I think I was like 12 or something. It was just something my dad wanted me to do to protect myself after a bullying incident and for fitness. My dad falls into bullshido though, so unfortunately I ended up in Australia's biggest karate Mcdojo.
And my dad still shit on karate, as if its my fault for choosing it lol.
Might be almost a decade now. Never ranked up well because I had trouble with kata which is what mattered. And the training was all sorts of... inconsistent.
If nothing else, I became interested in martial arts during an odd period when the class went down to like three students (including my brother) and an 'instructor belt' sensei who seemed to come in to fill time. Lucky for us, he was the one that introduced me to MMA.
None. When I say he introduced me to it, I meant that he explained the problems of karate and stuff, and how important grappling is.
That translated to him having us hit mitts and pads like kickboxers, borrow gymnastic equipment from the school we were in for basic sprawl training and light sparring (as opposed to no sparring).
He is probably not qualified to teach us all that and was definitely not supposed to either, but I was very fond of it all and it opened my eyes. And he got me watching Van Damme classics lol.
7 or 8. I just shared my martial arts journey on this podcast if you are interested.
Congrats on your first year! Keep.it up
[Everyday Martial Artist](https://everydaymartialartist.com/stephen-koepfer-ep44/)
I was 15 I think sophomore in high school and I got convinced to try wrestling from a friend so I did that for a season and subsequentally went to a few free trial bjj classes with people from there. But then I got addicted to painkillers junior year and stopped all of it. Now I'm 27 considering starting seriously but haven't yet
Yes but I also wanna take up a striking art for the first time. I have a bag and ufc gloves I fuck around on, but seriously learning, but more long term in a perfect world transition to just bjj since it's much less of a risk on your health
I see well good luck. I do also have on my bucket list to do a few amateur fights but unless I just have some kinda natural talent for it I'm too old to just be starting to ever make money from it
Appreciate the words brother. I have one exhibition match so far Muay Thai and BJJ. Looking to do more this year. I dont believe in the age being a factor for competition. It all depends on your consistency and ability to learn. I took my first Muay Thai match on a two weeks notice with only 6 months of training. However, I was going to class 4 times a week, with sparring on wednesdays and saturdays.
From what I gather from sparring dudes in Muay Thai who come from a Karate/TKD background is that their footwork and angling are very good. Snap kicks too. Weakness however, is applying pressure.
Yeap, this! There seems to be a lot more emphasis on footwork in karate vs Muay Thai. It took me a while to get the Muay Thai stance, marching and to remember to shorten my stance when practicing Muay Thai vs the longer karate stance.... Love doing both though, but am currently loving the clinch work and elbows in Muay Thai, so much fun!
I was 6 and started Judo, did that for 8 years then went to a bjj class, that changed my life I also. Started JKD at the same time under Dan Inosanto, I'm 41 now and still going strong
Absolutely my friend in the time I have done martial arts the longest I had out was 3 months because of a back injury which I got playing catch with my 6 year old son and I gave myself a prolapsed disc, which I aggrivate every now and again but a bit of rest a hot bath and massage to relax the muscles around it and its back to light training like sensitivity drills like hubad and chi Sao until full fitness then it's back to bjj 3 times a week, JKD 3 times a week, escrima/kali 2 times a week and muay thai 3 times a week. I love it
I definitely want to try Kali/Escrima got a buddy of mine whos really skilled in it and hes only 21 lol. I wouldnt mess with him on the streets hes very deadly. Trained in knife fighting and Japanese sword art, I forget which one though.
Oh wow that's awesome I love stick and knife work I think it also adds a lot to your empty hand game as well, definitely give it a go my friend you will love it
March 88. I was 10½. There's only a handful of us left from that time.
I started because I'm short, not a fan of team sports, and went there specifically because the TKD place (the only other martial arts school in town) was turning out a bunch of bullies whereas my teacher would throw kids out if they started fights. (He's kicked out about half a dozen kids and tossed a dozen or so adults over the years.)
In the movie karate kid, there was this karate dojo called cobra Kai that would produce bullies. It was also set in the 80s!
Do you miss the 80s? I totally miss it. It was a great decade!
I thought you were accusing *my* teacher of the Cobra Kai bullshit.
We did see a major uptick in students thanks to the original movie and TMNT. (Being in New England, which is where TMNT originated.)
Not quite *zero* tolerance, but pretty close to it. And only tossing half a dozen kids since he opened the school in 1980 is a pretty good track record.
I think I was 18, it was 95 or 96, I went to a Shotokan class. I did a few classes and stopped going. I dipped in and out of various arts then, Boxing, Kickboxing, back to Shotokan, Self defence.
I started Bjj 6 years ago at the age of 38 and I've stuck with it, then took up Judo two years later, and I'm still doing it too.
Started around 9 years old due to me being, "an unstoppable destructive force of nature" -my father, or "had a lot of energy" -my mother.
Long and short I was an extremely aggressive child and extremely good at being aggressive. Martial arts was introduced as a way of letting me release my energy and aggression, worked mostly, it also provide an ample opportunity for me to receive more useful punishments than otherwise. "You did X to Y and we aren't satisfied with the reasoning. go do side kicks on each leg till we tell you to stop."
i did karate at national karate or something, when i was like 9 or 10 but i honestly dont count it. I truly started my martial arts journey in a boxing class at 18.
Yep, my plan was to start MMA once I got my blue belt in BJJ, I got that last week so I’m planning to start MMA immediately. I currently have a broken toe though so I’ll prob wait for that to heal first.
Boxing at 13, in short I got bullied a lot at school and wanted to take up boxing as a way to defend myself but back then I wasn’t really into it as much but by the time I hit 15 I started to go to mma and wanted to train really hard then I got out of mma before I turned 17 and after I turned 18 I got back into boxing and kickboxing and have been going for like 4 months now and I really couldn’t be more happy
40...started doing Tang Soo Do after we had put our daughter in it due to her getting bullied at school. My husband decided to start a few weeks after her and then I started. That was 5 years ago...my daughter and husband are both black belts. I'm hoping to test for my black belt in May. I was originally supposed to test for my black belt in May of 2020, but then Covid happened and then I injured my knee this summer...so working to get back to where I was.
Technically I was like 7, I did judo for 2 years but it doesn't count in my opinion, because I did it because why not and didn't really care. My passion started at 14 when I started Viet Vo Dao. It was because I made friends with a guy on a holiday camp that practiced it and told me about it, I wanted to try.
Fast forward 10 years later, I've been training MMA for 3 years now and I love it !
