Im a black belt in taekwondo, and took private lessons from a guy who won the world title in martial arts twice (Dan Lovas), and he taught me eskrima, grappling, tumbling, knife fighting

I study Nintai do Matsamura Shorin Ryu Karate. Going for my sankyu (advance brown) in a couple of months, and it's been about 2.5 years since I started. I studied songahm tae kwon do before, but the instruction was pretty substandard so I don't really claim that much.

I took karate - or what passes for it - at the YMCA for about 5 years. I started when I was 8? 9? I got to be a seven gyp Blue Belt before I quit. I never really stopped practicing per se but I never went back to classes.

As of last November, I'm slowly starting to learn some Krav Maga. Okay, yeah, it's from a book which is the wrong way to do things but it's pretty damned simple (knee people in the groin, gouge eyes with your thumb, kick their knees in) and easy to pick up if you have a fair understanding of body positions. I'm afraid to take classes because they literally beat the piss out of you; not like body blows and flags and points, but like you have one guy in a defensive curl and the other guy is stomping on your hands and back.

I practiced Kendo for a year when I was in the seventh grade.
My grandfather had some kind of high rank(?) in Kendo, and he was obsessed with the idea of training me as a good Kendo fighter.
I really didn't like the idea; wearing those smelly armors was disgusting, and I just didn't like fighting. But I did it anyway to convince my grandfather, and I quit it after a year of simple practices; swinging the sword up and down and tripping into the world of zen or something like that.

After all of those training, I learned that I really suck with Kendo, and my granpa seemed to understand that clearly, which rapidly burned out his motivation of training me.
I really don't see the point for training martial arts, and I learned that screaming out loud or throwing nearby objects works just fine to get myself out from some dangers.

This question is going to look dumb in a martial arts thread, but for the people who practice martial arts, why do you practice martial arts?
I'm just curious, nothing else.

Well to answer your question I just do it for the love of the game. Same reason as anyone who plays basketball, baseball, soccer w/e. Also because I wanna fight in like Pride FC one day. Even though it'll probably never happen.

I do it because it is healthy to remain active, and it also helps me put my life into perspective. I do agree with you about not wanting to wear smelly armor though :).

I have been taking Tae Kwon Do for a little more than 6 years. My instructor is Master Je Kyoung Kim, undefeated 8 time World Champion and 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist.

I am really lucky that he moved in our area because not only is he a godly martial artist, he is an amazing teacher as well having been a former Olympic Team coach.

Anyways, I hope to get my 2nd dan Black Belt very soon and have participated in quite a number of tournaments. Glad to see so many fellow martial artists here :D

I am taking up Taekwondo and have been practicing it for the past three months now, and at the moment I am working on getting my yellow belt. And to answer Kiseki's question, I started martial arts to get back into shape, and learn some different perspectives as far as life in general is concerned. That, and learning how to improve my views of life.

I took it for really two reasons:

Mentally: It helped my patience, my focus, my self discipline, my self control, my respect, and it helped me to relax. Martial arts isn't just fancy and flashy punches and kicks, it is a very mental activity as well.

Physically: Martial Arts helped my flexiblity as well as helping me get in shape. I took Tae Kwon Do because I wanted a way to defend myself if I were to get in a position (slim but possible) where I would need to be able to fight back.

I've done judo in the past along with the basic hand to hand combat training the Army provides. I think I have to qualify as a brown belt in something for my CREST training, but that won't be for at least another 8 months.

Before high school, I had done Hapmudo for about 3 years and stopped when I got my black belt. Later in college, during my brief stint on a gymnastics exhibition squad, I did "trickin" in which a group of us just did ridiculous shit. Fun times. That lasted for less than a semester. Haven't done anything since.

I'm practicing Choy Lee Fut style Kung fu since 2-3 month!
Like it so far!

Man_of_Pie ~ Jeff135
I know that you will lose your title if you use your skills on the street (if somebody tells the "Sensei" that you used it), but have you ever used your martial art skills in a daily fightings or something like that?
I'm not talking about those official matches, I'm talking about the fight that you might have between your friends or somebody from the streets.

