What Made You Pick Your Art?

[Shirt Ripper]

I signed one of my sons up for TKD intentionally because having mild CP...

Cerebral Palsy?

 

[SAVAGE]

Because it is the best for me..HKD is suited to my body type, I have just the right amount of everyting for it....everything IO learn outside of that is just to increase my ranges!

 

[Xue Sheng]

After many years in Jujitsu and TDK (which I got into because I had friends that went), I hurt my back severely and had to stop for a couple of years. I just happened to find a Tai Chi/Kung fu school and I ended up studying A little Yang style, Wu Style, Chen Style, Bagua and Xingyi. I now only train Yang Style but I am considering a return to Xingyi.

 

[Gemini]

Cerebral Palsy?

Yes. That's correct.

 

[cali_tkdbruin]

It's a family thing. I come from a family of Taekwondo practitioners so it was just natural for me. Great stuff... :asian:

 

[AceHBK]

I joind a gym. Found out that a guy was starting a TKD school and holds his classes there until he got enough students to open his own school.

$65/month for 3days a week training and sometimes more I said why not. I was always interested in learning MA and with someoen starting their own business I felt it was best to get on and especially get private lessons until class got big.

 

[tradrockrat]

Well, when a man considered a master teacher invites you to be his only student, you don't say no... especially if your only other MA experience was a summer camp taught several years before - by the same man.

 

[jdinca]

Has anybody else noticed how many of the responses have to do with benefiting somebody else? Do you feel that this could be a trait that in part takes us to this path in the first place?

 

[Cirdan]

To start training in some kind of martial art was something I had wanted to do for a long time, but I had been living for a few years at a military base where there was no clubs nearby. When I moved back to town I decided I wanted to try an stand up art that didn`t involve too much use of ground work or weapons.

Boxing and kickboxing are too much about competing. My opinion of TKD was not too good because I`d met some practicioners of the art that were hardly nice people. Ju jutsu was just an other form of judo or so I tought. Capoeira music made my ears hurt. I`d never heard of FMA or aikido. That left Kung fu and Karate.

When I saw a poster about a wado ryu school practically next door to where I lived I checked it out and have stuck with it ever since.

Since then I`ve also tired kobudo since I wanted to learn weapons. This club got my attention trough a web page. The instructors was great but after six monts I decided to try something else again. Last summer there was a two day demonstration of different martial arts during japanese week here in Oslo. Still with the kobudo club I was helping setting things up. At this point I had considered trying judo but the judo demonstration did not impress me. The Ju jutsu however certainly did. This club has added karate kicks and punches and the result is similar to wado. Now I train both. Wado gives a deeper technical undersrstanding and ju jutsu gives me the opportunity to to train more throws, some ground work and sparring without adding different principles.

 

[hong kong fooey]

Well my art is TAE KWON DOE i started taking the class for exicerse and then really started to get into it. now I am almost a black belt and have begun taking JONG HAP MU SOOL which is a combination of different martial arts styles

 

[stone_dragone]

Short answer: Dumb luck that it was the closest available.

Long answer: Being from a small town in Northwestern PA, there wasn't very many options within a 20 min drive...there was a TKD school about 30-45 min north, a Shotokan and an Indonesian school (I can pronounce it, but I can't spell the style..."Pokemon" Jminde is close, no offense intended to students of this art!) school about 30 min to the south and a Goju Ryu School about 10-15 min to the south west.

I talked my parents into letting me start there and have never looked back. In the begining it was only $25 a month, 3 x 2 hour practices a week. Eventually he had to raise the price up to $30 a month... I still call him my teacher and train with him when ever my family and I go home to see the folks (once or twice a year, deployments being the exception).

The rest is easy...I moved to TKD to improve my kicks and Jujika Jujutsu as an opportunity to teach and continue study. Cheers!

 

[Cujo]

It was the only school available in the area, American Freestyle Karate. Later as I began to branch out, my training is more "job specific" so to speak, Clo Qu Ba Ha-Jutsu, JJJ.

Pax
Cujo

 

[celtic_crippler]

After researching the subject, I chose American Kenpo Karate because it seemed to be the most effective form of self defense for me. I liked the way the principles and concepts were based on logic and scientific facts. I also liked Kenpo's ability to tailor these principles and concepts to each individual making it a very flexible and adaptive system of combat.

 

[MartialIntent]

I began with Kung Fu because like many posters, it was pretty much all that was available way back in the day. I moved into Aikido [and have stayed there] simply because I truly believe in the art and philosophy of the art. Have recently started with FMA and knife arts as I feel they have much to offer in the society I live in.

 

[Brother John]

At first.........
simply because it was the best art I could find available in my area.
It just made sense to me.

Your Brother
John

 

[RichK]

Moo Duk Kwan was my first style back in 1980 because it was convienent being at my High School and a couple friends of mine trained there. A little of Kung Fu at the time because I was interested in it. Jujitsu in the military and quick studies with other cohorts. Ran into a Kenpo school in '93 while looking for a place to train and liked the fact that it had the cicular movements of Kung Fu and the understanding of physics. Started Aikido living in Northern NJ as there weren't any schools close by that taught any previous art. I am now back with Kenpo and JJJ.

 

[Phoenix44]

Dumb luck.

 

[KenpoBruce2006]

I previewed several schools. Like Kenpo the best and I stuck with it. Pretty simple.

Ciao

 

[Slihn]

I had always grown up in Bushi related marital arts environment(Aikijitsu,Jujitsu,Aikido,Taijitsu,etc).Even though I have always admired the nobility of the Bushi and the effectiveness of their fighting arts,they provided little intel on striking.I spent time studing all different sorts of martial arts to fill in that gap;Pak Qua,many different Ryu of Japanese Karate,TKD and many other arts,but none of them"fit" me right.In 2001 I started watching Pride FC and their was a fighter that stick out to me,he was a Muay Thai fighter(Vanderli Silva),so I started to read up on Muay Thai.A few years later I saw a K-1 fight where the fighter was strickly Muay Thai,his name was Remy Bonkasky.I have never seen a straight Muay Thai fighter so I was eager to see how Muay Thai fighters truely fight,I saw hom fight and was astonished at his methods.A few months later I found a Muay Thai gym and started training,I was first intimmedated by the art because the Thai-style round kick is very complicated but after about six months of training I perfected that kick.EVERY other I picked up on easliy,they all felt very natural,just the way they where persented to me,I have NEVER had to evolve anything that I have learned in Muay Thai.I realzied at a young age that I was a striker and I have found my way of fighting through Muay Thai!

 

[beau_safken]

Hmmm well I started with TKD because I don't know, just wanted to do a martial art.

The second martial art, Kuntao Silat was found by chance again. There was a school for martial arts just across the street from my high school campus I was at everyday so I checked it out. Never heard of Silat before but the little nibble I got was enough for me to bite. Stayed there for 3-4 years and then life issues came up that took me out of the region. Sucked but thats life.