Too old to start?

[Sens55]

I agree with some, it's never too late to start. One of my biggest inspirations in our school is a grandmother who ended up in custody of her granddaughter after the girl's parents were killed. The girl is about 13 or 14, very shy and has some emotional issues. The grandmother thought MA might help her in the confidence department, but the girl was too shy to do it alone. So the grandmother joined too. She's in her late 60's, about 5'1" and 110 lbs, but she WORKS. The girl has shown a lot of improvement. Making friends at the dojang is part of it. But I'm convinced that she couldn't help but be inspired by a grandmother that loved her enough to go through the work, pain and trouble to train with her. Who cares if she never actually achieves an actual black belt. That lady doesn't needed it. She's already a master as far as I'm concerned. And the positive impact she's having on that girl is far more important than anything either of them will actually learn in that class. It's also a nice life lesson to me. Sometimes we get caught up in the pettiness of a lot of things (heck, we argue in here about mediocre black belts and what is a "real" MA), when the real issues of life are sometimes the quiet anonymous struggles that we'll never see or understand.

[The Red Guy]

Nice words Sens55!

[Cyberclown]

I have a student who started training with me (TKD) at 71 years old. He is now 73 and a blue belt. He sets a standard by training so very hard that it is easy for me to tell the younger students who sometimes lack energy to watch him for a few minutes.

 

Will he ever do jumping spinning kicks? No. He will only learn how and why they are done. He does do jumping kicks and he does do spinning kicks, just not at the same time.

 

His grand daughter and his great-grand daughter also train. This man is so vibrant and young at heart that it is infectious to some who are many years his junior.

 

He has told me in the two years he has been training that he feels as though he is ten years younger. At the rate he is going, by the time he makes black belt, he'll be a young man again!.....*g*

[Darce]

There are lots of guys in my dojo that started when they were around 40. And I started when I was fourteen.

[TangSooGuy]

You're really right at about the perfect age to start - I can't see any disadvantages at all, other than as you enter your teenage years you begin to get a lot od things competing for your attention. as long as you feel you devote enogh time to it, I say go for it.

 

I started when I was eleven, and frankly that held me back in some things, like not being able to be a certified instructor until I turned 18...

 

As for too old..not even close...I taught a guy who started when he was 72...is now 75 and a red belt in Tang Soo Do...and could probably out-do a lot of 30 year olds whining about being too old...it mike take him a little longer to progress than some, and he may have some limitations, but he doesn't let that stop him, and he serves as a great inpspiration to me.

[Practise is the Key]

I started doing karate when I was 15....

 

Trust me 15 is perfect not too old nor too young...just perfect.

 

Fact: your first style of MA is the one you like so pick wisely.

[Shorinryu Sensei]

I agree with everyone else, 15 is a GREAT age to start the MA's! Myself, I was 22 when I started (50 now).

 

In most TMA's, you don't actually reach your peak until your mid-60's. One example is the late O Sensei Hohan Soken who personally taught classes in Okinawa until he was in his mid to late 80's, and was still tossing "youngsters" around on a regular basis.

 

Good luck with your training, and welcome to the board!