"To be an artist is to have the only job on the planet where the single neccesary skill is the ability to label your own self as 'an artist.' Who can ever prove you otherwise??"

A couple of my techs were goofing around with friends that had come to meet them at the office for lunch today - as guys are sometimes inclined to do, they were out in the classroom area of the building kickboxing and good-naturedly shoving each other around. As they played, one of the interns (Bryan, we'll call him) piped up and corrected the stance of one of my techs, then told him if he adjusted one arm a little he'd have a perfect "crescent block." "I didn't know you practiced Tae Kwon Do," the tech commented (looking surprised because Bryan seems barely big enough to lug his backpack up the front steps). "Oh, I don't fight," my intern replied, "I just study martial arts."

Hmm.

This got me to thinking about three things: Doms, subs, and how I could turn my suddenly clicking thought process into another BDSM Library verbal throw down...lol. Seriously though, I am curious: we all start our journey into The Life with some type of thought and urge in our head telling us we want this; but at what point do we go from a person with dominant or submissive tendancies to an actual Dom or sub? Is it when we have studied, or when we have actually practiced and engaged? Is there a certain level of proficiency required to assume the title? Is it up to someone else to bestow it upon us? What about online vs real life? Just because a person plays World of Warcraft doesn't make them a Level 42 Wizard in the flesh, does the same apply for cyber Domming and subbing? What IS the difference between knowing and doing and being?

Pick and choose what you wanna answer folks (Hell, add to the litany of existing questions), I just wanna know how you finally came to the conclusion, "hey! I'm a Dom/sub!"