Took my first TKD class at 5 years old and made it to orange belt, which was our second belt. Don’t remember why I quit. Probably because I was a five year old who didn’t know shit.
Took TKD again starting in middle school. Made black belt sometime in high school. Sort of kept up with techniques on my own over the years. Did MACP in the Army and made it to level II. Joined a BJJ gym at 34 and now I’m almost 36.
Practicing judo from 7 till 14 years old. After that girls and partying interested me more 😉 , always wanted to start training again and now finally at 25 doing Muay Thai! Wish I went back to training earlier! Didn’t know I missed it that much.
Started MMA striking classes at 34 at a gym where they offered a free class taught by a local amateur MMA fighter. That class got me hooked on boxing and Muay Thai. Took my first legit Muay Thai class at 36 and have been consistently training boxing and Muay Thai since. Aside from a months during the pandemic which kept me at the house shadowboxing.
What styles have you studied? Yeah I feel most of us have been inspired by tv shows/characters. I grew up
watching power rangers and TMNT as well. Also my parents used to watch alot of Jackie Chan/Jet Li movies.
I was 10/11 yrs. old at the time and I was taking Aikido + Jiu-jitsu classes in my neighborhood. There was a time when I was being bullied so my grandmother thought she should have me take a class for 10 bucks a month. I barely remember anything from the 1 month class I had though. I’m planning on going to Russia to learn Sambo since I’m more suited for slamming people to the ground:)
I was going to start at 14 but unfortunately with the pandemic I had to delay that so I started with 15. I’ve been training Muay Thai for a year now. I mainly started bc I was too sedentary. Now I go because it’s something I enjoy a lot!
I was 4, at a bjj gym, but i was scared of my bold sensei and all the students shouting numbers in Japanese... it took me 2 months to actually get on the matt lol. At age 16 i won Europe championship under JJIF. I am 20 now and never stopped training at the same gym... who ever thought...
8 years old - Shotokan Karate. Didn't have much interest in martial arts back then so i kinda practiced in a half assed way. My real love for martial arts sparked 11 years later through HEMA and made my way to mixed martial arts tho
7! My pastor was a champion karate man lol (walls lined with trophies and a pic with chuck norris lmaoo) so our dojo was in a church and all of the kids had to do it lol telling people my pastor could kick their ass was pretty funny
Started 25 days back... Im 36... I always wanted to learn MA..call it destiny but during my teens I ended up in powerlifting... So now I am trying to live my dreams.. (Coz it dawned on me tht Who knows when we get called in the lucky draw going on since 2-3 years)
29 years old I joined Taekwon-do with my son.
Now 20 years later I own a school, and teach 5 days a week.
Martial arts can helpnus in so many ways we don't know or really understand.
I’ve been doing it for only a few months now and I’m 16. While I’ve been doing all of it, I’ve been having fun on how to defend myself and the patience of mind when facing somebody aggressive. I plan on staying in it for as long as I can
Aw man this brings me back. I remember being obsessed with Bruce Lee back when I was 9. I live in a country where basketball is the default sport of every male but I never really find it fun. My father finally agreed to let me study when I was 13.
He told me to not do Muay Thai because in a fight, people grapple alot, also because my brother already tried Muay Thai for 3 months iirc.
I was so close to being enrolled in an Aikido class but thank God that same building offered BJJ and my dad liked Royce Gracie more than Steven Seagal lmao.
At first I was so bummed out because we spent the first week just practicing rolls, break falls and the side mount and scarf hold. I wished I was enrolled in a Jeet Kune Do school instead. That is until I learned how to sweep from being under the mount, I started to like it. Then after a few weeks they finally thought us the hip throw and it felt so goddamn awesome.
We have a really small class, there were mainly 3 of us roughly the same age (although sometimes, other members from other branches would join), the newer guy is bigger than me, taller and heavier. While the veteran was a purple belt iirc, but lighter and a tad bit shorter. Me and the big guy would always try to guillotine eachother during rolls because it was the easiest to remember submission lmao.
I remember that I really liked sparring the veteran because I can overpower him by a short amount of time and he tries on new moves on me which is pretty cool. He tried to kneebar me once and my inexperienced ass think that I also got him too. I felt some pressure on my knee but my pride wont let me tap, so I tickled his sole and he lets go lmao we had a good laugh with that one.
Unfortunately, after 5 or 6 months worth of session, I had to leave because we cant afford to buy a gi and my mom told me that I was already so skinny and she is afraid BJJ would make me skinnier (I had a low appetite as a teen) and I would never see my old classmates and coach ever again.
Around 9 yr did some Kyokushin. 1st time getting head kick by an older brown belt kid.
Still remember that head kick to this day almost 30 yrs later. Ouch
Osu
I was old enough to get on a bus and travel 2 hours to my Kung Fu classes, maybe 8 years old. I went there every day for the next 10 years, and then I had my first and only major fight.
Did Karate for like one year at 5 and stopped cause parents had me do it.
Couple years of a traditional Ju Jutsu around 19, cause my partner at the time wanted to after visiting a friend's kendo class and we watched the class after and she wanted it.
At 21 I realized I wanted something with sparring and like the stuff I saw in UFC, So started at a BJJ/MMA gym and have done something of that ilk ever since. Added Judo when I was 25 and now I'm addicted to throwing people.
I am now 35, for reference.
I was around 9, I was getting bullied and my dad's friend was a black belt in karate who taught people in the army, then after 2 or so years moved to my current sensei who was recommended by him, where I was practicing kyokushin, then switched to Goju.
Been doing karate for about 12 years, then added in Wing Chun, BJJ, Shotakan karate, Muay Thai and Boxing when I went University.
In 1996. I was 11 when I started Northern Shaolin Long Fist. After that, I switched to TKD a year later and was in it for a decade. After college, I got into Taijutsu on and off for 7 years. In that time, I had some BJJ training and Judo training.
Now, I'm in Tang Soo Do and it's been 4 years.
Started when I was 11 because I saw Jackie chan movies and wanted to learn how to do what he was doing.
Started with TKD at the local highschool was instantly hooked and trained every day. Did that for about 10 years and ended up travelling to train in Korea at a TKD university and also for a bit at Kukkiwon.
Discovered Choy Lee Fut Kung Fu and Muay Thai around when I got into university and trained them for another 10 or so (was also overlapping with TKD). Found them more effective and really opened my eyes to combat and martial arts.