I've seen some fights, but all they did was smack and grab each other like little kids do. I know that those people did not had an experience with martial arts, so I just wondered whether you all do something nice/clean/cool when you have a fight.
Again, just curious.

I've been doing Tae Kwon Do for about a month now. I've already earned my white belt.

For many years I've practiced mostly Judo and Hapkido styles. But the last 4 years I havent really done much. That's what I get for wanting to settle down for once.


Great styles if you want to keep things grounded. I can throw someone to the ground much faster and it keeps me balanced which is great.

Well, we would lose our title if we used it irresponsibly (ie. to bully or to attack etc) but in a self defense situation then it is ok to use it. And in fact yes there has been a time when I was required to use Tae Kwon Do for self defense. It was a year ago so my memory is kind of hazy, but here is about what happened:

This big bully guy was hitting on my friend so I told him to **** off (at the time I was kind of upset). Well, the day after one of his friends told me that he wanted to fight me. At the time I thought nothing of it and thought of it as an empty threat. Then one day I had to stay after to finish a project for my art class. When I walked to the parking lot to drive home sure enough he and his goons were there, waiting.

So the guy who was hitting on my friend told me to go over there and fight him. I refused, and proceeded to my car. Suddenly, I heard him charging at me. Without hesitation I jumping back kicked him sending him backwards and stunned. When he got out of his daze he tried to punch me, but I spinning hook kicked him in the face knocking him to his knees. Then to prevent further attackes (he didn't look like he was quite ready to give up) I round house kicked him twice in the gut. After this he was bleeding and moaning.

After this I helped him up and helped to get him medical attention. In reality it is NO fun to hurt somebody this bad, even if you had to. I felt really bad about this even thought it was his fault.

I do boxing.

/me awaits all the shitty comments on how boxing isnt a martial art.

Boxing and muay thai is the toughest sport on the planet, the training that I have to go through before fight is torture. But the feeling you get when you knock the other guy flat-out is like a orgasm, you just want more and more!

I've never actually been involved in a street fight. (Even though I think it would be an exhilerating experience I try to avoid that type of thing.) I have however done a few friendly matches against other martial artists that go to my school. We usually just have friendly matches in a park or in someone's garage or something. It's some good practice to fight against people who use different styles. The only downside is that none of us have a medical degree. :p

Sure, my adrenelaine was up, but in the end you really feel like s***.

Actually, I like the idea of boxing for its practical value. I practice Northern Shaolin Kung Fu, but unfortunately, there's not much real sparring. Don't get me wrong, I love the aesthetic aspects of it, practicing the forms and such, but I want to find a school that will really teach me how to defend myself.

I've been doing muay thai and jiu jitsu for a over 5 years now. Since fighting on the amateur MMA/NHB circuit for a couple of years I've been learning more about wrestling. I do boxing once in awhile, but my primary focus is on muay thai.

I have about 3 Years of Shaolin Kung Fu and about a year of TaeKwonDo...had to stop because of alot of school events -- Band and Sports so that kinda sucked.

Once I get my College Schedule and job schedule all finalized I'll probably jump into MMA.

I came out to Japan for a year last September and took up Aikido in December at my local dojo (it's actually in a police station). Nothing beats training with 4 year old children, and in Japanese! The sensei don't seem to know where to put me and I train some weeks with the beginners, and sometimes with the black belts.

I was hoping to take my first belt in the summer, but I think that I'll have to return to the UK before the next shinsa. I really hope that I continue practicing when I get back.

I have a quick question for all of you. I have considered taking martial arts lessons for....well..... whatever reasons, mainly I just feel big by knowing it, and just in case I get in a fight.

But anyways, what type of martial arts should I take? Karate, judo, dojo...?

It depends on what you want to do as far as commitment and stuff. Karate I think is the easiest since it is mostly striking to where Judo is more of a grappling style.