Current Events > I'm in my 30s and want to start doing a martial art

(+) Yeah! (+)

Is it a reasonable idea to start so late?
Also, am I going to run into tryhards who take it really seriously?

A lot of people take Tai Chi up in later life, like over 50.

The Chinese have an expression:
"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now."

Hinakuluiau posted...

Is it a reasonable idea to start so late?

Yes.

Also, am I going to run into tryhards who take it really seriously?

Probably, but is this really a bad thing?

Ray Park?

it's never too early.
you're instructor will understand you're a beginner and train you based on your current skill set.

Theres nothing odd about that, especially if its something practical like Judo or Karate. I personally wouldnt take anything like Ninjutsu (they have things like this in my city) because I would probably be in there with a bunch of people trying to be anime characters.

Hinakuluiau posted...

Also, am I going to run into tryhards who take it really seriously?

This line of thinking tells me you're both not mentally ready/you're mentally old af and blame others when you're outclassed in your pursuits with no accountability for yourself.

What, are you planning to do competitions? Then no shit you might run into people who have been doing it far longer and are more passionate to accelerate themselves in the art.

Just do it so you can find out you're mentally weak at it, quit, blame the "tryhards", and find something else that won't bruise your fragile ego.

You could always learn cane-fu.

https://youtu.be/H8hAaOBcFK0

You are never too old. There are people in their 50s doing karate.

i know dudes here that do bjj at the age, apparently its a good work out. no idea about tryhard shit tho. i prefer to workout without another person sweating all over me.

Do it!

Depends on what you want to get into, but no, generally it's never too late to get into something like that. I'd avoid Judo because it's harder on the back and hips and aikido because it's of questionable value at best.

Most places will have classes specifically for people in your situation. I've done minor amounts of boxing over the years. It's mostly conditioning/drill work in the beginning anyway. Sparring in my experience is fine. I've only heard stories of dudes coming in and going all out there. At my skill level, I may have just never run across it. We're trying to work on basics like proper footwork and stuff in my situations.

A lot of my family is into bjj. That's got a ton of sparring. Because of that, anyone that tries to go all out will get beat up by experienced guys until they learn humility or quit pretty quickly. I remember my brother was being an asshole when he first started. A dude cracked his ribs. My brother then learned how to spar appropriately after that.

If you're in decent shape, you shouldn't have much of an issue. If you're not in good shape now, I'd recommend something like boxing, or muay thai will probably get you there. From what I know of bjj you're more learning by doing. Its probably more effective for actually fighting. Boxing is better imo because you're usually more conditioned to run from a situation, which is the best self defense there is.

Id reccomend BJJ. The majority of people do it for fitness and learning a skill, not training for competition. Coming from a wrestling background the vibe of everything being so chill was a surprise.

discodancer77 posted...

Id reccomend BJJ. The majority of people do it for fitness and learning a skill, not training for competition. Coming from a wrestling background the vibe of everything being so chill was a surprise.

Second this.

BJJ is great.

Judo is pretty hard on the body. Depending on how strong and fit you are of course.

BJJ is fun, complex, a great workout but generally the most expensive of the arts.

Boxing is fantastic if you can find a decent gym.

Boxing.

I started doing Tae Kwon do in my late 20s. Never too late as long as you can move around. It will build your stamina and get you in shape for sure. It's also just a nice thing to learn new stuff...for example the kicks in Tae Kwon do are insane and I've always been a leg person (track and soccer) so I loved learning the insane spin kicks in Tae Kwon do. My instructor called me spider man because of my air time on those kicks hehe. Man I need to get back into that shit.

Thanks everyone, I feel a lot better about doing it.

I'm in decent shape but working on getting even better. My job is busiest right now and slows down around September, so I have a few months before I'll be joining something so I'll be in better shape by then anyway.

I was looking at Judo and BJJ, Boxing is interesting as well though. I'm open to anything that is good exercise and might have a little practical value.

It's nice to know that there are other people who are starting at later ages.

nice man ive been doing martial arts since i was 12. started with some tkd, wrestled in high school, dabbled in judo for a bit and currently do muay thai and bjj. thinking about getting into competition again. i realized during the pandemic i miss going to tournaments and stuff. it's never too late. just keep in mind that you aren't 18 anymore. don't try to keep up with the young guys. also if you're interested in competition you won't be a world champion starting this late. but it's still fun to compete in local tourneys.