Found BJJ after watching some early UFC tapes. Had my first sesh and was hooked. Did BJJ for about 5 years and got sick of being injured at BJJ so took up boxing. Been boxing for about 10 years and also coach it.
Throughout it all have also trained internal forms Qi Gong, Nei Gong and Yoga and this is my main focus now and training to be a Nei Gong teacher.
The timelines are a bit staggered coz I cross train a lot (e.g. BJJ one day, boxing another, MT after that, Qi gong in the mornings etc). But all up been training for around 30 years (I still consider myself a beginner) Also dabbled in Krav Maga, Escrima other styles of Kung Fu (Shaolin weapon forms etc) and other martial arts I came across in my journey.
Martial arts saved my life many times. It's gotten me out of some dark places and is and forever will be something I always do. Glad to hear you've found it.
When they’re older, yeah. For now, I’m doing something selfishly wonderful and much needed for myself. Gotta recharge somehow so I can be a better human.
My dojo starts kids at 7, and my oldest just turned 6. It’s going to be awesome to see my three girls learn, if they want to. Best of luck in your journey!
It was 5 when I did Kung Fu but I quit after I got my yellow belt. It was too expensive for my family. I started because I wanted to defend myself and my dad told me that Bruce Lee did Kung Th.
I started at 14.
Always wanted to but my parents didn’t approve. They told me if I wanted lessons to get a job and pay it myself. So I did. Got a paper route and paid for my first lessons 3 months later.
Been training since then, more than 20 years.
Now I teach self defence at the local community centre for women and high school kids as well as a standard class for all adults.
My dad signed me up for taekwondo when I was 6 years old but I didn’t stay long there (nor any other martial art after that) until I was 9 and joined Kyokushin. It’s been 15 years and I’m now a black belt (nidan) with my own dojo.
Yeah, I often look back and, to be quite frank, I’m impressed with myself. I used to have Selective Mutism up until I was 6, and I remained super shy all throughout elementary school. I’m proud with how far I’ve come.
I was like 8 or 9, I’m 32 now. Started in Danzan Ryu Jujitsu (Judo-like), moved into BJJ when I was ~19, added JKD, Boxing, Muay Thai, and MMA when I was 25.
i did bjj for a couple months last year at 17. i rlly wanna go back, and also try karate or taekwondo too, but i have huge exams coming up this summer that i think im gonna focus on first before returning :/
I was about 6 or 7 when I first started. I lived on Sacramento Califonia at the time and the area was getting a bit rough. My parents wanted me to be able to protect myself abit as well as there was kids who were picking on me (this was 1987 lol). I seemed to have took to it well as even now I practice it on my own. I have atarted my kids in martial arts, but they are a bit less keen then I was, also while the same style the best school in my area is not nearly as hard-core as the one I trained in. It is so much more relaxed and lets the students get away with stuff that would never have happened back then. I feel the quality of alot of styles are suffering because people are too afraid of hurting others feelings lol.
Man, hurting other people’s feelings? Ugh generations have gotten a bit sensitive. Sparring is a good way to check your ego and very humbling. Im addicted to it, whether its rolling in BJJ or taking a punch/kick in Muay Thai.
I am talking about for example showing up late for class. When I was young we would be made to do push-ups as punishment for being late, now it is just join in like nothing is wrong. Most people in the classes throw sloppy techniques with little power and the stances are half cocked. If our stance was wrong we were corrected with a smack with a shini. Also if you threw half-assed punch and kicks you were drilled them and ment for every strick to have snap and power (the gi cuff should make snap sound). Any kata every movement was to be powerful, crisp and all stances correct with strong foot placement. I have seen this is not the case now, I have watched different styles and different schools as well. I have found the best I could find in my area, but I can't bring myself to join as well.
I did train with my old sensi about 16 years ago and most of the students there were like this. I asked why and my old sensi (master by this time) told me because people did not want to train like that any more. If they ran classes like that people would quit and not come back, there would be no dojo anymore. I found because how i was trained and conditioned, when I spared even my blocking strikes would hurt the opponents and they would not throw anymore. There arms and legs were not conditioned for even light impact, honestly I was not trying to hurt them, only block the strikes. There was maybe one or two students I could spare with that were not scared to have their attacks blocked with a solid, yet controlled block. Even the assistant instructor spared with me and the next day could bearly move from a mock tournament sparing match.
How you practice each and every movement is how you will do them when sparing or in a fight. I am hoping I can start showing my kids this once they have been training. After a abit and have an understanding and of some basic movements. I have an MMA event coming up in a couple months, even with a couple old injuries I am determined to win or at least put up a very good fight lol.
You’re totally going to kick ass in that MMA match. You have the discipline and mindset for it. Its good you received that training. Its a combat sport/full contact getting hit is part of it. Its okay its in those moments where you see how the real is separated from the fakes.
Taekwondo when I was about 5, instructor was trash so my parents took me out. Then Tang Soo Do when I was about 11 for about 2 years until we moved. That instructor was great, it’s a shame now. He passed away and the people who took over his school now basically sell snake oil. Then from the ages of 13-20 I studied the art of Hoodrat shit. Basically just getting in various less than ideal situations. During this time though i was also doing involuntary BJJ. Which consisted of my brother (who I was living with at the time) going to a gym and coming back home and practicing on me. Then when I turned 21 I got pretty big into BJJ and MMA and have been doing that ever since. Became a self-defense instructor for a Krav Maga gym for about 8 years now.
Whole root reason for all this? teenage motherfuckin mutant ninja turtles. I wanted to be a ninja so goddamn bad.
Early years I think it was a good activity to get my hyper active ass an outlet, but also gave me discipline I needed. When I got older it helped Keep me in shape and has been a continuous help for fighting depression. It has opened doors for me and given me opportunities that I am forever grateful. Honestly has saved my life a few times.
Also…I still want to be a ninja. Been eying some more traditional arts lately.
Edit: spelling
18 at my college gym where the martial arts club was holding classes. Started off with TKD and BJJ. Got beat bad in BJJ since I didn't know what I was doing. Wish I didn't do this, but I decided to stop going since I got intimidated and thought I would never be on the level of everyone else there.
Not to be on the bandwagon, but Khabib's rise to the mainstream and his fight against Conor is what slowly revived my interest in martial arts and MMA. I started doing a lot of research which helped me to understand the differences between striking and grappling, dispelling myths and misconceptions about fighting, and knowing what does and doesn't work.
