Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rikk on August 16, 2008 at 4:52pm

Hi!

I trained in Tae Kwon Do and Kenpo (mostly Kenpo) for 25 years and atheism

was not a problem for me until about half a year ago.

I had trained at this guys dojo for 3 and a half years and he suddenly

decides he wants to have a christian kenpo school.

Now any commercial buisness owner with any sense is going to discourage

that type of thing from being discussed,it just creates unnecessary

problems and is bad for buisness.

He kept throwing his religion up in my face so I began to tell him my point of view

and he couldn't take it.


I don't get it, if these clowns are so sure of thier faith then why are they

so easily threatend by a simple difference of opinion?

Permalink Reply by Michael on October 24, 2008 at 5:42pm

I took classes in Kung Fu when I was younger, before high school, but was never very good. I couldn't dance very well or follow directions to dance steps, so Kung Fu moves were difficult for me. I was the nerdy, clumsy type growing up. I only took a couple of months of classes, and then stopped because my parent didn't have the money to keep me in the classes. I did enjoy it though. I doubt I will take up martial arts now that I'm 38, but if I did, I would probably want to study Aikido. I am drawn to Aikido’s defensive, redirection of the force style. Still can't dance though, and being older and stiffer, I don't know that I'd be any good without lots and lots of practice. Still, I think about it.

Permalink Reply by Melanie Stalder on October 8, 2009 at 11:29pm

You can still do it Michael. I am seriously uncoordinated and learning anything is a big challenge. I found that by doing things over and over again I can teach myself to be more coordinated, at least when it comes to martial arts. Now walking, that's a totally different thing...

Permalink Reply by Mims H. Carter on December 19, 2008 at 9:56pm

I have studied various systems for a long time. My grounding is in shotokan karate. I never had any problems with being and atheist and a martialist for most of the time. I have meditated almost as long as I have practiced martial systems, I find they complement each other well. I always have had a little problem with some of the 'woo' surrounding the martial arts, tales of miraculous feats of mental and physical prowess, but this is no big deal. It is part of the lore, and I have had no problem ignoring it. When I moved to Mississippi, I started having a few problems. I looked for an aikido instructor, but the only one in the area advertised as christian-based instruction. Luckily, I found a very good shotokan sensei. He turned out to be a pentecostal minister, but he did not do any preaching in class. A couple of years ago I met with a non-profit organization that works with children. They were looking for an instructor. I had done some demonstrations for them and got along with the children and staff really well, so they asked me to run the program. It was almost a done deal when the local paper published a letter I wrote very reasonable and politely opposing a plan in some local schools to have creationism taught in science classes as well as a bible as literature class. After that, the job went to some one else. This was a nominally secular non-profit, but that apparently did not matter. I still enjoy practicing, and put together demonstrations sometimes, but I have not pursued opening my own dojo again.

Mims

Permalink Reply by Astreja on January 25, 2009 at 11:58pm

Hei, everyone!

My first exposure to martial arts was the Bruce Tegner self-defence books, which I read back in the early '70s. Next came a community college Humanities course called "The Moving Centre", which featured yoga, taijiquan, and a style of kung fu whose name escapes me at the moment.

Subsequent training from 1976 to about 1997 included Shaolin-Goshin karate; several styles of kung fu; baguazhang; judo; and jiujutsu. I was studying jiujutsu when a combination of a too-busy life and recurring joint injuries caused me to pack it in.

About two and a half years ago I started to take Shotokan karate, which I've admired at many of the tournaments that I attended over the years. I'm up to 5th kyu now (lower-level purple belt) and intending to stick with it all the way into the dan ranks.

Permalink Reply by LeoPardus on June 2, 2009 at 12:44pm

Hello. I've been doing MA since the summer of 1981. Started TKD in Phoenix, AZ. Got up to 3rd dan. I do TKD though I'm not part of a club right now. I do drop in on some friends and practice with them occasionally.
In late 2002, I started studying Judo. I may be forced to test for Shodan this year unless I can get back below the radar.
There's some other stuff mixed into my MA background, but nothing with any rank.

