Splendid Monkey
Monkey`s Mad Marauders
Joined: 18 Apr 2007
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Location: Costa Esmiran
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Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:46 am Post subject: |
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A martial arts topic!!! :mrgreen:
I`ve been into Martial arts since I was 15. I`m quite active on a Dutch Martial arts forum. I used to do Taekwondo for about 7 years and got to red/black belt. Just before 1st dan, you could say, and did about 2 years of Wado Karate at the side. In Japan I practiced Kendo and Kyokushinkai Karate. The latter of which is a full contact Karate style. Back in Holland I decided to quit Taekwondo and switch to Kyokushin permanently as I was pretty fed up with the point-orientated sparring. Despite having had to start over again from white belt I find the training to be much more satisfying. :mrgreen: I hope I can pick up Kendo again some time in the future. |
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HarmonianHiccup
Over-Enthusiastic Archaeologists
Joined: 11 Feb 2006
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Location: Zexen Forest
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 1:20 pm Post subject: |
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Oh, hooray! I love martial arts topics~!
I started in Tae Kwon Do when I was nine (well, my MOM started me in TKD. I wanted to be a ballerina at the time. No such luck.) It was your standard compition based, heart-breakingly expensive drill-sargeant-for-an-instructor sort of a place--I lasted a few years there but was pretty quickly dishearted and I made it only as far as my green belt. Aside from that, it cost an arm and a leg to test or move forward at ALL, so I found myself stagnating. I couldn;t afford to test and they refused to teach me beyond my belt level, even if I had "mastered" the lower level techniques.
Looking back years later I finally figured out one reason why I hated it so bad--one of the "masters" was verbally abusive and I had a hard time wanting to go into a dojo ever again after all that.
Despite that I kept practicing on my own until I was in high school, where I discovered a more traditional korean dojo and stuck with that one for about four years--I hit my brown belt and then had to watch helplessly as the dojo sank financially and then finally collapsed all together, leaving me on my own again.
It was last spring when two girls wandered into the Gamestop where I was working at the time. They were wearing dojo shirts that listed traditional Japanese martial arts, so I decided to give it a try.
The dojo turned out to be for Seito Shito Ryu Karate and both Isshin Ryu Iaido and Toyama Ryu Battojutsu-whatever etc. (I'm not so great with swords. I love it but I have come to the conclusion that if I want to make a point, so to speak, I should make it with my fists).
The sensei was a young-ish thoughtful fellow who allowed me to observe the class and eventually take part, while reserving any real statement on my joining. After a couple of times going I approached him about price and was dismayed to find that, though it was a lower price than I would have ever dreamed possible, it was still beyond my meager and limited means. So I went home still dojo-less, after thanking him for bothering to take the time for me.
I got a phone call a copuple of days later. It was the sensei, telling me that he'd half the price for me (and my little bother, who went through most of all of this with me) because, though tuition was necessary, it would be a sorry shame for us to not be able to train because we couldn't afford it. He said that we had talent and discipline and that he wanted us for his dojo (one of the greatest compliments I have ever received).
So we started in Seito Shito Ryu--it's not THAT different from traditional TKD, but there are bad habits I'm still trying to break. Sensei granted both my brother and myself an inter-school black belt after reviewing our abilities with HIS senior, but I will test for my actual Seito Shito Ryu Shodan (1st black) in November.
There we go. A freakin' novel and everything you NEVER wanted to know about my martial arts experience.
Let me just say thisI love Karate. I love the form, the discipline, the moments it gives me to focus on ONE thing instead of being bombarded from a thousand different directions, which is how I spend most of my life. It is my Way, and I am gald to follow it. _________________
Proud Owner and Operator of The Hiccup's Speciality Grassland Atelier, the only place to find Electric Whiffle Bats! |
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