Vox Hunt: Try This At Home

    Video: Show us a movie, show or video that inspired you to try something new. 

    Submitted by Ross.  

Hey!  That's my vox hunt question!

Okay, this is sort of silly, but the things we watch as a kid really DO influence us.

I think I first saw the Karate Kid when I was about 8 or 9.  At the time it seemed incredible.  I wanted to be the "Karate Kid" and I'm sure I "practiced" my crane kick on my brothers many times.  Even though I never got to participate in a formal karate program as a kid, I'm know I thought about various martial arts styles quite a bit, and this probably lead to my admiration/fascination for all things martial arts today.

One summer at Camp Airy (a 4-8 week long sleep-over summer camp) I had the chance to choose an elective sport.  Most people chose basketball, or archery, or swimming, or soccer, or football.  I chose karate, partly because it meant I didn't have to walk up and down the gigantic hill to the athletic fields, and partly because of my fascination with the discipline.  I remember enjoying it immensely, and chose to follow up my second season at the camp with a second karate elective.  However, by that time I was really into running and joined my school's cross country and track teams, and didn't follow through with any more martial arts.

In college, after a year of running on the varsity cross country and track teams, I injured my knee.  Not seriously to the point of permanent injury, but enough that I wouldn't be able to keep up the 80-mile-a-week regime and stay in the running (pun intended) with the other folks.  Come that fall, I impulsively checked out the ISKF (Shotokan) karate group on campus, and my passion for the martial arts was renewed.

I spent the next two years learning Shotokan karate, starting from a white belt, skipping yellow and going straight to orange (through the ISKF judges' decision), and ending up at a green belt.  Progressing through the belt ranks took time, discipline, agility, stamina, and general athleticism.  My knee never bothered me in the least, I made some great friends, traveled around to different universities for tournaments, and generally had a fun and rewarding time.

My fourth year in college, I got involved in some other things (DJing and pizza delivery), and my interest in karate waned.  I don't regret leaving it behind for the other experiences I've gained, but I wouldn't mind looking into getting back into karate at some point in the future.  After all, you never know when you need to break out "the crane" on some overbearing bully, right?

Ross_iskf1

Ross_iskf2