Knight_of_Stygia

I’ve dabbled in martial arts before, but always with groups/schools with a generally . . . academic take. And while I’m not a particularly violent person, I’d like to have the experience of knocking someone out, or (more generally) beating the tar out of them.

Hmm . . . maybe I’ll look into something like kickboxing . . . it seems fairly hands-on

It took me about a week (to find a group)

I’m currently studying with a Wu style tai chi group. I’d dabbled in other martial arts before, and found the whole thing very different than anything else I’d tried. We start with a beginner’s form – which is part choreographed fight routine and part kata, composed of different moves and stances – then work on individual pieces of that form (say a turn, followed by a block – that kind of thing).

So you start doing a full routine (similar to what you see on tv, YouTube, and in person), which can be a bit overwhelming for a beginner (expect to make a lot of mistakes the first couple of weeks). But its definitely worth trying.

Advice Contact several groups, and be willing to try different styles – some groups focus primarily on the exercise value, others on the more martial aspects. Try gyms, martial arts schools, and similar organizations to find a group that suits you and what you’re looking for

It took me Several Weeks

When a local college started looking for models, I decided this was something I wanted to try. Signing up wasn’t without snags, though – I had to speak to very specific people, and they never seemed to get any notes, emails, or paperwork unless I personally gave it to them (which is why it took so long).

And its true – being nude isn’t hard. Within five minutes (or so) you’re used to it, and after 2-3 sessions it doesn’t bother you anymore. The hard part is actually holding the poses – most classes are set up in a circular/”in the round” format, and any pose that its interesting for them tends to be . . . stressful, for you.

Advice: If you’d like to try this yourself, be prepared to admit to several people that you want to pose nude. Try to avoid posing on bare wood/tile/etc – you can always stand/sit/kneel on your robe. And be careful getting out of a long pose – its very easy for a leg to go numb (even during a very mild pose), which makes it very hard to balance

Oh, and for guys working about getting “excited”, its much less of a problem than you’d think. You’re basically going to spend several hours exercising nude, and the exertion is not conducive to being “amorous”.