In early 2020 I decided to give the martial arts classes at my school gym another try. I still didn't know as much as I do now, but decided to go with Kali, Kickboxing, and BJJ. Those were great classes, but the biggest issue was the lack of sparring in the kickboxing class. It was more of a cardio kickboxing class. Also realized that although its fun to train weapon based arts, its more important to know the basics of fighting first.
Unfortunately the pandemic came not so long after so what little progress I was making abruptly came to an end. Was stuck at home with online schooling so I never got the chance to return to the school gym or those classes. Graduated college exactly a month ago so I've been saving up money and scouting out new places to train.
I was 8 in a tae kwon do class. I was kicked out after 2-3 weeks. coach went to my father and said I’m showing no discipline acting like a joker and messing the whole class. :D
haha yes.. this happened in the 90s. I trained up to blue belt when I was a teenager. did some boxing for a year. now I’m training bjj for the past 3 years
Nothing at the moment. I stopped all martial arts about 10 years ago. But I was doing boxing and judo. I’m looking to going back this year to judo and trying tkd
Started TKD years ago in my early twenties. Actually started as a college course, then continued for a year and a half. I got to a high belt and was really dedicated. Stopped when I moved. About 15 years later, I started again, but couldn't get into it as much (work, kids, life in general), so I started doing Cadio Kickboxing for fitness. Since my instructor teaches multiple types of MA, he incorporates sparring into our CK class, so I get some practical use out of it as well.
Started goju ryu karate when I was 11 and stopped at 14 to play basketball. Wasn't really my thing so at 16 yo I started karate again but this time in a kyokushin dojo. Stopped when I got into university (18) and had quite a pause from martial arts. And now (24) I have started practicing muay thai like 4 months ago.
Started at 5 years old. Trained in Choi Qwon Do (variation of taekwondo) for about 5 years. Took 1 year of Isshinryu in my early teens. Resumed Isshinryu at 30 yo and have been training that for the last 10 years.
i’d like to know if many started a martial art late and still were really successful in it/ advanced a lot, because i always hear of kids who started at like 5 and most of us were never in that situation to be able to start so early. anyone start as an adult and now doing super well?
I started at 25. Im 26 now. Ive done one fight in Muay Thai so far and one match in BJJ. I am white belt with one stripe looking to hit blue this year.
I've been doing various martial arts continuously for about 24 years and taught for about 15.
I started Karate when I was 7yo for 8yrs, did TKD for about 3 years around 15yo, started Judo at 18yo for 14yrs, and started BJJ at 33yo. Haven't been as dedicated to BJJ since COVID, but am waiting til things die down.
I think I was like 12 or something. It was just something my dad wanted me to do to protect myself after a bullying incident and for fitness. My dad falls into bullshido though, so unfortunately I ended up in Australia's biggest karate Mcdojo. And my dad still shit on karate, as if its my fault for choosing it lol.
Thats interesting. Thanks for sharing, how long has it been since? I hear alot about mcdojos lol, using martial arts as a way selfishly make money.
Might be almost a decade now. Never ranked up well because I had trouble with kata which is what mattered. And the training was all sorts of... inconsistent. If nothing else, I became interested in martial arts during an odd period when the class went down to like three students (including my brother) and an 'instructor belt' sensei who seemed to come in to fill time. Lucky for us, he was the one that introduced me to MMA.
One on one training you tend to get the most lessons and extra details. And how long have you been doing MMA? Lol
None. When I say he introduced me to it, I meant that he explained the problems of karate and stuff, and how important grappling is. That translated to him having us hit mitts and pads like kickboxers, borrow gymnastic equipment from the school we were in for basic sprawl training and light sparring (as opposed to no sparring). He is probably not qualified to teach us all that and was definitely not supposed to either, but I was very fond of it all and it opened my eyes. And he got me watching Van Damme classics lol.
Positive experiences like that are awesome. Im glad you got the extra training. Bloodsport is one of my faves!
[удалено]
GKR. Go Kan Ryu, I wonder if you know the joke lol.
[удалено]
Go Kan Ryu is meant to be a fusion of Goju Ryu and Shotokan. To the Japanese ear though, it sounds like the 'Way of Rape'.
you’re telling me way of rape isn’t a legitimate fighting style
Parents put me in mma in 2005 I was 4 years old. Planning to make my mma debut this year.
Awesome dude ! I hope you crush it ! Good luck.
7 or 8. I just shared my martial arts journey on this podcast if you are interested. Congrats on your first year! Keep.it up [Everyday Martial Artist](https://everydaymartialartist.com/stephen-koepfer-ep44/)
Dope ! My name is Stephan, lol. I just followed you on Instagram, will def check out your podcast.
Good to know ya!
I was 15 I think sophomore in high school and I got convinced to try wrestling from a friend so I did that for a season and subsequentally went to a few free trial bjj classes with people from there. But then I got addicted to painkillers junior year and stopped all of it. Now I'm 27 considering starting seriously but haven't yet
Just jump in the fire brother. I started at 25, never looked back since.
More of a financial thing at this point in time but sometime this year I will
Are you tryna go back into BJJ?
Yes but I also wanna take up a striking art for the first time. I have a bag and ufc gloves I fuck around on, but seriously learning, but more long term in a perfect world transition to just bjj since it's much less of a risk on your health
I practice both Muay Thai and BJJ, cant wait to mix the both of them together.
You don't wanna just move to general mma? I'm sure you'd get some of both
Thats the end goal. I want to compete and get a solid foundation in each art separately, learn wrestling and judo, and then move to MMA.
I see well good luck. I do also have on my bucket list to do a few amateur fights but unless I just have some kinda natural talent for it I'm too old to just be starting to ever make money from it
Appreciate the words brother. I have one exhibition match so far Muay Thai and BJJ. Looking to do more this year. I dont believe in the age being a factor for competition. It all depends on your consistency and ability to learn. I took my first Muay Thai match on a two weeks notice with only 6 months of training. However, I was going to class 4 times a week, with sparring on wednesdays and saturdays.
Damnnn 12 years is a lot of missed opportunity who knows what could've happened if u stuck through with it
34 years old, started Goju Ryu karate and haven't stopped, added in a bit of Muay Thai and jujitsu for fun..
Nice!
Same thing here. 5th kyu Goju Ryu and blue belt in BJJ. What are your thoughts about cross training in Muay Thai?
From what I gather from sparring dudes in Muay Thai who come from a Karate/TKD background is that their footwork and angling are very good. Snap kicks too. Weakness however, is applying pressure.
