Martial arts

Hi Zeemarie - sure do, and have been fairly intensively for about 17 years, I also instruct. :)  

I trained in Aikido for about ten years, but unfortunately have not been able to train for the last couple of years. I also trained in karate for a while when I was younger.

I trained in karate for 10 years. I made second degree black belt and was on my way to third, but left for a variety of reasons. I miss it sometimes, but it was a big time sink and freed up time for other pursuits (like pole).

Oops - I should have put more info :) I have done Muay Thai, Eskrima Kali Arnis, Panentakmen (Filipino kickboxing), Brazilian Ju Jitsu and Wing Chun Kung Fu. The first three I trained for just over 7 years, BJJ was for 3 and a half then injury made me change to Wing Chun, which has been about 6 years.

Combined northern shaolin and praying mantis kung fu, 8 yrs

I did Shotokan a very long time ago, and I'm considering learning Uechi Ryu from my roommate, since he's trained it for most of his life. :)

@Koidragon Wow! That is a huge variety! Striking, grappling AND weapons. You must be an intense fighter. Wouldn't want to come up against you in a dark alley! @SmilingFox That sounds incredibly awesome. Praying mantis kung fu! I don't know much about it except for what I've seen on Fight Science. @Runemist34 That's karate, right? At the moment I'm doing capoeira and taekwondo. I've played around with boxing and ninjutsu but I didn't have any chemistry with either. Recently started capoeira and fell in love. I think I'm a kicker. Haha. It's great to see such a huge variety here! I wonder if there's a way to combine martial arts and pole... Hmmm. HAHAHA!

I've been doing Muay Thai for a little over 2 years. Slow learner. Working towards a first fight by spring next year.

Not even amateur , lol

@Poleluver STILL! A fight is a fight! Keep being badass. 💪

I'm doing Kung Fu. Love the sparring and weapons work, and am really learning to get into the "zone" with my freestyle forms. My hubby counts my bruises and tries to work out which ones are from pole and which ones are from Kung Fu. He used to say I was Kung Fu tough but now I'm pole tough too .... lol My name - KungFuPuddyTat - actually comes from my big, black kitty kat that always insists on training with me :) ... the other two cats watch from a distance but Ed literally runs over and twines himself around my legs as soon as I start my Kung Fu training - very cute but pretty dangerous when I'm sparring or using the sword or staff. I have this crazy goal is to do a pole routine at our end of year Xmas party that has a "Ninja Poler" feel. KrissyKiKi has an awesome picture that she created which totally inspired me to go for it. And then I saw Becca Butcher's routine with a katana on YouTube. That was it - I've got to be a kick arse Ninja Poler now :D

@Zeemarie - yep, I started BJJ predominately so that I could expand my bases - I already had the stand up and weapons and had competed a couple of times (amateur) and done well. Ground fighting is so incredibly important in my opinion, especially for women, and when I teach I always incorporate how to move on the ground. Whilst my love for weapons is always going to be there (especially the rattan sticks combined with knife) and I have run a few weapons specific workshops, as I trained very extensively in knife, staff, stick and open hand against these. on a whole the Wing Chun is the most effective, as long as you are willing to stick with it more than say 4-5 years as it is a long term style. I actually am setting up a performance I will be doing with stick display and pole dancing - we will see how it turns out though :) @KungFuPuddyTat - what style of kung fu do you do? I used to do BJJ with my german shepherd. I would 'sweep' her on her back on the ground, and would put her in a (fake) arm bar while she playfully bit my arm. She loved training with me :)

Oh! And I have massive respect for capo (one of my closest friends is an instructor and the stuff he does is insane) - I imagine, on top of everything else it gives you, it will be incredibly useful for pole... :)

I've considered putting together a pole routine that is basically a riff on wuxia. It would be a great excuse to learn some Chinese pole tricks and experiment with the more masculine styles of movement that pair well with battle. And plus if I'm dressed as a ninja, then I can wear grip gloves and shoes... so it doesn't matter if I sweat :)

I did taekwondo for over 10 years, and have a first degree black belt. I'm performing in a pole showcase in the fall and am hoping to come up with a martial arts inspired routine. TKD is known for fancy spinning/aerial kicks, so I may try to incorporate some into pole spins, etc. Does anyone have suggestions on incorporating the two?

@zeemarie: Yes, that's a form of martial art ;)

I've toyed with idea of doing a butterfly kick and a 360 sweep into a pole routine. More along lines of wushu stuff or tai chi that flows well. I think anything can be incorporated into pole routine you just have to have the right flair and music to pull it off, which in general, I do not possess :-)

@KungFuPuddyTat Ahhh, your kitty sounds so adorable!!! Cat style kung fu! :D That sounds totally kickass by the way. Ninja Poler! @KoiDragon Ughh, I think grappling is so cool but I've never been able to master even the most basic moves. ): Huge props to you! You're like the jack of all trades of martial arts AND you pole. Too cool. @portableninja I'd love to see a video of that! It sounds really fabulous! @scorpiotrickster HELLO FELLOW TAEKWONDO PRACTITIONER! :D OOOH. You could try tricking, maybe? I like @SmilingFox's idea of a butterfly kick. I think it's the most visually appealing of all the kicks.  @Runemist34 I know a lot of people say that karate and taekwondo are very similar (including a friend of mine who has blackbelts in both) but I'm really very curious about karate.

Alright you TKD ladies, I have great expectations for a flying kick ending in a layback or a superman :P Actually, that would be insanely cool... Grappling is tough, and very different to something like TKD, especially as the entire balance concept is utterly different (kicks vs ground). As well as the general difference in attack range too... However, once you get used to the way you need to move, the rest will make more sense. It can be really tough to 'unlearn' something to then learn a new way. As of September I will be teaching self defense courses at my pole studio, which is very exciting :D

I did kajukenbo for about 6 years i have trained for the last few year but still try to find time to practice and to get some bag work in. Sometimes I do a little sparring with my husband :-P

I did kajukenbo for about 6 years i have trained for the last few year but still try to find time to practice and to get some bag work in. Sometimes I do a little sparring with my husband :-P

@Koidragon AHHHH HAHAHA THAT SOUNDS AWESOME. But with my level of clumsiness I'll end up kicking my pole over. Oh yes, grappling is very hard. And very impressive. Dear lord, congratulations! It IS very exciting! Ladies being all extra sexy and badass thanks to you! @bonitagirl I actually had to Google kajukenbo. Hybrid martial art. WOW. You must be pretty dangerous by now. Six years. I CAN'T HELP IT BUUUUTTT "The couple that spars together stays together". HEHEHE.