Who or What made you choose your style?

Discussion in 'General Martial Arts Discussion' started by DarkComplex, Jan 4, 2017.

  1. DarkComplex

    DarkComplex Valued Member

    Everyone has their reason for choosing their style, it could be because of something you saw as a kid, a family member, movies, a fight you witnessed and saw the victor doing things that amazed you, etc.

    I chose BJJ because it works, the groundwork, the culture once I started rollin is amazing. I haven't experienced the "we are better" vibe in the schools I've been to. There is a confidence among BJJ guys that seem to be prevalent in styles that actively spar (boxing, MT, Judo, etc).

    I am looking at other styles though, BJJ is more expensive than many other arts.

    What about you?
     
  2. aikiMac

    aikiMac aikido + boxing = very good Moderator Supporter

    Movies. I admit it. Steven Seagal. Aikido. It's true. :p

    But I'm presently living where there is no good aikido ( :cry: ) so I wanted to do something that would force me to get back into shape, and at the same time I wanted do something "real" because aikido is so often criticized for not being real. That means choice of: (a) pay $100+ a month for BJJ either with a schedule that doesn't quite coincide with my work schedule, or it's at an inconvenient location, or both, or (b) pay $50 a month for boxing with a good schedule and only a one-mile detour off my commute road.

    Hmm. :thinking: Duh, boxing won. :p
     
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2017
  3. Latikos

    Latikos Valued Member

    The time I started I was watching "Walker, Texas Ranger" :D
    But it wasn't the only reason; as a kid I wanted to start Karate (*cough* "Karate Kid" *cough*), but I didn't dare to go alone.

    Later on (EDIT: Wayyyyy later. Lots of years later) I wanted to do some sport, but was scared for team games, so they weren't an alternative.

    When I started reading I wanted to try out Hapkido (and did) and stayed with it for the better part of a year, nearly two, but only did the same over and over and over again - until I was graded, nothing new was to get added, even though I was allowed to be uke for the head coach at times (that was awesome!).
    The head coach also recommended to take a look at Judo, to get better at throws (which were a big problem in the HKD-class).

    So I went and looked for Judo in addition; I wrote to a club, but they told me they don't really have Judo for grown-ups, but they do have JJJ with a great new teacher.

    TO be honest: (pseudo)Japanese JJ wasn't really on my agenda of try-outs.
    But I went anyway.
    The teacher really was awesome and super nice (one of the biggest helpers I got during the last few years in general, not only MA), so I stayed there.

    In short: The reason I chose to stay with my style was this teacher alone.
    Pretty much the same goes with my other styles: The teachers know what they do, so I stayed.

    I never went and thought: Now, I look for xy and forced myself to stay at the place, because it was xy.

    My xy was a pointer in the beginning, but now I do styles I actually didn't had on my "look for-radar" before :eek:
     
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2017
  4. Thomas

    Thomas Combat Hapkido/Taekwondo

    Biggest reason? the instructor.

    I stopped into a Taekwondo school that was scheduled to open in a few weeks while the instructor was hanging drywall. I talked to him for quite some time and was impressed with what he was saying and with his attitude. He answered all of my questions and even made a bit of deal to make it easier for me to attend... so I joined. Once I got in, I found out just what an incredible instructor he is - through all my travels in the world, I haven't met a better instructor. So, now, 22 years later, I am still with Senior Master Robert Gray.He has brought me to 'master instructor' level in two arts and I am still learning new things from him every class.
     
  5. DarkComplex

    DarkComplex Valued Member

    So are you going to take over when he retires? That's a long time with one instructor.
     
  6. Thomas

    Thomas Combat Hapkido/Taekwondo

    I think one of the keys for me is that my instructor keeps pushing the envelope by continually learning as well - he attends a lot of seminars and I go frequently with him... seeing him as both a student and an instructor is very cool. As for me, I left for a while (went to Korea) and trained under other TKD and HKD masters and since I returned have trained under different instructors at seminars. To this date, my instructor is the one I think is the best!

    As for taking over, who knows? My instructor is still very active with no pans to retire. Running a martial arts school here is not easy... very low pay, high bills, and a small pool of students. Adding a full time dojang to a full time job really doesn't appeal to me.
     
  7. Tom bayley

    Tom bayley Valued Member

    I was meditating in the woods one day when I saw a snake, a tiger,a big bird, a panther and a dragon having a fight. I caught it on my I phone then watched the video over and over and until I could mimic the movements.

    or less poetically - the instructor was very knowledgeable, always gave a straight answer to a straight question, and encouraged me to go out and train in other arts.
     
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2017
  8. huoxingyang

    huoxingyang Valued Member

    So you mostly fight by biting people? :p
     
  9. Xanth

    Xanth Valued Member

    For me it was the instructor (KJN Mike Kossman) and they didn't have TKD at the base (Shaw) I was at. He had learned Kuk Sool Won while stationed in the southern part of South Korea. I found I liked it much better than TKD and I kept doing KSW when I moved to California, again because of the instructor (JIKJN Gene Gause).
     
  10. DarkComplex

    DarkComplex Valued Member

    So which Animal won?

    The snake had to get destroyed lol. :)
     
  11. Tom bayley

    Tom bayley Valued Member

    Snake beat tiger,
    panther beat snake,
    crane beat panther,
    dragon beat crane,
    tiger beat dragon,

    :)
     
  12. Tom bayley

    Tom bayley Valued Member

    Last edited: Jan 5, 2017
  13. El Medico

    El Medico Valued Member

    Ahhh, totally meaningless without the delineation according to emotions and elements!

    But we wouldn't want to tell TOO many secrets.;)
     
  14. AussieGirl

    AussieGirl Valued Member

    We kinda fell into it.

    Basically, taekwondo was the only organised sport in our area that allowed kids aged 3 to join. My youngest daughter has ADHD, sensory issues and was extremely compulsive. I was DESPERATE to find something to drain her energy. The local library playgroup just didn't cut it. Anyway, we found a local tiny tots taekwondo program, tried it and loved it. After about 6 months, my older daughter decided to try the bigger kids taekwondo class and left gymnastics.

    When we moved to our current location 3 years ago, I was determined to find a dojo that promoted family training. My butt didn't want to sit on another hard bleacher whilst the kids were on the mat having fun. Because we had some experience with TKD, that's where we started looking and found the place where we currently train. They also have a tiny tots program, which my youngest joined. But for the regular TKD, the classes are divided by belt colours rather than age, so my older daughter and I can train together.

    Fast forward 3 years, and I will be testing for my black belt in 6 weeks time. My eldest will hopefully be ready to try for hers by the end of this year. My little one is a green belt in the regular TKD program (having fast tracked through the tiny tot program... she was ready for more challenge than jumping cones and throwing straight punches)

    I would love to try other martial arts... they were running an Aikido class on the base where we are stationed, and I loved it, but the person running it got deployed and there was no-one to replace him. There is a local Krav Maga place that I'd like to try, but honestly I don't have the time, money, or energy given that I'm already training hours every day for this damn black belt test LOL.
     
  15. Kemposhot

    Kemposhot Valued Member

    I sort of fell into my style of Kempo as well. My brother had studied in the system for a while but had to stop. I was always impressed with the teachers and the comradity of the classes. So I joined up not really expecting to do it for a long time. 10 years later, still going strong lol. A lot of that is due to how welcoming and accommodating my Sensei is. If I ever had to mia class for a extended period of time for work or something he would give me free private lessons to keep up and continue training. A super nice gesture that's kept me a loyal student all these years.
     

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