Is it a good idea to use martial arts as a career?

i'm not sure what to do after high school but martial arts is something i'd really like to do.i wanna learn disciplines from many styles and travel around to find good teachers.i just wanna know how you get into competitions and how to turn martial arts into a career and what styles are best for learning

Is it a good idea to use martial arts as a career?
Not if you perceive it as a "career"!!!!





Martial arts is more than a vocation, it is a driving internal dedication. One might ALMOST call it "a ministry."





What you are describing is more of "a discipleship." Unless you are independently wealthy, you would probably end up scrounging around doing menial labor in order to sustain yourself while you travel the world (it WOULD require looking for teachers internationally) on your quest for knowledge.





The person I am learning my Taiji from comes from/lives in London. He ended up going to China, India, Japan and Australia to get his training. He is currently head of the London College of Chinese Medicine.


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Reply:To make it as a career, you will need to work hard and practice, practice.





The kind of careers you can have would be, a martial arts teacher, stunt man, law enforcements, action star.





Go to this site it's pretty cool. I didn't take karate here, but I like the site.


http://www.risingsunkarate.com/
Reply:No. It's a difficult career to succeed in it. Furthermore, the older you get, the less likely you'll be able to actively participate.
Reply:Look into becoming a pro fighter. Ultimate fighting or the IFL (international fight league). All those guys use have different disciplines.
Reply:This is really a hard question because honestly, it's quite easy to turn martial arts into a career. There's the easy way and the hard way.





Easy way: Go out and buy a uniform and a bunch of trophies and get yourself a small business loan to open up a school. I guarantee you that people will come. You can get some books and videos to show you some basic moves that you can pass on to your students. Kids want to take martial arts and there are plenty of parents out there that will shell out the money with no questions asked. This approach will not make you a good martial artist, but it will make you money.





Hard way: Train hard with a reputable instructor. Invest the time and money to earn an instructors certification from whatever system you choose. You can compete as a professional fighter if that's what you like, or teach others to become fighters, or both. You may not make as much money as the easy way (at least not at first), but you will be doing it the respectful way and that is worth more than money.
Reply:Some people have made martial arts into a career, I can't honestly tell you its a great career move though.


Here are some options.





Hollywood / stuntman / actor : wushu, tae kwon do (flashy)


tournament fighting : Freestyle karate, muay thai, kenpo, kajukenbo


kickboxing : muay thai, freestyle karate, kenpo, kajukenbo


MMA : jujitsu, judo, kajukenbo, muay thai, kenpo, freestyle karate, san shou, jeet kune do


weapons competitions : kendo, arnis, escrima, silat, shaolin kung fu


teaching / instructing : any style
Reply:Depends on what you mean by "career".





If you mean the most lucrative way then that would be to become a professional fighter.





As boxing rakes in the most money- at this point even mediocre fighters dwarf the earnings of MMAs top fighters.





Low tier MMA fighters are lucky to leave with a few thousand dollars.





I imagine this will be like this for many many years- at least a decade or two before MMA (due to popularity) overtakes or equals boxing in its earnings.





The other way is to learn a style, become good at it, open a school and teach PROPERLY.


For this, like any business you need to know what you are doing.





There are also lots of dangerous pitfalls here too.


Going through the ATA for example leaves you with a big hand in your pocket (you have to pay them money) and have pressure in exchange for thier marketing banner.





to open up an individual school is tough- especially without some kind of reputation beforehand.


You also need to show you know your stuff, and that is why many teachers build thier reps through competitions.





While this is not necessary, it certainly helps lend you credibility if you have competed in full contact with reallistic rules.





However most older coaches today were around before MMA so it is a bit mixed up. In the future it might be easier to find a good school as MMA rules can "battle test" a teacher and system where there wasn't really that mechanism in the past. Thats just my two cents though.
Reply:Making the Martial Arts your career means making it your life. Yes, there are many who have made the Martial Arts their life and some have become very successful.





The thing is, I don't think that was their goal in the beginning. Having a career in the Martial Arts is something that sort of evolves.





First you study under a Master. Maybe you compete. If you compete and are one of the exceptional Martial Artists who have a spectacular winning record, you may open your own school and teach for a living. If you compete and do not have a great winning record, then chances of making it a "career" are not good.





Many, many circumstances have to line up in your favor. If you choose to use competition as your path to making the Martial Arts your career, you must train with everything you have in you and you MUST WIN EVERY FIGHT!





I've known many exceptional fighters, some made law enforcement their career, some made fight commentary their career, and a few made the Martial Arts their career.





I am not going to tell you you can't do it. I'm telling you to follow your heart where it leads you.
Reply:Do what you love and the money will come. It seems for now you need focus to create a vision for your future.





Spen some time visiting schools and understanding individual styles. you have many arts form which to choose, you need to find something that captures you, after all you will be spending a lot of time training so pick your favorite art first. Go try a style and learn all you can, gain a foundation. I would suggest obtaining at least one black belt first, then move on over time acheiving black belts in others arts if desired. Also keep working in your foundational art to advance in rank.