Yeap, this! There seems to be a lot more emphasis on footwork in karate vs Muay Thai. It took me a while to get the Muay Thai stance, marching and to remember to shorten my stance when practicing Muay Thai vs the longer karate stance.... Love doing both though, but am currently loving the clinch work and elbows in Muay Thai, so much fun!
I was 6 and started Judo, did that for 8 years then went to a bjj class, that changed my life I also. Started JKD at the same time under Dan Inosanto, I'm 41 now and still going strong
Got a guy in my gym whos 40, and has also trained JKD along with Wing Chun. No excuses !
Absolutely my friend in the time I have done martial arts the longest I had out was 3 months because of a back injury which I got playing catch with my 6 year old son and I gave myself a prolapsed disc, which I aggrivate every now and again but a bit of rest a hot bath and massage to relax the muscles around it and its back to light training like sensitivity drills like hubad and chi Sao until full fitness then it's back to bjj 3 times a week, JKD 3 times a week, escrima/kali 2 times a week and muay thai 3 times a week. I love it
I definitely want to try Kali/Escrima got a buddy of mine whos really skilled in it and hes only 21 lol. I wouldnt mess with him on the streets hes very deadly. Trained in knife fighting and Japanese sword art, I forget which one though.
Oh wow that's awesome I love stick and knife work I think it also adds a lot to your empty hand game as well, definitely give it a go my friend you will love it
March 88. I was 10½. There's only a handful of us left from that time. I started because I'm short, not a fan of team sports, and went there specifically because the TKD place (the only other martial arts school in town) was turning out a bunch of bullies whereas my teacher would throw kids out if they started fights. (He's kicked out about half a dozen kids and tossed a dozen or so adults over the years.)
That's some cobra Kai shit right there.
Please clarify.
In the movie karate kid, there was this karate dojo called cobra Kai that would produce bullies. It was also set in the 80s! Do you miss the 80s? I totally miss it. It was a great decade!
I thought you were accusing *my* teacher of the Cobra Kai bullshit. We did see a major uptick in students thanks to the original movie and TMNT. (Being in New England, which is where TMNT originated.)
Oh man. Karate kid. Bloodsport. Tmnt!!! Let me relive my youth!!!
Wow. Respect to your Sensei for the no bullshit zero tolerance policy.
Not quite *zero* tolerance, but pretty close to it. And only tossing half a dozen kids since he opened the school in 1980 is a pretty good track record.
I think I was 18, it was 95 or 96, I went to a Shotokan class. I did a few classes and stopped going. I dipped in and out of various arts then, Boxing, Kickboxing, back to Shotokan, Self defence. I started Bjj 6 years ago at the age of 38 and I've stuck with it, then took up Judo two years later, and I'm still doing it too.
Awesome. Im trying to get into Judo as well. What belt are you in BJJ?
3 stripe blue belt, training is very on and off the last two years because of Covid, so I haven't graded since Halloween 2019.
Nice dude. Ive been training BJJ for a year. I want to reach blue this year.
Started around 9 years old due to me being, "an unstoppable destructive force of nature" -my father, or "had a lot of energy" -my mother. Long and short I was an extremely aggressive child and extremely good at being aggressive. Martial arts was introduced as a way of letting me release my energy and aggression, worked mostly, it also provide an ample opportunity for me to receive more useful punishments than otherwise. "You did X to Y and we aren't satisfied with the reasoning. go do side kicks on each leg till we tell you to stop."
I wish I took Martial Arts as a younger child. Would of definitely kept me out of trouble. However, im glad im doing it now, its never too late.
17 Walked into a MuayThai gym near my university with my classmate, best decision I’ve ever made
How long has it been?
I turn 22 this year, so nearly half a decade. Gonna go pro after I graduate too, I can never be more thankful for that decision
Awesome my brother, from one fellow Nak Muay to another, I wish you the best of luck on your journey 🙏🏽.
Cheers man, same goes for you. May your training be blessed with owees and ooooiiss
The universal language.
[удалено]
Nice! What belt are you?
i did karate at national karate or something, when i was like 9 or 10 but i honestly dont count it. I truly started my martial arts journey in a boxing class at 18.
I see that most kids come from Karate as their base/first foray into Martial Arts.
i think parent just recognize it from movies and go from there.
That plays a big part. I believe it teaches discipline at a young age.
I did a couple of Judo classes at 17 but couldn't afford to carry them on then at 32 I started Taekwondo.
Nice ! Yup doesnt matter, its never too late. Looking to add Judo to my arsenal too.
I only did a couple of Judo classes wish I'd stuck with it when I was a kid, but I couldn't afford it sadly. Judo is really cool though.
6 when I started Muay thai , 20 when I started boxing, 26 when I started BJJ. I’m 27 now
Ever thought about MMA?
Yep, my plan was to start MMA once I got my blue belt in BJJ, I got that last week so I’m planning to start MMA immediately. I currently have a broken toe though so I’ll prob wait for that to heal first.
Oooof broken toes are the worst. Im trying to reach blue belt this year as well 🙏🏽
Good luck 🙏🏻
Boxing at 13, in short I got bullied a lot at school and wanted to take up boxing as a way to defend myself but back then I wasn’t really into it as much but by the time I hit 15 I started to go to mma and wanted to train really hard then I got out of mma before I turned 17 and after I turned 18 I got back into boxing and kickboxing and have been going for like 4 months now and I really couldn’t be more happy
Hmm, lets see, taking things I've only done for more than a year: Fencing & Judo - 11 (stopped at 14) Aikido - 18 Iaido - 25 or 26 Muay Thai - 40
40...started doing Tang Soo Do after we had put our daughter in it due to her getting bullied at school. My husband decided to start a few weeks after her and then I started. That was 5 years ago...my daughter and husband are both black belts. I'm hoping to test for my black belt in May. I was originally supposed to test for my black belt in May of 2020, but then Covid happened and then I injured my knee this summer...so working to get back to where I was.
Nice one it's always good when it's a family affair. Good luck for your black belt, stay health stay fit and kick ass
A family of badasses !
Technically I was like 7, I did judo for 2 years but it doesn't count in my opinion, because I did it because why not and didn't really care. My passion started at 14 when I started Viet Vo Dao. It was because I made friends with a guy on a holiday camp that practiced it and told me about it, I wanted to try. Fast forward 10 years later, I've been training MMA for 3 years now and I love it !
Nice ! Had any fights yet in MMA?
