If you had to do it all over again would you?

[MightyB]

I probably would have started Judo earlier in life. I'd incorporate boxing as a teen. Other than that - it's all good. I've been pretty happy with TCMA.

[David Jamieson]

And don't read into this that I don't liike or appreciate mma. I do, it's cool, it is what it is. Kung Fu practice is what it is.

Dead horse = pounded to dust

[Lucas]

but we need to beat the dead horse dust hard enough to compress solildify it back into a dead horse....duh

[bawang]

i would do everything al over again. im have honer

[mooyingmantis]

If I were to start over knowing what I know after 40 plus years of training I would:

1. Stretch more
2. Study fewer arts
3. Ignore martial arts fads
4. Emphasize more on Monkey boxing (32 years wasn't enough)
5. Emphasize more Mantis boxing
6. Care less about what others thought and argued less with keyboard warriors.
7. Taken more pics and videos to document my training and help me remember things I have learned, but have now forgotten.

[YouKnowWho]

I would spend more time in "2 men drills" and less time in "solo forms".

[RickMatz]

I would have bought the red sweater instead of the blue one.

[SPJ]

7. Taken more pics and videos to document my training and help me remember things I have learned, but have now forgotten.

in the 70s, it was expensive to take pictures or 8 mm movie clip.

nowadays, cell phone or ipod may take picture or video. flip videocam etc

video self analysis is always a good idea.

[Syn7]

i would have stuck to wrestling and tried to make a run at it in college... i wouldnt have wasted my time with all the crap i tried when i was young... all the kung fu garbage that infects every city... i woulda went straight into bak mei, started muay thai earlier and started BJJ while i was still wrestling at school...

instead, i dropped outta school, which means i left wrestling behind, started smoking pot, got lazy and didnt get serious until my early 20s... as a young teen i went to a few clubs that was just a waste of time... kempo, fake kung fu and a few authentic but useless teachers that i could have beaten up on my first day... the only thing i did do from the ages of like 12 to 20 was that i fought ALOT... like, ALOT... for awhile there almost everyday somebody got hit... it was valuable experience that i dont regret one bit... i never once bullied anyone in my life... everyone ive ever hurt thoroughly deserved it... there is never a shortage of people who need to be swatted in the mouth... the only reason i hold back now is because ive done enough seg time for one lifetime thankyouverymuch!!! 3 years is more than enough... no more prison for this cat...

[YouKnowWho]

in the 70s, it was expensive to take pictures or 8 mm movie clip.

nowadays, cell phone or ipod may take picture or video. flip videocam etc

video self analysis is always a good idea.

After the day that I have recorded all my forms, I no longer train those forms any more.

[crashhelmet]

My situation is a tad different than most.

I started in Shotokan when I was 6, learning from my Godfather. My dad made a career out of the Marine Corps and we moved a lot. I spent two years in Iwakuni, Japan where I continued my training in Shotokan from a local sensei and started training in kickboxing from another Marine. From there, we went to Subic Bay, Phillipines where my training pretty much became what would go on to become the L.I.N.E. and MCMAP systems. Anytime we were stationed near where my Godfather was stationed (he made a career out of the Navy), my Shotokan training would resume. Anywhere else, it was whatever the servicemen and women were training in.

The worst habit I had from it all was not following up enough. Basically stuck in the one punch one kill mentality. So, in 2000 I decided to look for a kenpo school. That's when I signed up with the company we're not allowed to mention anymore.

If I could've had a "normal" childhood and still started training at the same time, I would've preferred to train in a TCMA. The principles behind it would've benefited me more in the sports I played and I'd probably be a little less battered and broken down than I am now.

[Syn7]

i wish i had started at this age...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PuM4WD2XKk

[bawang]

its pointless to look back at yesterday. instead we need to look at tomorrow. if you dont like what you experienced in martial arts take charge and change right now

[Laukarbo]

its pointless to look back at yesterday. instead we need to look at tomorrow. if you dont like what you experienced in martial arts take charge and change right now

exactly....

I have no regrets..I started with Judo and karate and some boxing till age 14 and from there cma(was a weird mix with a lot of kicking),modern wushu and sanda and since 1990 specificially Hung Kuen.... in my school now its just hung kuen and sanda...Im not worried about mma etc. it has its place and I love to watch it just as football (soccer)...if I could start over again Id leave out the karate and the cma (hybrid thing) and modern wushu....start hung kuen earlier...

[Syn7]

its pointless to look back at yesterday. instead we need to look at tomorrow.

yeah yeah... lol... like you dont daydream about going back... maybe if you went back and did high school again knowing what you know now, you may even have the courage to talk to a girl...