Welcome to Gaia! ::

I've seen the power of master martial artists. I've been on the receiving end of techniques of 10th degree black belts. I know that in the grand scheme of things I, after decades of training, have finally gotten a clue.

I've been called a lot of things, and I've gotten a lot of nicknames. The one thing I will always be, a student.

It's not a hobby. It's a lifestyle.

Where did the journy start?
Little Brother teased by homosexual school kids. Took Tae Kwon Do for 2 years; I was forced to stop training because this Taekwondo aggravated me into fighting anyone that teased us. Piff, I beat the **** out of anyone anyhow.

In High School, I realized I didn’t want to fight using Tae Kwon Do and searched for an alternative fighting art. After I was Judo thrown by an attacker, I studied Judo for 1 month sweatdrop ... Somehow Judo didn't tickle my fancy. After I graduated, I found an Aikido teacher... I fell in love with Aikido's theories etc... but... I got into a 50 MPH car accident - someone rear ended me. This dislocated my back gonk

How far will it go?
Recovered, researched, and want better Aikido sensei~

I live by the motto, "Retain what you know, but remember that you are a white belt somewhere else."

I started martial arts when I was about 8. I studied TKD at a chain school. It wasn't bad at the time, and I learned quite a bit. The reason for it was that my parents saw that I had no real "talents" like my younger sister had. She got better grades and did more sports and the like. I did that for about four years before stopping after getting the crap kicked out of myself sparring.
Fast forward to college. I started sparring a friend of mine who was about ten times better than I was at the time. He taught me a lot about fighting. Then I met my current sensei when I took the Self-Defense class. I fell in love with the art, and returned several times to the Self-Defense class just to pick up as much as I could (I also made a damn fine Uke, so he didn't mind me sticking around; it gave a chance for all of the paying students to see what was going on).
After graduating from college and getting a full time job, I joined the Chin-jutsu dojo. I left it for about six months, but returned (once more after getting my a** kicked, this time at a tournament), and have stuck with it since then.

I don't think it's possible to just stop practicing martial arts, unless you never really applied yourself to begin with. If you put your heart into it for even a moment, it fills you for that moment, and you'll never be rid of it. It will always be with you. And unless you train more, you become unstable as the arts try to get out, as your body tries to apply that force.
Martial arts is more than just our way of life, it's a force of nature. It's evolution at work. We discover how to use our bodies and minds most effectively with no tools at all. We transcend that which allowed humanity to first transcend the apes. And with that power comes the realization of what we are actually capable, and the responsibility that holds. I quoth Neil Gaiman, "Our every action warps the universe, that's responsibility."

Where did it start

As a kid I always loved watching martial art movies. They got me pumped. This was when I was like, 5, by the way. Anyway, I had always been interested in learning a MA, but being in a small town, there was never an opportunity. No one around that taught anything close to a martial art. Then, when I was 15, I found out there was a guy starting to teach shotokan in my town. You can imagine my excitement. A few of my friends were interested as well, and went to the first class. I however, somehow managed to forget about the first class and missed it. Great start. I went to the second class though, learned the basic punches and blocks in no time. I kept going after that. The price was right, and I had an obvious knack for it. It just comes naturally to me. My instructor has told me several times that he's amazed how quickly I pick up on things.

How far will it go?
I wish I could tell you. I do know that I won't be able to take shotokan karate after the beginning of july, because thats when our class breaks for summer, and after summer I'll be in university in a city that doesn't have any shotokan clubs. If there are any, they're not listed on the website and therefore I wouldn't trust them anyway. But, even though I won't be able to continue shotokan, I definately plan on continuing my training with anything and everything else I can afford to. At the very least, I've got a gym I get free access to, to excerise in. Maybe I'll luck out and find a good MA school. Hopefully. In a broader sense, it'll never stop. I'll be training as long as I'm physically fit to do so. And maybe even when I'm not.

twirling?
I pray you excuse me, but I find it hard to suppress the following;
"You can twirl my baton anytime" XD

I've always wondered if I'd be talented at baton twirling.
I bet I would. XD

mew. I get away with it. XP

Where did the journey start:
It started when i was around the age of 8 or 9. My dad forced me to learn vietnamese martial arts, VO VI NAM. I was the wakest in the class, most of the students saw me as a joke. I had my first fight there and i lost. After that fight i started to train even harder than ever with hatered for that lost, from that day on i declared that i would no longer be called a weakling or lose another fight. At first the figths got me so nervous and scared, but after fighting so much fights it has no affects on me. I no longer hold back anymore. After Vo vi nam i went to a dojo to study Taekwondo, i meet many pople who stayed in m path of being the best. after 3 years i finally defeated all the black belts and was feared when it came to fighting. I soon found about the book call THE BOOK OF FIVE RINGS by Miyamoto Musashi, it changed the way i think about fighting for the better. I love fighting so much that when i see fights anywhere on tv or the streets i feel like i just want to jump in and fight all of them. Unlike most of my firends they hold back when it comes to fighting with there own firends, but not me, thanks to the BOOK OF FIVE RINGS. I later joined a gang, just to get into more fights and to be there for my firends. But after 5 years of that i quitted, i just didn't like fighting in a group i wanted to see if i could do it alone. I soon stoped hanging with them and get in my own fights. Which i have won all of them. I'm really proud of myself its like seeing real power in your hand.

How far will it go:
i been watching alot of K-1 fights and i just love it. In K-1 your opponent can be anyone a famous boxer or a 600 pound sumo wrestler, its that crazy. That where i want to be. I wish to be the best fighter ever that the world have witness.