From: CADS_COLE@GALLUA.BITNET (Kevin Cole; Washington DC)
Subject: Re: How to choose a Martial Art discipline?
Summary: Truce.  I hope.
Keywords: hsing-i  pa-kua  t'ai chi
Reply-To: kjcole@gallua.bitnet
Organization: Gallaudet Research Institute
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 04:13:28 GMT

In article <1992Apr16.233032.26762@beaver.cs.washington.edu>,
stumpf@cs.washington.edu (Todd Stumpf) writes: 

[a more polite version of what I was driving at, deleted]

Increasingly, I am being made aware of just how foolish my initial anger must 
have appeared to some.  My apologies, for whatever they're worth.

>     With this in mind, I ask this question of those of you who have 
>   actually decided that this style/instructor/local/whatever was the
>   the right one for you, AND STAYED WITH IT, what made the difference?
>  
>     Did you try many different styles and techniques? Or just walk
>   down to the local dojo and sign up?
> 
>     I really, really, need to get more excersise, and I really, really
>   want to learn a martial arts, but am a little puzzled as to how to
>   start.  I don't want to wander down to the local dojo and find a
>   teacher who makes me wish I never started, but at the same time, I
>   don't want to put it off any longer.

Sounds like we're in similar boats (except that I rocked it and managed to 
upset people).

Unlike a lot of the folks who are posting, I am (perhaps foolishly) not
anticipating being in a real fight, nor in any competition.  I may be wrong, 
considering that I antagonized all of rec.martial-arts, but I'll burn that 
bridge when I come to it.  ;-)  I like to think I run fast, and can climb a 
vertical face, when boxed in.  ;-)

I *AM* looking for some exercise, with bizzare, off-the-wall, mystical, mumbo-
jumbo and a wee bit of self-discipline.  And, being older than your average 
college student (35 this summer), I am not looking for a class of folks who
have something to prove.  I've done very little reading, but I've encountered 
three philosophies that seem interesting to me.  I'm planning to dig around for
more info on hsing-i, pa-kua (sp?) and the ever-popular t'ai chi. 

I don't consider myself to be at all mystical, or intuitive.  In fact, I'm more 
of a skeptic.  And yet, I believe there is more than one way to "know" things. 
I am hoping that, if I find a teacher who knows something of the philosophy, I
can shift my way of looking at things.  I expect it to take several years.  Not
only based on what I've heard about martial arts, but also based on my own
stubborn grounding in Western logic.  I'm afraid it will be like someone
telling me 2+2=71.  No matter how much I try, my mind rejects certain
information.  I don't know if I can stay the course, but I won't know til I
try. 

I *DO* realize that in spite of it all, these are all "fighting arts", and so, 
perhaps I will ultimatly want to seek a different path, since I'm really no 
fighter.  (I'll mince words, but that's about as far as I want to go.)

Suggestions?  Dare I ask?  (I had assumed there was an FAQ, but then, 
considering the number of questions that began with: How do I choose, I figured 
there must not be one.  Since then at least two people have mentioned it, one 
of whom is sending it to me when he gets around to it.)
-- 

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