Am I too old?

[Sohan]

I brought my 5 year old son to watch a Karate class and he really seemed anxious to try it. The instructor was highly recomended by reputable word of mouth, so I trust his advice. However, I was a little let down when the instructor told me that the class would be so much more benificial for my son if I were to take class with him. I am a 35 year old Firefighter/Paramedic who is in good shape, so i feel like I could benefit from the training, but I almost felt like he was after more money. Like I said though, this seems very unlikely since he was so highly recomended by other students whom I know personally.

I must admit that I have been thinking about little else lately and have a sense of excitement about getting started. I've always wanted to get involved in martial arts, but missed the boat many times over. Am I too old to really get involved? Should I enroll just for my son's sake? Any advice for would be greatly appreciated.

I'm not a big fan of parents taking classes with the kids. If the kids need their parents next to them then they're too young for our class. I never mind the parents observing, but the kids need to be on their own and focused on the instructor. I prefer adults train with adults and kids with kids. I took Tang Soo Do from an instructor who taught mixed classes and I didn't care for it (the class, not the art).

But I do encourage you to begin karate if you are motivated to begin. At 35 you will open up a whole new world that will make a big impact on your life. If you study diligently, by 40 you should be around black belt level and you'll still be very young---in our school most of our BB's are in their 50's! Good luck!

Respectfully,

Sohan

[Aodhan]

I brought my 5 year old son to watch a Karate class and he really seemed anxious to try it. The instructor was highly recomended by reputable word of mouth, so I trust his advice. However, I was a little let down when the instructor told me that the class would be so much more benificial for my son if I were to take class with him. I am a 35 year old Firefighter/Paramedic who is in good shape, so i feel like I could benefit from the training, but I almost felt like he was after more money. Like I said though, this seems very unlikely since he was so highly recomended by other students whom I know personally.

I must admit that I have been thinking about little else lately and have a sense of excitement about getting started. I've always wanted to get involved in martial arts, but missed the boat many times over. Am I too old to really get involved? Should I enroll just for my son's sake? Any advice for would be greatly appreciated.

I'm not a big fan of parents taking classes with the kids. If the kids need their parents next to them then they're too young for our class. I never mind the parents observing, but the kids need to be on their own and focused on the instructor. I prefer adults train with adults and kids with kids. I took Tang Soo Do from an instructor who taught mixed classes and I didn't care for it (the class, not the art).

But I do encourage you to begin karate if you are motivated to begin. At 35 you will open up a whole new world that will make a big impact on your life. If you study diligently, by 40 you should be around black belt level and you'll still be very young---in our school most of our BB's are in their 50's! Good luck!

Respectfully,

Sohan

Not really that they NEED the parent next to them, but as an occasional thing it really helps the bond between parent and child. We run younger classes at our school, and once a week we have a combined parent/child class.

We do separate them otherwise. Kids don't train with adults unless they are moving into the adult class, and adults don't train with kids unless it is a family class.

Special classes and seminars excepted, we will combine for some of those as well.

Aodhan

[Sohan]

I brought my 5 year old son to watch a Karate class and he really seemed anxious to try it. The instructor was highly recomended by reputable word of mouth, so I trust his advice. However, I was a little let down when the instructor told me that the class would be so much more benificial for my son if I were to take class with him. I am a 35 year old Firefighter/Paramedic who is in good shape, so i feel like I could benefit from the training, but I almost felt like he was after more money. Like I said though, this seems very unlikely since he was so highly recomended by other students whom I know personally.

I must admit that I have been thinking about little else lately and have a sense of excitement about getting started. I've always wanted to get involved in martial arts, but missed the boat many times over. Am I too old to really get involved? Should I enroll just for my son's sake? Any advice for would be greatly appreciated.

I'm not a big fan of parents taking classes with the kids. If the kids need their parents next to them then they're too young for our class. I never mind the parents observing, but the kids need to be on their own and focused on the instructor. I prefer adults train with adults and kids with kids. I took Tang Soo Do from an instructor who taught mixed classes and I didn't care for it (the class, not the art).

But I do encourage you to begin karate if you are motivated to begin. At 35 you will open up a whole new world that will make a big impact on your life. If you study diligently, by 40 you should be around black belt level and you'll still be very young---in our school most of our BB's are in their 50's! Good luck!

Respectfully,

Sohan

Not really that they NEED the parent next to them, but as an occasional thing it really helps the bond between parent and child. We run younger classes at our school, and once a week we have a combined parent/child class.

We do separate them otherwise. Kids don't train with adults unless they are moving into the adult class, and adults don't train with kids unless it is a family class.

Special classes and seminars excepted, we will combine for some of those as well.

Aodhan

That's really what I'm referring to. I don't mind a parent occasionally helping a child, but there are schools that train adults and children side by side, which is a mistake IMO.

Respectfully,

Sohan

[Kihap]

Definitely not too old... my father made my two sisters and me start when we were about 10... and he was about 40. It was a huge inspiration to see him working alongside us and give us motivation to keep going (we hated it)

[Black0ps]

Definately not to old. If you feel the need to catch up from your late start though, don't only learn at class, but read books at the firehouse or even buy videos to learn kata's or technique. Definately helps accelerate the learning process to be taught something in class, and then read a book about the same technique at night.