If so, what do you take? How do you like it? Have you noticed any changes in your body?
I am taking Tae Kwon Do at an ATA facility. I absolutely LOVE TKD!! I started taking it in the end of September. I just tested and got my orange belt. My husband and son are one belt ahead of me, as they started in August. They are camoflauge belts. We are all in the leadership program.
For me, martial arts has helped me become more flexible and stronger. We go several times a week to take classes. I think it's the best thing I ever did for myself. Learning different weapons (sahn nats - ax type things and the gumdo - a sword so far) and breaking boards, learning forms, etc. It's been great! We're having lots of fun. Oh, by the way, I just turned 41 and I am overweight at 227 lbs (used to be 285 about 4 years ago). I haven't noticed a lot of weight loss yet with TKD but definitely an improvement in my confidence, my body shape, how I feel about myself and my flexibility.
I was also in Tae Kwon Do and it was okay. I was in it for a few years and got some belts but it was never my type of art. I do have one fond memory which I won't mention cause it was while in the event of sparring. Anyway, I then a few years later after leaving TKD I decided to look around for something focused more on the art techniques and self-defense and got into Aikido. There are many forms of this just like TKD but mine was a less agressive one where balance and technique were the core of all moves. I stayed in that many years but had to leave the city and never got into it again, esp, in the new city where I had no ride to the closest school which was around 40 miles away. I was a 2nd striped brown belt by then though. I did try some judo classes which were good but it was never as good as Aikido IMO.
As for u taking TKD that is great. If u want to learn it more for fun and to get active this is the art for u. I always felt though that it was focused toward those two things first then forms and next self defense and so forth. Of course it also depends on what type u take as some like Hapkido are more focused on defense than what we generally consider as TKD. It seems like u love it and are having fun, and love the system, which are all important to remaining in the art for a long period of time. Now the only question is who would win in a real fight: Chuck Norris or Bruce Lee?
I do kickboxing, both sparring and circuit training type stuff. It's great for core stability, and all over toning. It's also great for self-defense. For cardio, I find that I push myself harder than doing almost anything else. It's part of my varied exercise routine.
I do kickboxing too, but it's more like TaeBo than TKD. I have noticed lots of changes on my body since I started taking it though. I am totally hooked on it!
Mine is really fight-oriented. A guy in a big rubber suit fakes attacks on us intermittently and we have to survive for 2 minute rounds. It's all about being fitter and having more endurance than your opponent. I honestly nearly threw up the first time I had a go at him. It's apparently the type of unarmed combat training that they teach in the military. The chief instructor also teaches the special forces. It's cool to see those guys in there working out and sparring. Of course, I only do the beginner level stuff!!
I was doing Iaido for a while, but I was just too out of shape to keep up. I hope to return to it after I've dumped some weight.
Iaido is derivative of aikido & kendo. It's the art of drawing the sword. Basically, most of the moves start from "seiza" (japanese style kneeling) and you do various sword moves as you use your quads to pull yourself up to a kneel of some sort, and then stand up, using only your legs. Essentially it's like doing lunges for an hour and a half. By the last 10-15 minutes, I was reaching muscle failure in my legs, and couldn't stand up without rolling over and pushing myself up with my arms!
I didn't really see any weight-loss, as it was only once a week, and isn't really aerobic/cardio-intensive. But while I enjoyed it, I figured I should be in better shape before I try to do it again. (There were other things that got in the way, too, so I missed a lot of practices, and never got back into the routine.)
At least with the gym, you can go whenever you want/can.
I practice Ryuku Kempo, as does our whole family. It's great for flexibility & core strengthening as well as cardio when you really work hard. My daughter started when she was 8 (shes almost 13 now) She is a junior black belt (kids program), and an orange belt at the adult level. My son started at 5 (he's 8 now) He is a brown belt in the kids program. My husband is a purple belt. My father is a brown belt, and I am an orange belt. I actually started when my daughter began the adult program, something to do together to hopefully make those teenage years go smoothly. (Is that even possible??) Anyhow, there's not a lot of sparring, mainly self defense & family protection, rape prevention, etc. We have a good time with it & it's a great stress reliever.
I just started taekwondo, just twice a week and I love it. I hope I can keep up with it for the longest time. It also makes me want other type of exercise ... maybe one day I'll be able to work out every day ... I'm dreaming of an extreme makeover ....
Last edited by a_new_me_in2006; 03-03-2006 at 07:49 AM.
Does anyone take any form of Martial Arts?
