Female martial artists?

There's is not a dojang here for Kum-sung TKD.
I'm ranked in ATA and higher in Kim-Sung. I still do some at home when health permits!

Black belt in han moo kwan tae kwon do, as well as the mixed style I used to teach! Currently training in Capoeira. Actually just got home from my 6am class and saw this thread

There was nothing near us growing up and I'm sure mum though "she'll grow out of it" I was very into gymnastics at the time so that filled the gap from age 8-9 to 16-17. Though when she found out a few weeks ago I was doing a karate class she was a bit "Really? Wow! Is it safe? Really? Wow! Good for you!". She reminded me I would stand on one leg on posts for long times as a child trying to do flying kicks and pretending to be the karate kid from the films (I hadn't forgotten, I hadn't realised she was watching at the time). She asked if there was much "wax on, wax off".

I do Tae Kwon Do. Similar to others, my daughter has been at TKD since she was 7, she's now 15 and a red belt. I always wanted to do it too but didn't start up until last fall. I'm now a yellow belt, so...still very early in my progress. I'm loving it and my daughter is loving that she outranks me.

desertcoyote19 wrote: »

This was my childhood dream too. My mother swears that she would have let me do it if she had known, but I distinctly remember her saying that she wouldn't let me because I would get hurt. 3 years training now and have only broken one finger, and suffered from bruises and the finger was my fault since I caught it on my own pants blocking a kick. Lol my oldest daughter loves to come to class with me and will do the kicks with us but she has 2 more years before she can join, if she wants to.

my mom was scared that I get hurt. I started tkd after we went to a martial art or sport fair in which clubs in the area do short performance. as judo and karate did sparring but tkd did only'patterns so that is then what I was allowed to sign up for when I was 5 or 6 years old because the other two looked to aggressive for my mom

I have been training in aikido for about 8.5 years or so. It took 6 years to test for shodan but that was delayed a year by some upheaval in organization politics. When I started I was 39 years old and 290 pounds. I have knee problems and asthma and had never done anything like martial arts in my life. I was scared to death the first time I walked into my dojo because I had no idea what to expect. Why is a long story. I was in massive pain for several days after every class. But I just kept on going. I actually passed up many younger and more fit individuals along my training journey and now I am the dojo's senior student and even teach classes from time to time. If I can do it pretty much anyone can.

It doesn't matter what the dojo looks like or where it is located. What really matters is the quality of the instruction. the linage of your school. Who was your teacher's teacher's teacher and so forth and is the instructor a good representative of his/her art.

In my dojo there are a lot of women. We only have one male blackbelt who teaches regularly. We often have all female classes which is pretty cool. I guess not many dojo's have that going on. More women should definitely be into martial arts.

Tkd is actually what staryed my fitness journey. I was 41 and abt 230 lbs, never done an athletic thing in my life and watching my 9 year old son train. There were 2 particular ladies training who always looked like they were having fun which motivated me to get out of my box despite my fear that I'd only be able to do 3 sit ups. I love my school and instructor (also ATA). They encouraged me to start where I was rather than expect to be like someone who had been training a while. I lost 40 lbs the 1st year and began competing. I am now 2nd degree and looking to lose abt 15 more. Unfortunately i regained 20 after marrying my love (also an ATA man) but I've taken off 15 of that. Martial arts has pushed me toward growth, not only in fitness and achieving things I didn't believe possible, but it also reminds that chances are worth taking and it's far better to risk looking silly at times than to live in the box.

A lot of responses on this thread, awesome! I'm a practitioner of Shotokan Karate, I've been in love with it since 2009. I love the sparring/fighting, the kata, and the camaraderie that my class has. I don't train as much now, my priorities have become running and strength training, but I have a punching bag I LOVE to kick!