The age you start an art and it's relation to your ability

[flash]

I can tell you that I started Seido style at a young age and left the MA scene for many years because of extensive travel. I have just re-started and I am 41. Its tough but I have been doing better than I though I would. I am also in much better shape even though I work out on a regular basis. Wushu is a very tough art, don't kid yourself.

[Bretty101]

I think younger martial artists are advantaged in the 3 following ways.

 

1 SPARE TIME- when you’re a kid you seem to have so much free time, to train or do what ever.

 

2 ENERGY- I don’t think I ever ran out of energy when I was younger . I could ride a bike forever and play football for days. I don't think I even slouched on the sofa after a stressfull day!

 

3 ENTHUSIASM- Kids just love it don't they, over excitable with no fear. and what with all the free time and energy to burn off with nothing better to do.

 

I started Martial arts when i was 12 and now I'm 21. A lot bigger and heavier with a lot less free time. I'd love to be a kid again!!!!

 

Old Bretty

 

[ This Message was edited by: Bretty101 on 2002-07-02 10:43 ]

[Taikudo-ka]

I had a big long post about this and it got lost due to the server problems...oh well...

 

My gist is that age is not important. Indeed, it can be an advantage in many ways, eg mental maturity, depth of understanding, discipline, length of attention span.

 

Physically, men in particular continue to develop and grow into their twenties, and do not hit full "natural" maturity until around 24 or so. Best gains in strength and endurance from weight training, etc, do not come until after this maturity is reached.

 

When it comes to flexibility, I only have to look around the dojo when we stretch to see that it all comes down to either natural body shape or training, not age. Some of the oldest students are the most flexible because they've been doing it longer, and also do it properly. Young kids can often be observed stretching incorrectly or displaying poorer coordination and motor skill than their adult counterparts.

 

Kids often learn more by rote and memory. Adults, should, in theory, be able to relate what they learn to other experience and get a better understanding. For example, applying simple physics to understand the forces involved in a punch - easy for most adults, impossible for an 8 year old kid who has yet to learn basic algebra.

 

I bet I could elaborate on the nature of kata and application of moves a lot more than said 8 year old as well.

 

Basically, you never stop learning. The older you are, the more you should know. Also the more training you have under your belt. For something like fighting, skill counts for a lot, and that's a product of experience.

 

As far as 20, or 22 or whatever being too young, that's silly. I train with someone who started when they were 35, and has been training for 25 years now. There is a guy in UFC/NHB who started in his twenties with NO prior MA experience (can't think of his name), found he was naturally good, and went on to win a whole bunch of matches. Also I'm pretty sure that when it comes to boxing, the best boxers are generally a bit older, not fresh 20 year olds. Eg Lennox Lewis - currently 36. Mike Tyson - 35. Tyson's winning the champsionship in '86, at age twenty, was considered ununsual, not the norm.

 

This applies to many other sports as well.

 

 

[searcher]

I think there are merits to starting young and starting at an older age. I started as a teenager and my father started at age 38. I am more flexible and can do some trechniques that he can't seem to pull off, but he was more disciplined than I was when we each started. I think it all depends on the person, some people are not cut out for full-contact fighting and I think it takes a few years experience to find out if you are or not. My children will start training when and only when they show an interest in what their mom and dad like to do. My current master trained his children, but he was unable to keep them going due to distraction by their non-training peers. We all must remember that many of the great masters did not start their training until they were in their late teens or early twenties. Chuck Norris, Bill Wallace, Joe Lewis, and many of the great full-contact fighters of our time began their training in the military and that means teens or twenties when they started.

[jakmak52]

I started training at 38, what was I thinking I've also trained with Mr. Wallace and Lewis...so maybe youth and eagerness is no match for experience and treachery

 

Peace

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/jakmak521

[jakmak52]

On 2002-07-02 10:41, Bretty101 wrote:

 

I think younger martial artists are advantaged in the 3 following ways.

 

1 SPARE TIME- when you’re a kid you seem to have so much free time, to train or do what ever.

 

2 ENERGY- I don’t think I ever ran out of energy when I was younger . I could ride a bike forever and play football for days. I don't think I even slouched on the sofa after a stressfull day!

 

3 ENTHUSIASM- Kids just love it don't they, over excitable with no fear. and what with all the free time and energy to burn off with nothing better to do.

 

I started Martial arts when i was 12 and now I'm 21. A lot bigger and heavier with a lot less free time. I'd love to be a kid again!!!!

 

Old Bretty

 

[ This Message was edited by: Bretty101 on 2002-07-02 10:43 ]

 

Bretty101, Your 100% on this one work is overated

 

Peace

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/jakmak521

[shaolinprincess]

I started at 15 and learn much faster than a young person. And I also feel that I understand more than they will at a young age. But they may be able to do things better or worse. It just depends.

[--]

At a younger age, you can absorb more mental and physical ability, but at an older age, you can refine it more. It has to do with focus and discipline, which usually comes with age.

 

 

[karatekid1975]

I didn't start till I was 25. I wasn't flexible at all. I mean, touching my toes was a dream! LOL. I still have a video of me as a white belt in TSD .... eeekkkkk. Now I could kick an average sized person (under 5'10) in the head. It took work, yes. And I'd prolly have got there quicker at a younger age, but I don't find it difficult. I get in there with the younger ones and spar, and I can keep up, so there's no problem there. I do regret the fact that I didn't start earlier, but the funds didn't allow it