Anyone here into martial arts?

[-Kitsune-]

I'm sure you'll find a martial art for you! I do believe that all martial arts schools should have financial aid or scholarships for free classes for kids who really need them! Maybe you can ask your brother to teach you?

Yeah, it's not that we dont have the money, my mom just doesnt want to pay for something that she thinks is "improper" for a girl to learn. And I never get to see my brother more than once or twice a year so he can't teach me. I was learning a bit from one of my friends that took classes until she moved away >.>

[Hideki Motosuwa.]

In the martial arts world, Bruce Lee is viewed upon as the "Greatest marital artist of the 20th century", or "The Greatest martial artist of all time!" I think the man was an inspiration to so many of us to not only become better marital artists, but better human beings. Many people believe he was the best and the REAL deal, while others say he was so FAKE and couldn't beat anyone in the UFC or other greats of the martial arts world. Bruce Lee did say this: "To tell you the truth, I can beat anyone in the world." I wonder if he really could back up those words. So, what are your thoughts on Bruce Lee as a martial artist?

[╬Karami Mew~Meow]

Ya, I suppose my mom doesn't want to see me hurt.

Yup, at first my mom didn't want me to learn even just the basics at first, for the same reason, but luckily my dad was their to back me up, and my mom realized I could totally handle it since I pretty determined.

Yes, Bruce Lee's pretty awesome. Jackie Chan's getting old, at least that's what my martial arts addicted cousin said. But he's still pretty good too.
I'm learning Eskrima and Nun chucks at the same time, but I haven't practiced for a while =( I just wanna do it by my self next time cause when my dad sees me, he comments right away even in my first move, even though I'm just getting started. So, I get pissed even though I know he's trying to make me improve, but I already know when I'm making a mistake this time, and that's why I'm trying to improve it my self. And for that, he can't really make me do it right, because it's up to my hands/flexibility, and like, my own body is the only one that could improve it. *sigh*

[Hideki Motosuwa.]

Why is it that when you talk about martial arts to the general public, people start to get nervous or shy away from the subject? And why are they so silent and prefer to talk about something else?

[Akira Kogami[LC]]

I do taekwando.

Im a first degree black belt.



Even though its more of a sport.

[Hideki Motosuwa.]

I do taekwando.

Im a first degree black belt.



Even though its more of a sport.

That's good.

[Brewmaster]

Well me hmmm here goes:
Karate,Taekwondo,Jiu Jitsu(not sure if you know about this)kick box, i also trained myself in the use of long objects like pols and big sticks,some sword arts,throwing knifes(when i was young) if you can consider some of this into martial arts.^^

[Hideki Motosuwa.]

Wow, I didn't know there were sooo many marital artists on AF! That's great. I wish I could go back to my old schools, but I'm broke, and I just don't have the time to.

[Sagat]

There's not that many martial artists on AF. Those who "taught" themselves come no where close to counting.

And .. although technically one could consider practicing a martial art without competing a "martial artist", in my mind unless you compete against others to test yourself and refine your skills, you're only a half-assed martial artist.

My case in point is this girl back when I was in TKD in high school who was a red belt. Considered herself tough, bragged about her TKD occasionally. She fancied herself a true practitioner. However, she never really competed. Just practiced techniques and katas. One of my best memories is when she allowed my friend Mike the "honour" of sparring against her. Mike, for all intensive purposes, reminds me of Ryu from street fighter. He landed a back kick on her that knocked the wind out of her.

Fight over. Who is the real martial artist?

Just a gripe I wanted to make.

[Brewmaster]

Well that is true Sagat and you have a point.I also have friends who bragged about having a black belt but when they fight poof they fall like grass!^^ Well for the self taught things well sword fighting i didn't learn by my self though i did pole fighting using many movies.^^ For competition i did allot of spar matches in Taekwondo really much in Karate you don't have much of those and in kick box allot of them to.Don't thinks if its a spar match that they are less dangerous we hit with everything we got!

[~*Red*~]

I did karate for a while, got the first belt, then quit, because it was too hard to balance it and school together.

[Azel]

No. I watched an episode of Naruto once though.

[allaboutyou3678]

I have no martial arts training. Although I would love to take anything sword based, But alas there is nothing in my area.

[Hideki Motosuwa.]

