1. Nothing really "inspired" me to start it to be honest. I received a coupon for a local academy during Christmas when I was 10 years old. I started then because I just knew I wanted to know how to defend myself physically, and I've been committed to it ever since. It's one of the things I'm most passionate about in life, which is why I continue to do it.
2. It became a goal later on in my training. I met my current sensei for Aikido while I was doing Karate. He's THE toughest guy I know, and always has been. Dude can lift me off the ground with only one hand, and I'm pretty big. He has a black belt in both Karate and Aikido, and I decided that I want to be just like him someday. My relationship with him reminds me a LOT of the student-teacher relationship between Deku and All Might in My Hero Academia and the student-teacher relationship between Rock Lee and Might Guy in Naruto.