial arts.
i try to open up the eyes of the white belts that start in my dojo and steer them in the right path.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

So I could be like our president(LOL)

There's an add in TKDTimes and Blackbelt Magazine for a martial arts school and the owner is shown doing all sorts of cool kicks, grapples, and takedowns. And darned if he's not a dead ringer for good ol' W. in all but one of the pictures, and even in that one, there's still a strong resemblence. Can't think of the name of the school (at work right now).

Daniel

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Because legends such as Lee and Norris have given way to the Power Rangers...

Too bad Jason Frank (white ranger, red ranger, and whatever else they've done with colors since my kids stopped watching it) doesn't do more of what he is capable of on that show. That guy is definitely the real deal.

Daniel

 

[Perpetual White Belt]

If it's any consolation, I got into Lee/Norris BECAUSE of the Power Rangers.

Unfortunatly no. I don't have anything against the Power Rangers, I've enjoyed the campy-ness of the show on occasion and I agree that Jason Frank is a very good martial artist. I just feel old thinking about that being the first influence someone had to get them interested in martial arts. Oh, and speaking of martial artists in entertainment that don't get to show their potential, how 'bout Adrian Paul?

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

What MA does Adrian Paul practice?

Daniel

 

[IcemanSK]

What MA does Adrian Paul practice?

Daniel

I believe it Hun Gar Kung Fu.

 

[kwaichang]

What MA does Adrian Paul practice?
Daniel

gee I thought it was "lookinamirrorandfixmyhair":angel:

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I believe it Hun Gar Kung Fu.

Glad you didn't say kendo. I loved the Highlander movie (if I say it enough, it will be true: Highlander two did not exist) and caught a few episodes of the television show. The swordwork was pretty attrocious in both. Don't get me wrong, I loved the movie (two and three don't count) and liked what I saw of the show, but I cringe at the sword technique. The show was worse in that regard from what little I saw of it.

Daniel

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

gee I thought it was "lookinamirrorandfixmyhair":angel:

Hair power was one of the perks of immortality.

Daniel

 

[Ninebird8]

Adrian Paul an Marc Singer aka the Beastmaster both studied under John Leong of Seattle in traditional Hung Gar, tiger and crane. Adrian has now been studying about 18 years I believe.

I got into the martial arts over 30 years ago for several reasons: was small and picked on, enjoyed wrestling in high school, a Chinese martial arts instructor finally surfaced in Texas in a sea of great tae kwon do artists there at the time, the show Kung Fu premiered when I was 13 and fell in love with it, loved learning animal styles, and overall gave me a self esteem I never had before and continues to this day. I bless all three of my masters in NYC, Dallas, and Houston for the gifts they have provided over all of this time. And, through the arts, I have met some of the greatest people in the world in the US and the world!!! After all of this time, I am still in awe of some of them, including my three teachers!!

 

[Perpetual White Belt]

I believe it Hun Gar Kung Fu.

He also studied some Arnis while in the Philippines filming a movie. A bit of it made it's way into one of the episodes in the final season of the series.

The sword master on the first season of Highlander the Series was the same guy that did the original Star Wars movies as well as The Lord of the Rings, and I believe he was also Errol Flynn's stunt double. Bob Anderson, or at least I think that's the right name.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

He also studied some Arnis while in the Philippines filming a movie. A bit of it made it's way into one of the episodes in the final season of the series.

The sword master on the first season of Highlander the Series was the same guy that did the original Star Wars movies as well as The Lord of the Rings, and I believe he was also Errol Flynn's stunt double. Bob Anderson, or at least I think that's the right name.

Warning! Opinionated post below!!

Liked the swordwork in Star Wars (not too flashy, not too ambitious, and reasonably believable) and Empire Strikes Back (much more dynamic than Star wars, but still believable). Return of the Jedi was some of the worst swordwork I've ever seen on film or off. That movie did more than any of the later Episodes 1-3 to dampen (but not eliminate) my enthusiasm for Star Wars. Lord of the Rings was fairly good throughout with moments of brilliance. Probably my overall favorite movie series, though Star Wars is probably still my favorite for sentimental reasons.

Daniel

 

[hogstooth]

My father taught. He was my hero and I always wanted to do what he did. After a few years I fell in love with it and have been doing it ever since.

 

[aqaz69]

Same here. My dad got me into mma, I hated it now love it and am thankful for being a fighter.

 

[KempoGuy06]

I just needed a change in my life because i was headed down the wrong path. I stepped out of the gutter and into the dojo and havent looked back

B

 

[JBrainard]

To answer the OP, a variety of things. A desire to defeat my lifelong fear of confrontation, my karateka cousins whom I looked up to as a child, and my father's interest in Japanese culture (particularly Japanese weapons).

 

[BrandonLucas]

I used to be the kid that got picked last for kick-ball, I sat the bench in Little League...all that good stuff.

When I was 11, I was playing on a Little Leage team for a particular coach who's famous in the area for being an all around jerk. I wasn't any good at baseball, but I was better than a couple of the other kids on the team that started in every game. I wasn't a very popular or athletic kid, so I was always on the bench. It didn't help that I was chunky at the time.

I would get about 10 minutes of playing time a game, just long enough for me to be able to say I played in the game. The coach would always overlook me to help some other kid on the team that was more popular than I was, and I just generally got picked on all the time.

Well, my parents were tired of seeing me mope around the house, doing nothing after school but watching old kung-fu movie reruns that would come on TV and eating junk food, so they enrolled me into the local TKD school.

I was so pumped to go, because I have always LOVED martial arts, but I didn't know anyone who went to the school, and really didn't even know that there was a school at all in town.

So I really owe it all to my parents and that jerky coach.