Me, My Gi, and My DoJo
Martial arts has been a defining passion for me my whole life. When I was old enough to read a picture book, I looked through my father's karate books, mimicing the pictures. When I could read words, I struggled through 400 page texts on martial arts. The art, the science, the culture, anything I could get. I begged my dad to let me take lessons, but it wasn't until I was almost 8 that he let me start.
There was a rough line of things, rotating teachers, rotating art forms, moving from dojo to dojo -- it's surprising I didn't quit. I was always the smallest, weakest, and youngest. But I also wanted it the most, worked hardest, and always practiced at home.
So far I've studied:
Tae Kwon Do:
Tae Kwon is a family of martial arts in which foot and leg techniques are stressed over hand, arm, or weapons techniques. I've studied three styles of Tae Kwon Do, straight up Tae Kwon Do for 3 or 4 years and was about 6 months from black belt when I left that DoJo. Later, I picked up Tang Soo Do, a sub branch of Tae Kwon Do and studied under Master Seo and his brother, Master Seo (No, I am not kidding.) for about 3 years and reached Il Gop under them (belt directly below black in Tang Soo Do). For various lengths of time I've studied other forms of TKD. I often served as an assistant instructor.
Tai Chi:
Very little time spent studying this, but it's very interesting and I'd love to study it more.
Karate:
Those books I read as a wee tot? They were on Karate. I've probably got 4 years invested there, but the instructor used Tae Kwon Do ranks (as opposed to 4 belts of Karate, TKD has more, especially Americanized-TKD).
Judo:
A Few months here and there, mostly to fill out my wrestling. I'd love to get into this again as soon as I have time, in the mean time, it looks like I'll be studying from books and friends.
Jujitsu:
Only a few months of this when I was little, but I have some wicked sweeps and hip throws. And I love staffs :P
Ninjitsu:
Mostly theoretical. Psychology, hiding, etc. etc. Also weapons. The weapons also were in Karate and Aikido, so there's lots of over lap.
Aikido:
Studied this with Master Wolf for about 3 or 4 months, soooo different from most of my training, it was really interesting. Not only was the environment much more informal from what I was used to, but also the style, like Tai Chi, was radically different from the kick and punch of my training.
Mal'Kasha Eto:
I've studied this since I was 8. It is my life. I had to learn the culture, the language, the traditions, the religion, and everything else. I had to become Mal'Kashan to study. Go learn more, about it here.