Overweight but wanting to go back.

[AT]

Hello. I took karate when I was 7 till about 12 and made it to brown belt but failed the shodan test like 3 times. After that i quit so i could have more time to play videogames on the weekends lol. Hadn't done any MA since then. Today i totally regret quitting. I'm 24 now and am 6'1, 260lbs. I wanted to get back into Karate or maybe Taekwondo since i liked doing kicks as a kid and still kinda do. Do any of you think it's still possible for someone as overweight as me to get back into MA? Or would it be better if i tried traditional methods of losing weight first and then maybe joining a karate school.

Thoughts?

Edit: Sorry i had initially posted this in the "Karate" forum but i guess it shoulda just gone here.

[Brandon Fisher]

No reason why you can't get in and use MA has part of a excercise and diet program. I would go for it, I am kinda partial to karate especially for those that heavier. Seems to allow more growth for them then TKD. TKD is a great system but with all the high kicks I like leaving it to the thin long legged people and watch them make it shine.

[Simo]

hey AT, when i first started karate i was an overweight kid, now days with the right foods and the continuous training ive actually lost well over 15kg, not sure what tht is in pounds! but im loving every moment of it. I agree with brandon when he talks about tkd, its good and all but yeah id did the same thing! left it to all the thin lean people. karate the way to go in my opinion, but u may wanna take up MMA or another martial art!

[AT]

hrrm. I checked for local Kyokushin dojos and found that there's only one dojo that teaches Kyokushin style of karate. However the shihan of this dojo is Bobby Lowe.... supposedly he's one of the higher ups in the IKO1 world eh?

[SitsWithFists]

hrrm. I checked for local Kyokushin dojos and found that there's only one dojo that teaches Kyokushin style of karate. However the shihan of this dojo is Bobby Lowe.... supposedly he's one of the higher ups in the IKO1 world eh?

Thats good! Then he will be a great teacher. I say go for it, it will help you reach your fitness goals. Just having a routine is half the battle

[Shotokan-kez]

I agree with what Brandon said, you would be surprised how ma training can keep off the pounds, combined with a good diet and lifestyle there is no reason why you can't start back now.

[Neo Dragon]

Of course its not too late. Im overweight and doing MA and Im one of highest ranking students. You can learn to use your weight to yjour advantage with more experience.

[Adonis]

Joe riggs was over 300 lbs and is now fighting at 170 lbs. So yes you can loose weight.

Join your local karate school or TKD school and just get in there you will loose weight while your training.

Good luck to you.

[Leopard claw]

Hey AT, there's no reason why you can't aslong as you are healthy.

There are people of all different ages, sizes and heights in my dojo, heck a 70 year old lady just got her yellow belt. The hardest part is taking that first step, you're never too old and the benefits you will gain are so well worth it in all respects.

Go for it!

[pegasi]

Just thought I'd chime in that I'm no flyweight either, and I'm taking taekwondo now. I find that with time I have learned to do high kicks, I can now, almost 2 yrs into it, kick my own head height, shoulder height if kicking "cold". I'm still a large woman, I'm 5'4"and wear a size 6 dobok (gi).

I do tkd because I like martial arts, and I can't do the low stances of shotokan anymore with my permanently messed up knee. Taekwondo (I'm wtf style, taegeuk forms) does do high kicks, but they don't do the low stances of traditional karate.

There are things I can't do with my knee being damaged, like jump kicks, but I do eveything else I possibly can. I tried the jump front kick when we were first learning it, but it left me on my backside for the weekend after a thursday evening class. I could barely walk, the knee hurt so bad. So, that informed me of my limits. My instructor is fine with that, as long as I do everything I can do to the best of my ability, that's what counts.

Don't let your size stop you, use your desire to train as a motivating factor to get you in class, putting out your maximum effort, along with better food choices, and you'll lose the pounds soon enough.

The first step is the hardest one. You've seen the cheering section here... now JUST DO IT!!