beginner

bikermartin

i have a question to ask about taking up a martial art. i am intrested in starting either taekwon - do or kickboxing. i am 39 yrs old male and approx 16 stone. will this be a problem or to big of a mountain to overcome. i am doing other activities to lose some weight. i am also hoping to tone up and have more disipline form martial arts.

martin

no scope

it all depends my friend

if you like getting a few digs to the head go with kick boxing
or prefer to take a few kicks to the head go with taekwondo

im 19 i started taekwondo when i was 12 and have now got my second degree black belt after 5 years it is a very good olympic sport as you will hear from others

you will be fine doing either

bikermartin

i went to taekwon do when i was 20 for a few months. had a nasty motorcycle accident. broke leg in 3 places so that put me out of sports for a long time. is there may 40 yr old beginners, really wouldent like to be the only one, but if i am able to keep up with the work load it wouldent bother me anyway

challengemaster

no scope wrote: »

it all depends my friend

if you like getting a few digs to the head go with kick boxing
or prefer to take a few kicks to the head go with taekwondo

im 19 i started taekwondo when i was 12 and have now got my second degree black belt after 5 years it is a very good olympic sport as you will hear from others

you will be fine doing either

You do realise there's ITF TKD aswell as WTF... and taekwon-do doesn't imply WTF...

You're just as likely to get a few kicks in the head as you are punches in ITF.

Barry.Oglesby

Most places will have beginners classes for people of all abilities. get stuck in and have a go! I wouldn't worry about your weight or age.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Yup, what Barry said.

Look around, see whats in your area and visit a few clubs.

Your not too old by a long shot, or too out of shape.

Something which Barry said strikes a cord - beginners classes, some clubs run them & other's don't. The really good thing about a beginners class is your starting with people all more on less on your own level in terms of fitness & abilities.

Some styles you could struggle as a beginner in among more experienced people, and although people will say the higher grades should slow it down and have patience sometimes it doesn't work like that, esp. in a competitive club environment.

Where are you located OP?.

bikermartin

im located south wicklow not too far from gorey or enniscorthy

Zen65

Bikermartin, neither your age nor your weight will prevent you from doing either TKD or Kickboxing, but don't imagine for a moment it will be easy. I know people older than you (including myself) who started back to karate & TKD in their 40's and they are still at it many years later, so let me share some of their experiences with you:

Firstly you will discover that you tire more easily than you did at 20. Secondly you will find your body less pliable than it was at 20. The extra weight you are carrying will hinder your speed in performing techniques, and even lifting your legs can be strenuous. Your age may separate you socially from other members in the club, especially if you "play the old man card".

But if you genuinely want to train in these arts and if the school you chose to train in is a good one, you can overcome these obstacles with effort and perseverance. Don't expect to see results before 6 months, except perhaps that your level of fitness may improve after 3 months if you are training regularly.

BTW, if you can't train regularly you will find the task almost impossible, so decide now that you will not miss classes once you have started. You should also be clear in your own head that TKD or kickboxing is the right choice for you rather than an art which places less emphasis on kicks (such as karate).

If there is a social gap between you and other members of the club this will almost certainly improve once you have established your credentials as a sincere practitioner and they will stop seeing you as yet another mid-life-crisis looking to regain lost youth. They will admire your perseverance and you may even become a role model.

yomchi

Try these guys www.focusmartialarts.com

Baggio...

yomchi wrote: »

Try these guys www.focusmartialarts.com

hey Jon, I see this guys are affiliated to Tony Blauer - good stuff! Some of his material is excellent. I'd say they'd be a decent set of fellas to check out.

yomchi

Baggio... wrote: »

hey Jon, I see this guys are affiliated to Tony Blauer - good stuff! Some of his material is excellent. I'd say they'd be a decent set of fellas to check out.

Hi Rob,
Yeh Darragh is a sound guy. He loves the Blauer stuff, he did a seminar with Lee about two years ago. He says he likes to mix Lee's stuff with Blauer, which would make it very interesting indeed!

Baggio...

yomchi wrote: »

He says he likes to mix Lee's stuff with Blauer, which would make it very interesting indeed!

Ah cool I did'nt know that... Did I meet him at one of the seminars?

I saw some of Blauer's anti rape material recently, it was really cool - his concepts are great. His ABC's of street combat also contain some very cool material. He was definitely one of the innovators (and still is) and was doing this stuff way before most.

It's very cool that we have Blauer affiliate over here.

bikermartin

going to visit new club tomorrow night. a bit nervous about it really. i am not planning on taking part tomorrow just checking it out to see which ma to start at. the choice is tkd or kickboxing . are they trained completely differently and do both ma use similar grading systems ?

Doug Cartel

You'd get a much better feel for the place by actually taking part in a lesson, instead of just sitting on the sidelines.

yomchi

bikermartin wrote: »

going to visit new club tomorrow night. a bit nervous about it really. i am not planning on taking part tomorrow just checking it out to see which ma to start at. the choice is tkd or kickboxing . are they trained completely differently and do both ma use similar grading systems ?

where are you planning on going to?

The TKD and kickboxing syllabus' are very different although that will differ from club to club.

poconnor16

bikermartin wrote: »

going to visit new club tomorrow night. a bit nervous about it really. i am not planning on taking part tomorrow just checking it out to see which ma to start at. the choice is tkd or kickboxing . are they trained completely differently and do both ma use similar grading systems ?

Just chuck on a track pants and jump in!! Everyone will know you are a beginner so nothing will be expected of you. It really is the best way to do it. Do not over do anything, and do not push yourself in anyway - you'll enjoy it!

Have never taken part in KickBoxing, but study TKD and have done Karate. I love the structure of TKD classes anyway. I'm 29 and beginning again...we have people of all ages coming into the Dojang. I really hope you give this a go - good luck:)

bikermartin

going to new class tomorrow.the club practice TKD and kickboxing. i am not really sure which would be most suitable for my fitness and flexability levels. what would be your opinions ?