Why did you start TSD?

[Makalakumu]

Why did you start TSD?

For me, it wasn't the art. It was the teacher. I had a good bit of martial arts experience before training with my TSD teacher and right from the beginning, I could see that this guy really knew his martial arts and knew how to apply it. He was a police officer and this gave him a sense of practicality that I can appreciate. There's more to this story, but that's the gist of it.

 

[DMcHenry]

I had trained for a year in TKD, and met a man my sister knew (worked with his wife) who offered to help me and made many corrections. The TKD I started in the mid '70s was identical to TSD except for the addition of doing the Palgwe forms. My sister's friend was a TSD & ShotoKan guy, and became my personal friend and private instructor. We trained virtually every night for hours.

Over the years I continued with TSD and TKD as well as some Japanese arts, but TSD became my base. I loved it because it had all the same forms seen in Japanese Karate, but was a Korean art and similar to what I first started in under Master Kim Chang-Soo. To me the best of both worlds. My cross training in Karate has helped my TSD along with cross training in HKD. All my experiences give me a bit of a different slant to TSD than I see with some of the other orgs.

Mac

 

[Muwubu16858]

My dad dragged me in because i was being bullied in school.

 

[SahBumNimRush]

For me, it was the only art in my town. Fortunately, the instructor was/is great, and our KJN was from the old school "hard style" TSD. I've been with it ever since (going on nearly 26 years)

 

[Montecarlodrag]

When I started in TSD, I had a year of past experience in TKD and a few months in Shotokan.
When I entered high school everybody had to join a cultural or art class. The chices were painting, dance, music and Tang Soo Do, so TSD it was

Knowing absolutely nothing about TSD I went to the dojang, and the first thing I saw were 2 beautiful girls doing kicks, so the decision was made even before I met the Sah Bum Nim

Later I grew in TSD and it became my life, I'm still enjoying it after 20 years and I will 'til I die.

 

[MasterPistella]

Sorry I've been away for a while. I was in Chinese Boxing for a bit before the school closed & the only one close to me was a TSD school. 3 blocks so I could walk. Mom thought I'd loose interest in 3 months. That was August of 1979. lol

 

[PooterMan]

Because my 4 year old started it, and I was a 40 year old computer geek and former smoker who kinda wanted to be around when that 4 year old grew up.

 

[kbarrett]

I started training in Tang Soo Do for self-defense the year was 1980 and the training was hard, I've been very lucky and had to great Tang Soo Do instructors, my first was Master Alan Wolfe (deceased) and my second was GM Charles Ferraro (founder of the Tang Soo Do Mi Guk Kwan). Tang Soo Do is my only love when it comes to Martial arts, while I've learned some jujutsu, and escrima, Tang Soo Do has everything I need in a complete MA.

Ken Barrett

 

[Tez3]

The Wado Ryu club I trained with for 8 years closed down and the only thing available was TSD, I'm afraid it wouldn't have been my first choice as I find it doesn't have the complexities or the depth I loved about Wado. Wado is still my first love.

 

[Quercus]

My dad dragged me in because i was being bullied in school.

Ha, I dragged my sons in when one was having troubles on the bus ride, and joined the school along with them! I've felt both very comfortable and very challenged-- it's been 5 weeks now. More parents ought to try joining up alongside their kids-- I think it enhances the training and the benefits.

 

[Kinghercules]

I use to get beat up when I was a kid. LOL!
So my dad was already trainin and when I became of age(6) he put me in class.
This is the only art that Ive trained in until I reached my 20's and it has served me fine.

 

[JWLuiza]

Hercules, I think I met two of your fellow TSD-ists a week ago... Master Ray Lee and Master Ken Li.... You are with SSMA?

 

[kitkatninja]

I started training in TSD because I was trying out different styles since leaving Shotokan karate (various reasons why I left; injured knee + work schedule + move), I was trying to find an art that met me needs.

Found TSD by accident and found out that there was enough similarities between this and Shotokan to peak my interest, yet enough differences to keep me training and interested.

 

[OldKarateGuy]

I had trained for many years in first judo, and then JKA shotokan. I moved to a very small town, and most of the schools were stand-alone and non-affiliated, which didn't interest me. I was in a gym, running on a treadmill, when all these people in Korean style uniforms filed in. It was a family oriented WTSDA studio, which attracted me immediately (big organization, lots of studios, good credibility). I joined up and now I run the place after the first instructor retired and moved away. Forms very similar, basic techniques not so much so. But a good style.

 

[khuang85]

My family signed me up the first time and gave no reason why while I was in high school. I quit two years later. I came back last January after about eight years. I missesed the art and also was assaulted physically by someone I knew. I also remembered my dream of becoming an instructor with his how school and wanted to make it a reality and needed exercise.

 

[MSTCNC]

Well, there were a few reasons:

1. The reputation of Master Godwin as a Martial Artist, and Instructor, preceeded him.
2. Several friends/co-workers trained under him.
3. The dojang was conviniently located.
4. It was something that my (no Ex) Wife and my two youngest step-daughters wanted to do.

Personally, I made it as far as 3rd Gup Brown/Red (Master G uses dual colored belts). Unfortunately, the girls all dropped out after a short while; but, for a little while, I was the happiest fella on Earth! The family that kicks together, STICKS together (IMHO)! Wish they'd all kept kickin'! But, we all have our own paths...

 

[Kaygee]

I always wanted to start a martial art, so after I got married and came back from my honeymoon, I went to 18 different schools in my area to find a school to go to. I didn't understand the difference between most martial arts at that time, and I was (at the time) 36 years old, so I didn't want to get into anything too crazy. I found a great traditional Tae Kwon Do school and I enjoyed the people there, but alas, a week later, I realized that all of the kicking and jumping around wasn't for me. Don't get me wrong, the kicks in TKD are beautiful and spectacular in their own rights, but it wasn't for me. I also noticed that they had 1 dans teaching all of the time and they had a serious attitude whenever they had to teach the "new guy" (me). It made me feel some sort of way.

I found another school very close and I just liked how it was run. The instructors had full control of the floor, there were two masters and complete discipline. Now, two years into training, I am so happy that I chose Tang Soo do because of the beauty of the art! I love the forms and the self defense, I love getting on the floor whenever I can! I still visit other schools and other styles just to see what they are about and I never walk out thinking that I made the wrong decision.

But, I got into it because I needed mental clarity and I needed to build some balance in my life. Tang Soo Do has already done that in just two years of training, and I haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet. I joined because I wanted to be part of something bigger than just a normal everyday life. The people I meet at the tournaments.....the knowledge I gain off of my instructors.....even now, at 38 years old, I learn something new nearly every class and, most of the time, it was not a new TSD technique.