Permalink Reply by Luke on June 15, 2009 at 5:14am

Hi All. I did karate at school for sport a few times. When the bullies started leaving me be I asked the instructor who was visiting the school about classes out of school. I attended his classes for less than two years. Because I was in a kids class there was never much pressure to grade so I didn't.

Probably 15 years later there was a knock on the door. I was looking for some sort of exercise. So, I joined GKR. Trained for years. Became an instructor. Did that for years. I gave up because it consumed all of my time and I wasn't enjoying it anymore. I wander by and do a lesson now and then but it just doesn't float my boat anymore. I suppose another style would re-invigorate my interest in martial arts but none of the schools nearby are of interest.

I did display medieval sword fighting for a while until the group folded. That was good fun. A good workout too. Those swords are heavy! Mostly I was in that group to learn bo staff technique. Not sure how much of it I'd recall but it was good fun.

That's about it.

Permalink Reply by Melanie Stalder on October 8, 2009 at 11:26pm

I have been practicing Shoryn-Ryu Jujitsu in the LA area for about 8 years now. I love working with people of different styles. They teach me a lot about my strengths and weaknesses. I am almost always the only female in the group. It really doesn't bother me but I know a lot of women are uneasy with it. Most of what I am taught is designed for me. It is a challenge to modify techniques to take advantage of a woman's strengths. I would love to work with college-aged women, teaching them how not to become a victim.

Permalink Reply by Double Standards??? on December 23, 2009 at 7:59pm

Krav Maga and Muay Thai. I trained in Krav Maga but the school was too far away from my home so I found a Muay Thai school closer to my home. I had to stop training in MT because I injured my knee sparring. Now I'm busy with work and college.

When I finish college I want to get back into KM. I would eventually like to supplement my KM training with grappling either Judo or if I can find a wrestling club that teaches adult beginner classes.

Permalink Reply by Bryan Dale Paul on September 22, 2010 at 12:16pm

sup. everyone. I started at 18 studying TKD til my instructor moved back to Korea. I saw Royce Gracie on the first Ultimate Fighter and said "I wanna learn that"! Well at around 30 yrs old I found a local instructor and studied for a while under him. Finally relised I didnt like him much. He had students he liked and students he didnt. I noticed some people got advancements faster and others got ignored both for belts and in instruction. That was a rap for me. Still wanna study Gracie Jiujitsu though! Love that style.

Permalink Reply by Matt Courson on April 8, 2012 at 4:41pm

I started with my dad, a lifelong fighter and police officer, in the skills he had gleaned from years of fighting and whatever martial arts he could learn from friends of his. I started Isgoshin-Do karate under O-Sensei as a small child, probably 8 or 10. From there, I studied Dragon's Claw Kung Fu for a year Sifu Gary Logan. I didn't like that school, as everything was taught very slowly and we never tried to spar or anything in real speed, and Sifu Logan was creepy and crazy. I studied boxing and wrestling with friends who boxed and wrestled until my senior year of high school. Then I joined a school that taught Kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Sensei James Corbett. I stayed there for 6 or 7 years. While there, I studied Judo and Kenpo under a few different associate instructors. From there, I studied with the man my father earned his black belt under, O-Sensei Robert Jenkins, and his lead instructor and student Sensei Russell Lane in American Shaolin Zendo-Ryu karate. I've since earned my black belt under O-Sensei Jenkins. With him, I've added Fu Hawk, Wing Chun, and various animal styles under Sensei Lane and Mike Cargile. I'm still with those guys, working on mastering what they teach and I've taught self defense to LEOs and friends of mine, but for women most frequently.

Permalink Reply by Matt Courson on April 8, 2012 at 6:26pm

Sorry, Isgoshin-Do under O-Sensei Thomas Hardeman.