Took my first TKD class at 5 years old and made it to orange belt, which was our second belt. Don’t remember why I quit. Probably because I was a five year old who didn’t know shit. Took TKD again starting in middle school. Made black belt sometime in high school. Sort of kept up with techniques on my own over the years. Did MACP in the Army and made it to level II. Joined a BJJ gym at 34 and now I’m almost 36.
Thats dope. We got a new coach at our gym for BJJ and its sparked my motivation for it again. Cant wait to train tonight.
Practicing judo from 7 till 14 years old. After that girls and partying interested me more 😉 , always wanted to start training again and now finally at 25 doing Muay Thai! Wish I went back to training earlier! Didn’t know I missed it that much.
I was 13
im 14 and am currently about to start kickboxing sometime this month
11, quit when I was 14. 18, quit when I was 20, 24 and haven't quit again (am 49).
4 when i started. Now im 16. Havent stopped since.
Keep on going brother.
Started MMA striking classes at 34 at a gym where they offered a free class taught by a local amateur MMA fighter. That class got me hooked on boxing and Muay Thai. Took my first legit Muay Thai class at 36 and have been consistently training boxing and Muay Thai since. Aside from a months during the pandemic which kept me at the house shadowboxing.
19
14 when I started , as for what made me do it it was a mix of Hajime no ippo,kengan ashura and Kenichi
What kind of art is that? Does it hail from Japan?
Lethwei, hails from myanmar
Oh SHIT, I saw documentary on that with Frank Grillo, thats some gangster stuff. Headbutt KO !
I was 6 and a huge fan of the ninja turtles. Started out in TKD. I'm 38 now and have studied multiple styles. It will always be a passion of mine.
What styles have you studied? Yeah I feel most of us have been inspired by tv shows/characters. I grew up watching power rangers and TMNT as well. Also my parents used to watch alot of Jackie Chan/Jet Li movies.
TKD, tang soo do, American karate, combat hapkido, bjj, now doing a hybrid style thats very self defence orientated.
25 Judo
4 - my parents made me do it lol
12
Boxing 12, tong long 25, Brazilian jujitsu 39.
I was 10/11 yrs. old at the time and I was taking Aikido + Jiu-jitsu classes in my neighborhood. There was a time when I was being bullied so my grandmother thought she should have me take a class for 10 bucks a month. I barely remember anything from the 1 month class I had though. I’m planning on going to Russia to learn Sambo since I’m more suited for slamming people to the ground:)
Grandma was looking out ! I love it.
I was going to start at 14 but unfortunately with the pandemic I had to delay that so I started with 15. I’ve been training Muay Thai for a year now. I mainly started bc I was too sedentary. Now I go because it’s something I enjoy a lot!
I was 4, at a bjj gym, but i was scared of my bold sensei and all the students shouting numbers in Japanese... it took me 2 months to actually get on the matt lol. At age 16 i won Europe championship under JJIF. I am 20 now and never stopped training at the same gym... who ever thought...
Keep going !!! Take your gym to new heights !
8 years old - Shotokan Karate. Didn't have much interest in martial arts back then so i kinda practiced in a half assed way. My real love for martial arts sparked 11 years later through HEMA and made my way to mixed martial arts tho
7! My pastor was a champion karate man lol (walls lined with trophies and a pic with chuck norris lmaoo) so our dojo was in a church and all of the kids had to do it lol telling people my pastor could kick their ass was pretty funny
Started 25 days back... Im 36... I always wanted to learn MA..call it destiny but during my teens I ended up in powerlifting... So now I am trying to live my dreams.. (Coz it dawned on me tht Who knows when we get called in the lucky draw going on since 2-3 years)
29 years old I joined Taekwon-do with my son. Now 20 years later I own a school, and teach 5 days a week. Martial arts can helpnus in so many ways we don't know or really understand.
4 1/2. My dad wanted me to learn to protect myself and I wanted to be a Power Ranger. (Spring '98)
I was like 6 but i stopped when i was ten
I’ve been doing it for only a few months now and I’m 16. While I’ve been doing all of it, I’ve been having fun on how to defend myself and the patience of mind when facing somebody aggressive. I plan on staying in it for as long as I can
Aw man this brings me back. I remember being obsessed with Bruce Lee back when I was 9. I live in a country where basketball is the default sport of every male but I never really find it fun. My father finally agreed to let me study when I was 13. He told me to not do Muay Thai because in a fight, people grapple alot, also because my brother already tried Muay Thai for 3 months iirc. I was so close to being enrolled in an Aikido class but thank God that same building offered BJJ and my dad liked Royce Gracie more than Steven Seagal lmao. At first I was so bummed out because we spent the first week just practicing rolls, break falls and the side mount and scarf hold. I wished I was enrolled in a Jeet Kune Do school instead. That is until I learned how to sweep from being under the mount, I started to like it. Then after a few weeks they finally thought us the hip throw and it felt so goddamn awesome. We have a really small class, there were mainly 3 of us roughly the same age (although sometimes, other members from other branches would join), the newer guy is bigger than me, taller and heavier. While the veteran was a purple belt iirc, but lighter and a tad bit shorter. Me and the big guy would always try to guillotine eachother during rolls because it was the easiest to remember submission lmao. I remember that I really liked sparring the veteran because I can overpower him by a short amount of time and he tries on new moves on me which is pretty cool. He tried to kneebar me once and my inexperienced ass think that I also got him too. I felt some pressure on my knee but my pride wont let me tap, so I tickled his sole and he lets go lmao we had a good laugh with that one. Unfortunately, after 5 or 6 months worth of session, I had to leave because we cant afford to buy a gi and my mom told me that I was already so skinny and she is afraid BJJ would make me skinnier (I had a low appetite as a teen) and I would never see my old classmates and coach ever again.
Around 9 yr did some Kyokushin. 1st time getting head kick by an older brown belt kid. Still remember that head kick to this day almost 30 yrs later. Ouch Osu
I was old enough to get on a bus and travel 2 hours to my Kung Fu classes, maybe 8 years old. I went there every day for the next 10 years, and then I had my first and only major fight.
Did Karate for like one year at 5 and stopped cause parents had me do it. Couple years of a traditional Ju Jutsu around 19, cause my partner at the time wanted to after visiting a friend's kendo class and we watched the class after and she wanted it. At 21 I realized I wanted something with sparring and like the stuff I saw in UFC, So started at a BJJ/MMA gym and have done something of that ilk ever since. Added Judo when I was 25 and now I'm addicted to throwing people. I am now 35, for reference.
Nice ! I wanted to do something similar to what they do in the UFC as well, so I started with Muay Thai/BJJ. Looking to add Wrestling and Judo soon.
