Martial Arts

Save to My Favourites

Speaker 1: My adventure with martial arts goes back to the time when my grandfather was still around. He was a very principled man who believed that hard work, sacrifice and patience would make you a good person. He happened to be a karate instructor who would try to encourage everyone to take up his beloved sport. Initially I wasn't very willing, as I didn't see myself as a fighter, but my grandfather explained to me that karate wasn't just about fighting, but more a philosophy of life. I didn't understand much then, but I gave it a go and fell in love with the sport. I've just won a very important competition. My granddad would be proud of me.

Speaker 2: I took up martial arts a long time ago, and I've never felt bored of them. I do jujitsu and Aikido, and I think I'm pretty good at them. Now I treat them as my passion, but when I started I had other motives. I needed to learn sports like this for self-defense, because a week before I had my first Aikido class, I had been mugged in the street. I'd felt so helpless and unable to fight the mugger that I decided to do something about it, and I've succeeded. I feel more confident now walking back home at night. But above all, I feel extremely fit. I'd say everyone should learn a sport like that for more than one reason.

Speaker 3: I don't get why so many people do martial arts. These are violent sports where people fight, kick and punch each other. Even their name suggests war, as its etymology is Arts of Mars. Mars being the ancient Roman god of war. What can be good about fighting other people? I keep hearing that young people learn to respect others, acquire concentration and keep fit doing these sports, but to my mind all these sports do is teach young people that violence pays off. My nephew has had some behaviour problems and his parents were told that they should send him to karate lessons to help him relieve the tension. So they did and guess what happened? After a few weeks the boy punched another boy at school. Martial arts are not sports activities for kids and I wonder how long it'll take before people understand it.

Speaker 4: I once watched the animated movie called Kung Fu Panda with my younger brother. I know it sounds funny, but the film made me think about the limits of the human body. And in fact, prompted me to read more about martial arts as such. I began to read about their history, and got more and more involved in their philosophy of life. I keep watching other more serious films about kung fu, and I must admit, I finally discovered what I want to do with my life. My interest in martial arts has stunned everyone, including my best friends. I've always been perceived as a quiet and shy person, a bookworm type rather than someone who is likely to take up kung fu. I'm a bit overweight, so I guess I'm not astonished that they sell me like that. But I'm changing now, and I'll be a real kung fu master one day.