My dad did Judo in his younger years. While he doesn't do it now, he still has that trademark judoka grip.

Our family has made a significant investment both in time and financially to our local Dojo (Isshinryu Karate). We first started our youngest son in the school (age 5 at the time) to help him with self-control issues. That progressed to my youngest daughter (age 7). My wife entered me in a contest at the Dojo which I was fortunate enough to receive (3 months free) and ended up being one of the best things that have happened to me. My eldest daughter (age 11) joined with me and my wife followed soon after - along with my oldest son from a previous marriage (6 in all!). We have been involved with our Dojo for about a year now (6 months for my eldest daughter and I) and have met some great people and really feel part of a great school and family. So hopefully our children will have simialure stories as they get older.

I and my daughter are both in TKD. My sons were when they were younger. Now the are into organized sports, but still come to class from time to time. It is a great family activity. I hope they keep the tradition going when they have families.

I'm the first in my immediate family, although I have an uncle who studied WC for a couple of years from a friend. My brother joined TKD after my parents said it'd be "good for him" and enjoyed studying for about 6-7 years until he quit. My cousins have recently joined MA (Mok Gar KF) and found, much to their surprise that my uncle is tougher than he looks. They're more serious about MA since they found that out.

I think that MA can be great for family and when I start my own, I'm sure I'll introduce it to my kids, no question.

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I'm sure I'll introduce it to my kids, no question.

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I wouldnt force it on my kids though because they may quit from pressure or because they dont like it. I m not even going to offer. I know I will be practicing at home when I get older, and I will teach them if they ask me and I know they are serious about learning. Not because I cant be bothered, but because I would love for them to learn it and love it as much as I do and not just quit after a little while.

I think you misunderstand, I don't want to force anyone to do anything. What's the point? If they don't want to do it then they'll eventually quit, time and effort wasted and probably much grief.

By "introduce", I mean show them what it's about. I want them to see that the flying kicks they do in the movies are really possible. I will show them how it's not magic, only body mechanics and physics and then I'll tell them about chi and "Eastern" beliefs about energy.

Whether they do MA or not is not my business. However I think I want them to be educated about MA, so they aren't naive about it. I think parents should educate children about such things if they can.

My grandfather boxed when he was younger, and was rather good at it, from what I hear. I also have a second cousin who trained in TKD, and *I'm nearly completely positive* she qualified for the Olympic team. She didn't get to go to the Olympics, however, because she got into some mess (like a car wreck or something) and badly injured her knee. But now she's married to a guy who promotes fights for people like Oscar de la Hoya (sp?) and such. Other than that, I'm pretty much the only one.

My dad was a 4th degree black belt in a style of karate that I have long since forgotten the name.

My, two older brothers were in Judo for a year before i started taking lessons.

Almost everyone in my family is against me learning TKD I got kicked out when I reached red belt at 14.