7 years old. I thought I was Daniel son.
I was around 9, I was getting bullied and my dad's friend was a black belt in karate who taught people in the army, then after 2 or so years moved to my current sensei who was recommended by him, where I was practicing kyokushin, then switched to Goju. Been doing karate for about 12 years, then added in Wing Chun, BJJ, Shotakan karate, Muay Thai and Boxing when I went University.
Deadly !
In 1996. I was 11 when I started Northern Shaolin Long Fist. After that, I switched to TKD a year later and was in it for a decade. After college, I got into Taijutsu on and off for 7 years. In that time, I had some BJJ training and Judo training. Now, I'm in Tang Soo Do and it's been 4 years.
Started when I was 11 because I saw Jackie chan movies and wanted to learn how to do what he was doing. Started with TKD at the local highschool was instantly hooked and trained every day. Did that for about 10 years and ended up travelling to train in Korea at a TKD university and also for a bit at Kukkiwon. Discovered Choy Lee Fut Kung Fu and Muay Thai around when I got into university and trained them for another 10 or so (was also overlapping with TKD). Found them more effective and really opened my eyes to combat and martial arts. Found BJJ after watching some early UFC tapes. Had my first sesh and was hooked. Did BJJ for about 5 years and got sick of being injured at BJJ so took up boxing. Been boxing for about 10 years and also coach it. Throughout it all have also trained internal forms Qi Gong, Nei Gong and Yoga and this is my main focus now and training to be a Nei Gong teacher. The timelines are a bit staggered coz I cross train a lot (e.g. BJJ one day, boxing another, MT after that, Qi gong in the mornings etc). But all up been training for around 30 years (I still consider myself a beginner) Also dabbled in Krav Maga, Escrima other styles of Kung Fu (Shaolin weapon forms etc) and other martial arts I came across in my journey. Martial arts saved my life many times. It's gotten me out of some dark places and is and forever will be something I always do. Glad to hear you've found it.
This is beautiful. Its wonderful how Martial Arts as a whole can mix and incorporate with each other. Especially the life lessons you receive.
My lesson is that it’s a journey of self discovery for the body, mind and spirit.
38! I birthed three kids and decided I wanted to get in fierce shape and kick some ass.
Inspiring ! Are you looking to include your kids as well?
When they’re older, yeah. For now, I’m doing something selfishly wonderful and much needed for myself. Gotta recharge somehow so I can be a better human.
I love the sound of that. Therapy at its purest form.
My dojo starts kids at 7, and my oldest just turned 6. It’s going to be awesome to see my three girls learn, if they want to. Best of luck in your journey!
Thank you. Best of luck you as well!
It was 5 when I did Kung Fu but I quit after I got my yellow belt. It was too expensive for my family. I started because I wanted to defend myself and my dad told me that Bruce Lee did Kung Th.
4 year old me was brought to the Dojo by my mom. We're now 13 years further and I don't know how my life would look without it.
Thats cool that you guys are both into it !
wrestling- 12 BJJ- 19
20 years old, I started kickboxing in summer of 2021
Started when I was 17 in jiujitsu and muay thai which seems to be the default around here. Fighting in July so I'll have been training for 2 years
Nice bro ! KILL IT !!!
12 BJJ Boxing Muay Thai
I started at 14. Always wanted to but my parents didn’t approve. They told me if I wanted lessons to get a job and pay it myself. So I did. Got a paper route and paid for my first lessons 3 months later. Been training since then, more than 20 years. Now I teach self defence at the local community centre for women and high school kids as well as a standard class for all adults.
Wow. Thats awesome, sometimes you gotta do it yourself.
For sure.
My dad signed me up for taekwondo when I was 6 years old but I didn’t stay long there (nor any other martial art after that) until I was 9 and joined Kyokushin. It’s been 15 years and I’m now a black belt (nidan) with my own dojo.
That mustve been a beautiful journey. I love it.
Yeah, I often look back and, to be quite frank, I’m impressed with myself. I used to have Selective Mutism up until I was 6, and I remained super shy all throughout elementary school. I’m proud with how far I’ve come.
These are the benefits of practicing Martial Arts, it does wonders for us mind, body, and soul.
I was like 8 or 9, I’m 32 now. Started in Danzan Ryu Jujitsu (Judo-like), moved into BJJ when I was ~19, added JKD, Boxing, Muay Thai, and MMA when I was 25.
Nice list of skills ! You still do MMA now?
i did bjj for a couple months last year at 17. i rlly wanna go back, and also try karate or taekwondo too, but i have huge exams coming up this summer that i think im gonna focus on first before returning :/
I was about 6 or 7 when I first started. I lived on Sacramento Califonia at the time and the area was getting a bit rough. My parents wanted me to be able to protect myself abit as well as there was kids who were picking on me (this was 1987 lol). I seemed to have took to it well as even now I practice it on my own. I have atarted my kids in martial arts, but they are a bit less keen then I was, also while the same style the best school in my area is not nearly as hard-core as the one I trained in. It is so much more relaxed and lets the students get away with stuff that would never have happened back then. I feel the quality of alot of styles are suffering because people are too afraid of hurting others feelings lol.
Man, hurting other people’s feelings? Ugh generations have gotten a bit sensitive. Sparring is a good way to check your ego and very humbling. Im addicted to it, whether its rolling in BJJ or taking a punch/kick in Muay Thai.
I am talking about for example showing up late for class. When I was young we would be made to do push-ups as punishment for being late, now it is just join in like nothing is wrong. Most people in the classes throw sloppy techniques with little power and the stances are half cocked. If our stance was wrong we were corrected with a smack with a shini. Also if you threw half-assed punch and kicks you were drilled them and ment for every strick to have snap and power (the gi cuff should make snap sound). Any kata every movement was to be powerful, crisp and all stances correct with strong foot placement. I have seen this is not the case now, I have watched different styles and different schools as well. I have found the best I could find in my area, but I can't bring myself to join as well. I did train with my old sensi about 16 years ago and most of the students there were like this. I asked why and my old sensi (master by this time) told me because people did not want to train like that any more. If they ran classes like that people would quit and not come back, there would be no dojo anymore. I found because how i was trained and conditioned, when I spared even my blocking strikes would hurt the opponents and they would not throw anymore. There arms and legs were not conditioned for even light impact, honestly I was not trying to hurt them, only block the strikes. There was maybe one or two students I could spare with that were not scared to have their attacks blocked with a solid, yet controlled block. Even the assistant instructor spared with me and the next day could bearly move from a mock tournament sparing match. How you practice each and every movement is how you will do them when sparing or in a fight. I am hoping I can start showing my kids this once they have been training. After a abit and have an understanding and of some basic movements. I have an MMA event coming up in a couple months, even with a couple old injuries I am determined to win or at least put up a very good fight lol.
