Starting Martial Arts

[Carl Hooper]

Hey, I'm 20 years old, am I too old to start a martial art? I was thinking about Tae Kwon Doe as its the closest type to where I live. I wouldn't mind it because it involves a lot of kicking, still has punching and grappling techniques.

I see Anderson Silva learnt taewkondoe as well as his other martial arts.

Was wondering if anyone else has done taekwondoe and what they think of it or are there better styles out there?

 

[Arecsa]

Definitely not too old at all. Do kickboxing or Muay Thai instead though.

 

[Magnum]

Yeah do Muay Thai or kickboxing and possibly look for a club that does MMA so you can get a well rounded set of techniques. Bit of standup, groundwork, wrestling, etc.. more realistic if you need to defend yourself / kick someones ass...

 

[Carl Hooper]

Everyone does Muay Thai... I'm not too sure I'm keen aye. Plus all the guys down the Muay Thai club all love themselves and look like tossers but if its that much better I'll try that instead.

Is kickboxing the same as Muay Thai sort of?

 

[Big Daddy M]

20 is by no means too old at all.

My advice is to try everything. Most places let you have a first lesson for free so take them up on that and see what you like best.

 

[Pistolero]

Definitely not too old. Start with striking and focus on it. Too many guys focus on being well rounded and they're not proficient in any thing. Focus on your striking for a couple of years or so and if you want to start doing grappling ~ you can.

Kickboxing really takes techniques from a lot of different martial arts styles, but the style that probably stands out most would be Muay thai. American freestyle kickboxing has more of a full contact karate base. If you could do full contact karate rather than TKD, I'd recommend that you went with that instead. There are things in TKD that aren't really practical, but at the same time, TKD is still good.

 

[yeah_nah]

Joe Rogan (UFC Commentator) has a brown belt in BJJ and a black belt in TKD - he was also world champ at TKD.. I remember him saying whilst commentating that Tae Kwon Do is the most useless martial art that exsists

I have been contemplating starting BJJ but I'm not 100% on it yet. Martial arts is something I wish i stuck with when I was a kid

 

[JustMyLuck]

Depends what you want to learn for TKD isnt terribly effective, but can be good fun. If you want something thats going to work do some BJJ and mix it up a boxing or muay thai.

 

[Magnum]

Joe Rogan (UFC Commentator) has a brown belt in BJJ and a black belt in TKD - he was also world champ at TKD.. I remember him saying whilst commentating that Tae Kwon Do is the most useless martial art that exsists

I have been contemplating starting BJJ but I'm not 100% on it yet. Martial arts is something I wish i stuck with when I was a kid

Start. I wish I started earlier too, but no time like the present. I started BJJ at 25 and am still going and am a purple belt.

 

[yeah_nah]

Start. I wish I started earlier too, but no time like the present. I started BJJ at 25 and am still going and am a purple belt.

How old are you now if you don't mind me asking?
and how many days a week do/did you train to get up to purple belt?

 

[Carl Hooper]

I've been reading that TKD is pretty useless in a fight.. Not that I want to start a martial art just so I can go to a pub and knock anyone out but the main reason I want to start is for self defence. Now it seems TKD is pretty useles for that because it mainly emphasises on kicks and fancy kicks that wouldn't be too practical. I'm starting to think Muay Thai now.. But I do like the idea of the belt system and one day becomming a "black belt" in something.

 

[Carl Hooper]

I've been reading that TKD is pretty useless in a fight.. Not that I want to start a martial art just so I can go to a pub and knock anyone out but the main reason I want to start is for self defence. Now it seems TKD is pretty useles for that because it mainly emphasises on kicks and fancy kicks that wouldn't be too practical. I'm starting to think Muay Thai now.. But I do like the idea of the belt system and one day becomming a "black belt" in something.

Ok, I've been researching and I've found an MMA club just 15 mins away! Absolutely stoked! They train in BJJ and Muay Thai. Its 4 nights a week, 3 BJJ lessons with 1 Muay Thai lesson. 120 bucks a month. Pretty decent I'd say. I reckon this sounds a lot better then TKD... What you reckon?

 

[Magnum]

How old are you now if you don't mind me asking?
and how many days a week do/did you train to get up to purple belt?

Just turned 32, train pretty much 2-3 times a week. Occasionally 4, sometimes 1. Not many breaks at all in the 6 and a half years of BJJ I've done though, just consistent training. I also do some weights and cardio to supplement training.

Took me over 5 years to get awarded my purple belt. It depends on how hard/long and how naturally talented or dedicated you are to determine how fast you can get it. Some people could get it in 3 years, some could get it in 7 years. It all depends on your skill and dedication.

 

[Dangercles]

Yeah 20 is not old at all to be starting martial arts. I'm 20 and started Tae Kwon Doe with a few mates a couple moths ago, which I preceded to **** my ankle up so I haven’t been there in a while. They actually prefer students coming in around 20 (well at my one they did)

 

[basilm07]

No way too old

 

[Vendrell]

You're never too old to start. Eddie Bravo started bjj when he was 24 and now he's got an empire!

Tae Kwon Do is a fine place to start but if there's an mma club near you that'd be cool too and would be a lot more fitness orientated. Depends what you're after but just try anything.

Having a karate background myself I'd suggest sticking to the more aggressive styles like Shotokan, Shito-Ryu, Shukokai which are like Machida karate.

Some of the styles I'd avoid are Kyokushin and Kenpo (big in America, not so much here). Before Machida, karate got a reputation in mma for being ineffective because most representatives came from these styles which are pretty useless. The difference between most karate styles is huge and is like comparing Judo, BJJ and no-gi bjj. Kyokushin has more in common with kick boxing than any other karate style and Kenpo was created by some American who watched a few Bruce Lee movies and made up his own martial art.

A good idea would be to look up a particular style that you're interested in on youtube and watch their competitions. If there's a club near you, find out the style or even school name and look that up.

 

[miromilo1]

Tae won doe is a good martial art to start of with because of all the kicking you do, then i think you should go to Kick Boxing, because you learn to do harder, and more powerful kicks.

 

[N1njaju1ce]

Tae won doe is a good martial art to start of with because of all the kicking you do, then i think you should go to Kick Boxing, because you learn to do harder, and more powerful kicks.

Miro u make a good point but ur under cutting taekwondo heaps mate. I am a first dan black belt and some of the things u learn from taekwondo are practical for almost all self defence situations and fights. Also the culture that comes with taekwondo is amazing. U can apply what you learn from taekwondo to all aspects of life and best of all if u train hard and are dedicated the tricks that you can learn are amazing. Things like 900 degree kick and the crucifix lock. Trust me join Taekwondo u will enjoy it immensely.

 

[Mean Muggin]

What's the pressure point martial art? Hai-quan-to (South Korean) or something?

I'm pretty good at them already without any training!

 

[Pistolero]

Dim mak?