Who here is actually any good at sports?

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I don't like arts that focus too much on patterns or forms (ie: katas, etc)... I don't think I would enjoy doing as much as something like boxing/kickboxing/grappling where everything is more based on sparring and actual fighting. I am not really into the "art" side, so much as the "martial" aspect, and my choice in MA reflects that... If you like TKD but don't want the patterns, you might like muay thai or kyokushin karate. The people I know who've been in Kyokushin say it doesn't rely on patterns much, and is more based on sparring. You can do some of the more fancy kicks in those arts if you want, but many people don't, so it depends on how you like to fight.

When I was on high school, on P.E. classes I played soccer as a goalkeeper. My friend says I'm a good goalkeeper, but I don't think so.

Now, I'm learning to play chess, the sport for the mind.

I used to be good at athletics.

I can only get good at a sport if I focus all my effort on it, making it my obsession. Since there was no way to support myself while doing this, I decided to quit participating in my sport. Well, a particular lack of female participants and/or female associates, made it look grim, to me, when most of the other participants were either married or had girlfriends. Having almost nothing in common with the other participants, in neither values nor other interests, had something to do with my decision as well. There are more important things to me than having focused-fun weekends and not caring about anything else. I’m 36, have never been married, and have been girlfriend-less for 15 years, now. There's more to life than just one's own focused-fun. So that's why I no longer compete in my sport. I still practice it by myself, just to keep fit. I keep my sport a secret, here, because it's enough of a niche sport that I could probably be tracked down, right to this website.

I suck at sports.

Try doing some solo sports, everyone. Whereas team sports are random and occasionally confusing without indepth instructions, and you'd probably only succeed as the one coming up with the 'plays', in solo sports, things are a lot more intellectual and sometimes less competitive.

I rollerblade, for one. Not like all those fancy-tricky-do's, just up and down my street, usually after it's gotten dark. You don't sweat because it's cold outside. And no one's outside--just you, and if you're smart, your music, assuming you have a CD payer/iPod/whatever. Gives you a lot of time to think to yourself.

I hate team ball type sports with a vengeance but excel at some solo sports. I used to be very competitive in archery and marksmanship. I was on a team but not one where I actually had to interact with my team mates. I can see now that my AS ability to hyper focus allowed me to excel at this. Unfortunately I just don't have the time to do this anymore. I spend as much time as I can bicycling and usually leave people in the dust ot pleading for mercy because they can't keep up.

Man, I really feel strange now. I prefer team sports to solo sports. Basketball is my specialty, I'm a forward on my college's team. I am quite capable of playing football too as a tight end but football is so complicated with all the formations and those stupid linebackers want to aim at my knees so I don't play football anymore.

One thing I noticed is it takes me a while to get used to the team. If I go somewhere to practice like at the YMCA If people are playing with teams people usually choose me because of my height. On those teams I don't perform well because they do not know me very well and they tell me to do things that I am not best suited for. They want me to play post, even though I am more of a shooter. On my team I have a chemistry and the other players on my team know my strengths and weaknesses and I know theirs and we work to get each other open.

I can catch and throw a baseball, and am a pretty good shot at basketball.

I do MMA at a cage fighting school in my area.

I was horrible when I first started. I had a very hard time understanding verbal instruction. I absolutely frustrated the instructor and I felt like an idiot. I'm also very uncoordinated and not a natural athlete. The first 3 months I always got beaten up, every class. I'd often go home with my throat so sore from getting choked out that I couldn't swallow.

Then after 3-6 months everything clicked and I started to develop my own style and technique that worked for me. I've been doing it for a little over a year now and I've gotten good enough that I don't get tapped out much anymore. I'll never be great, but I've exceeded everyone's expectations so far.

Terrible at sports but sometimes they can be pretty fun.

space: i absolutely see your point, same here.
i trained some basic boxing technique on my heavybag and started with muay thai this year.
working on my technique isnt a big deal. once i understand a motion, i am fine doing it. sparring situations, i tend to over-think usually. its interesting, though, as sparring with boxing technique works better than things involving kicking or neck-wrestling (this is getting better... last time, we changed partners during sparring a lot, so i had some very experienced and physically dominating opponents - but once i was back to a guy who was taller than me but about my experience level, we wrestled to a draw all the time - still suck at kicking sparring, though).
i think its all a matter of how much second nature a motion becomes. i cant wait for the day my teeps start becoming as intuitive as my jabs.

I used to be a 4:50 miler in track and field, til I banged up my knee and quit running cause I couldn't be as competitve as I once was. Been playing rugby now for 3 years, haven't seen much other then the bench, pisses me off beyond belief cause I know I'm a decent athlete and could excell somewhere. I just don't know where.