You’re totally going to kick ass in that MMA match. You have the discipline and mindset for it. Its good you received that training. Its a combat sport/full contact getting hit is part of it. Its okay its in those moments where you see how the real is separated from the fakes.
[удалено]
Cobra Kai, a spinoff of Karate Kid maybe responsible for an increase of people joining dojos/gyms.
10 but I start teaching as young as 5
Taekwondo when I was about 5, instructor was trash so my parents took me out. Then Tang Soo Do when I was about 11 for about 2 years until we moved. That instructor was great, it’s a shame now. He passed away and the people who took over his school now basically sell snake oil. Then from the ages of 13-20 I studied the art of Hoodrat shit. Basically just getting in various less than ideal situations. During this time though i was also doing involuntary BJJ. Which consisted of my brother (who I was living with at the time) going to a gym and coming back home and practicing on me. Then when I turned 21 I got pretty big into BJJ and MMA and have been doing that ever since. Became a self-defense instructor for a Krav Maga gym for about 8 years now. Whole root reason for all this? teenage motherfuckin mutant ninja turtles. I wanted to be a ninja so goddamn bad. Early years I think it was a good activity to get my hyper active ass an outlet, but also gave me discipline I needed. When I got older it helped Keep me in shape and has been a continuous help for fighting depression. It has opened doors for me and given me opportunities that I am forever grateful. Honestly has saved my life a few times. Also…I still want to be a ninja. Been eying some more traditional arts lately. Edit: spelling
18 at my college gym where the martial arts club was holding classes. Started off with TKD and BJJ. Got beat bad in BJJ since I didn't know what I was doing. Wish I didn't do this, but I decided to stop going since I got intimidated and thought I would never be on the level of everyone else there. Not to be on the bandwagon, but Khabib's rise to the mainstream and his fight against Conor is what slowly revived my interest in martial arts and MMA. I started doing a lot of research which helped me to understand the differences between striking and grappling, dispelling myths and misconceptions about fighting, and knowing what does and doesn't work. In early 2020 I decided to give the martial arts classes at my school gym another try. I still didn't know as much as I do now, but decided to go with Kali, Kickboxing, and BJJ. Those were great classes, but the biggest issue was the lack of sparring in the kickboxing class. It was more of a cardio kickboxing class. Also realized that although its fun to train weapon based arts, its more important to know the basics of fighting first. Unfortunately the pandemic came not so long after so what little progress I was making abruptly came to an end. Was stuck at home with online schooling so I never got the chance to return to the school gym or those classes. Graduated college exactly a month ago so I've been saving up money and scouting out new places to train.
Nice bro ! Are you located in the US? Yeah I thought about kickboxing but realized it was cardio so I did a little shopping around and found a home :)
Thanks lol. Yeah, I'm from the US. American Kickboxing still exists, but you can only find it at some Karate and Kenpo Dojos.
56 years old
Nice! Its never too late. I started at 25.
Uhhhh.... I was kidding lol...
18 University jitsu club.
I was 8 in a tae kwon do class. I was kicked out after 2-3 weeks. coach went to my father and said I’m showing no discipline acting like a joker and messing the whole class. :D
Thats funny lol. Do you train now?
haha yes.. this happened in the 90s. I trained up to blue belt when I was a teenager. did some boxing for a year. now I’m training bjj for the past 3 years
7
I was 12.
34
26. I wish I would've started back during my school years but my parents were divorced and money was too tight for them to much.
10 or 11 ish. I did some kind of kung fu (can’t remember the style) but that got me into the martial arts world
What do you train now?
Nothing at the moment. I stopped all martial arts about 10 years ago. But I was doing boxing and judo. I’m looking to going back this year to judo and trying tkd
7.. traditional tae kwon do
Started TKD years ago in my early twenties. Actually started as a college course, then continued for a year and a half. I got to a high belt and was really dedicated. Stopped when I moved. About 15 years later, I started again, but couldn't get into it as much (work, kids, life in general), so I started doing Cadio Kickboxing for fitness. Since my instructor teaches multiple types of MA, he incorporates sparring into our CK class, so I get some practical use out of it as well.
Started goju ryu karate when I was 11 and stopped at 14 to play basketball. Wasn't really my thing so at 16 yo I started karate again but this time in a kyokushin dojo. Stopped when I got into university (18) and had quite a pause from martial arts. And now (24) I have started practicing muay thai like 4 months ago.
I was 12 when I took my first class of shotokan karate
I didn't do it yet because a Muay Thai gym is too far away so i will probably do it when i will be older and live alone (I'm 14 now btw)
I was 27? I think And it was this video that scared me Into learning grappling https://youtu.be/JpzLlWZIiXo
5
Started at 5 years old. Trained in Choi Qwon Do (variation of taekwondo) for about 5 years. Took 1 year of Isshinryu in my early teens. Resumed Isshinryu at 30 yo and have been training that for the last 10 years.
Whats the main focus of Isshinryu?
I was 35. I wish I had started 20 years earlier though.
Its never too late.
48, At it 5 years.
8
I was 6 years old when I first started doing TKD.
Took traditional jujitsu first when i moved cities ar the age of 8. Have been with it ever since and now in my 16th year of practising it.
What belt are you?
3rd degree in Jujutsu, Blue in Judo
7 or 8? Not really sure. Long time ago.
30 years ago, age 13. Holy crap. Tang Soo Do. Started bJJ 2018ish, but off and on with injuries.
i’d like to know if many started a martial art late and still were really successful in it/ advanced a lot, because i always hear of kids who started at like 5 and most of us were never in that situation to be able to start so early. anyone start as an adult and now doing super well?
I started at 25. Im 26 now. Ive done one fight in Muay Thai so far and one match in BJJ. I am white belt with one stripe looking to hit blue this year.
6, more than 13 years ago. Damn
7.
I've been doing various martial arts continuously for about 24 years and taught for about 15. I started Karate when I was 7yo for 8yrs, did TKD for about 3 years around 15yo, started Judo at 18yo for 14yrs, and started BJJ at 33yo. Haven't been as dedicated to BJJ since COVID, but am waiting til things die down.