Well that is true Sagat and you have a point.I also have friends who bragged about having a black belt but when they fight poof they fall like grass!^^ Well for the self taught things well sword fighting i didn't learn by my self though i did pole fighting using many movies.^^ For competition i did allot of spar matches in Taekwondo really much in Karate you don't have much of those and in kick box allot of them to.Don't thinks if its a spar match that they are less dangerous we hit with everything we got!

Bruce Lee once said that, "The only thing belts are good for are to hold your pants up." I believe he was right, b/c the belt system in martial arts(in my opinion and in his) doesn't always determine how good you are. I've actually heard of Bruce sparring and winning against black-belts at the International Karate Championships back in the mid '60s. I've only made it half way to black belt(for my system) in one of the martial arts that I used to take, and I've sparred black belts before in my dojo and I guess that the belt really doesn't make the man. But I can say that I will lose to anyone in a real fight. It's almost been a full year since I officially left my dojo, and I really wish I didn't, but there were simply too many other things I had to do at the time.

[Faceless111]

There's not that many martial artists on AF. Those who "taught" themselves come no where close to counting.

And .. although technically one could consider practicing a martial art without competing a "martial artist", in my mind unless you compete against others to test yourself and refine your skills, you're only a half-assed martial artist.

My case in point is this girl back when I was in TKD in high school who was a red belt. Considered herself tough, bragged about her TKD occasionally. She fancied herself a true practitioner. However, she never really competed. Just practiced techniques and katas. One of my best memories is when she allowed my friend Mike the "honour" of sparring against her. Mike, for all intensive purposes, reminds me of Ryu from street fighter. He landed a back kick on her that knocked the wind out of her.

Fight over. Who is the real martial artist?

Just a gripe I wanted to make.

I love this post because it is full of the truth. I really don't like to judge a martial artist by what they say they are capable of. I personally like to see what they are capable of.

And I'm so happy that that girl got the wind knocked out of her. She deserved it. I've seen a couple self-proclaimed "martial artists" get their butts handed to them and it makes me so happy. And it makes me humble. I don't brag about studying martial arts because I know a few things. A) Taking up martial arts doesn't automatically make you invincible. B) Not one style is perfect. It usually depends on the practitioner. And C) if you don't have actual combat experience, you should just shut up.

Anyways, to answer the topic at hand, I study Chang Moo Kwan Tae Kwon Do. I have been to a tournament, but didn't do so well. I'm currently ranked 3rd Gup, which is practically junior black belt (it's red with two black stripes). I'm not an awesome martial artist, but I thoroughly enjoy it. The workout is stress-relieving and I always have a good time when I go to class because there's just good company there.

[MooT]

Kung Fu for 5 years and Wushu for 4 years and still going. Wushu is awesome. Hands down.

[International 4-8818]

I am more into straight forward American fighting. The whole martial arts thing just looks to fancy and unnecessary.

[Sagat]

I am more into straight forward American fighting. The whole martial arts thing just looks to fancy and unnecessary.

Which is about an ignorant statement as they can possibly come.

[qG.Shogun]

I'm currently doing muay tai and jiu jutsu i train 5 times a week.

[Thingle]

I use a mixture of brawling and some greco-roman wrestling. You'll forget all those fancy karate moves in a real fight, so you just need to clinch and strike, sometimes take the poor guy down from the clinch and pound him on the ground.

[Akihiko Yamamoto Hozagaki]

I use a mixture of brawling and some greco-roman wrestling. You'll forget all those fancy karate moves in a real fight, so you just need to clinch and strike, sometimes take the poor guy down from the clinch and pound him on the ground.

Sounds cool, but that's not necessarily true. Martial arts can be an art form, but it does teach quite a lot of self defense. Most people who aren't really dedicated feel that all they want to do is beat the crap out of someone. You may not remember punch counter #3, but you will certainly use many of the same strikes in the technique. You just have to train long enough until it's engraved in your mind, and it's almost second nature to use those strikes. That's why anyone in martial arts will tell you that they have to do the same drill over and over and over again everyday. Not only that, but martial arts increases your balance, control, and overall awareness.

[Dxon]

I did Judo for a while. But at some point when new guys came in I heard what I didn't hear when I came in new. "You may not use Judo outside the dojo..".
That just sucked. Now I had no reason to do Judo. It began to bore me anyway. So I quit.

[Trisseh]

I took one lesson of karate, but it wasn't official because I was a 5 year old attending my brother's junior high class >> Didn't stop them from hurting me ;_;

[Sagat]

You'll forget all those fancy karate moves in a real fight,

That's the entire point of reflexive training. Not that it is done as often as it should be in some martial arts, though.