Here's my personal short list of martial arts I would spend time on, but there are many great ones to choose from, this is simply one humble opinion:





Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - ground fighting


Judo - throws


Kung Fu San Soo - Violent and effective


Ba Gua Zhang - internal art


Tai Chi - meditative and grounding


Yoga - for overall focus and flexibility


You can learn good kicks in many styles so pick one you like:


Mu Thai is a great art that enables you to understand kicking concepts and the clinch





It takes time to learn any martial art in a basic sense and many many years to master even part of one art. Many have made great livings in one discipline. "Stay in one place and good things will happen" is what my father told me.





I have a career outside martial arts but I love to teach and am working at making it my life's work as well. Others have similar plans. You can spend time on Martial Arts Business Group on Yahoo Groups to learn and share your experiences as well.





Remember to be a good student, listen, stay focused on your long term goals and enjoy each day whether it's training, competition or teaching. Life is a one long experience and you have to enjoy the moments those experiences create.





Good luck.





KK
Reply:I am not a big fan of making martial arts a career choice. I feel it is something that should not create profit. When profit becomes the goal something is lost in the art.





I can see some vocations as acceptable. Like military, law enforcement, security, etc. Or if you were to use your knowledge to be a martial art gear supplier. Or if you got involved in a martial art media like a website, magazine or TV show. I view these career paths as acceptable. But when you start selling rank I think you have lost your way.





No matter what you wish to do with your life I recommend you visit a college. Business classes will help you no matter what you do.





Also, do what you like because nothing else is really worth doing everyday.
Reply:Look unless you plan to work at hollywood as a stunt double then move into action martial arts films (which are quickly on their way out) you're not going to be able to build a career out of martial arts. You could try to open a school, but only a slim percent of those who open schools can live solely on those schools, and those who can are dubbed Mc'Dojos.





This is what I'm doing. I want to open a school with out worry how many students attend monthly or how often they test or what ever. I relized that opening a school was a dream not a vehical (job, or money making venture). I found something else that is providing me with increasing returns and soon not only will I be able to open a school, but I will be able to build a school.
Reply:An avenue often over looked by martial artists wanting to make a career out of it is Military/Law enforcement training. Personally I couldn't think of any thing more mind numbing than teaching kids and civilians. But that's just me. The tactical/practical market is wide open. Catch is you will probably have to gain some street cred by serving in one of those two capacities. I found that many more doors to training opportunities opened for me that would have been closed otherwise. Plus you can get paid to train on top of having it paid for by someone else. MMA training is still my hobby and I love it, but it is an entirely different animal in many respects to what the tactical community utilizes. Food for thought.
Reply:My husbands career is Martial Arts, and since I run the "business end" it is mine, too.





The first thing you need to know is this, with out ALOT of COMPETENT training, you will not make it far. People can be fooled for only so long. Our competitors are finding this out every day. You also have to be able to keep up your training. My husband now travels to be able to train with people that are better than he is. He passed his original instrustor long ago, and now that instructor is our student.





Second, if it is your career, it is a BUSINESS. You will have to make choices. My husband got a chance to train with an internationally famous trainer, guess what, he went. Even though we were in the middle of a move. Everyone asked me why I let him go. They do not understand, it is a JOB! He loves it, every minute of it, but it is his job. Divorce rates among Martial Artists is very high. Most professionals have crazy lives. If you run a school, every evening will be full. No lazy dinners, no prime time TV. And fitting in family time is near impossible.





Third, being a proffessional can suck the joy right out of anything. You have to find some way to keep your motivation up. For my husband, it is learning new things to teach his kids. We also love working with the handicapped. For other instructors we know, it is taking their kids to tournaments. But whatever it is, if you don't keep the passion, you won't last long in this business!
Reply:In a word: "no"...the martial arts are not a good career. I presume you mean you want to be a sportfighter (UFC, Pride, IFC, etc.). If you want that as your full-time career, you need sponsors %26amp; promoters. In the amateur ranks (where you'll obviously start out at), you'll be responsible for promoting yourself, unless you have the money to hire an agent. That often entails selling tickets to your own fights and "selling" youself to local %26amp; regional talent and convicing them to take you on their rosters. It will also require money on your part: martial arts training is not cheap.





If you're serious, then you need to find a good-paying day job (9am-5pm) so you have your evenings to train with weekends off (when most fights are held). You'll have to "pay your dues" in the amateur ranks before you get noticed by the pros...if they ever notice you.





Styles? For sportsfighting: BJJ, Muay Thai, Judo %26amp; western boxing seem to be the most popular. Greco-Roman wrestling and Karate wouldn't hurt, either.
Reply:NO! You'll be shooting yourself in the foot if you start off by go into martial arts with moneys on your mind. It's those who really enjoy and considers it as a hobby first that usually success, not those who come with finicial gains in their mind.





So my suggest is to stick to college and do martial arts as a hobby only. Once you're really good and have enough credit, you may can considers it as a career but be very careful!