Ginsu Warrior
White Belt
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2015
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 5
First post. <waves to everyone>
Has anyone here started training later in life - like 40s? Just curious, because I'm starting in the Bujinkan next week at the ripe old age of 44, and I'm sort of wondering if I'll be able to get beyond kyu before I'm ready to start drawing Social Security.
I was an 80s ninja boom teenager and was (in my own estimation) pretty knowledgeable about ninjutsu, having completely absorbed and memorized all of Stephen Hayes' books and the usual magazines of the day. But in those days, the only options for actual training in the US were Dayton or Atlanta, neither of which was close to me. There was nowhere for me to go and train, and so I was confined to reading books and playing with katana and shuriken in the back yard. When I got into my 20s, I got busy with other things in life and pretty much left it alone until now, although I did always maintain a passing interest in it.
I've decided that adulthood doesn't just mean growing up - it means also having the money and resources to do all the cool stuff I said I was going to do as a kid but couldn't. So I've started working out like a madman to get myself back in shape, dropped a bunch of weight, packed on a fair bit of muscle, and I feel like I'm in my 20s again (although I'm not foolish enough to believe it!). I've also been re-reading all of the Hayes books to refresh my memory and start learning the philosophy and terminology again, and I've been doing a lot of research on forums like these to find out what's happened in the last 25 years (what a mess!) and get the lay of the land. I've found a dojo and a sensei that I feel comfortable with, although it's a 2 hour drive each way that I plan to make once a week, maybe twice if I can.
My wife and daughter think I'm nuts. My 13-year-old daughter thinks I should also find Gotham City and study with Batman while I'm at it. It's entirely possible that this is my mid-life crisis, but I figure it's both cheaper and healthier than buying a Corvette and getting a girlfriend - and a divorce.
Any advice from the seasoned members?
Has anyone here started training later in life - like 40s? Just curious, because I'm starting in the Bujinkan next week at the ripe old age of 44, and I'm sort of wondering if I'll be able to get beyond kyu before I'm ready to start drawing Social Security.
I was an 80s ninja boom teenager and was (in my own estimation) pretty knowledgeable about ninjutsu, having completely absorbed and memorized all of Stephen Hayes' books and the usual magazines of the day. But in those days, the only options for actual training in the US were Dayton or Atlanta, neither of which was close to me. There was nowhere for me to go and train, and so I was confined to reading books and playing with katana and shuriken in the back yard. When I got into my 20s, I got busy with other things in life and pretty much left it alone until now, although I did always maintain a passing interest in it.
I've decided that adulthood doesn't just mean growing up - it means also having the money and resources to do all the cool stuff I said I was going to do as a kid but couldn't. So I've started working out like a madman to get myself back in shape, dropped a bunch of weight, packed on a fair bit of muscle, and I feel like I'm in my 20s again (although I'm not foolish enough to believe it!). I've also been re-reading all of the Hayes books to refresh my memory and start learning the philosophy and terminology again, and I've been doing a lot of research on forums like these to find out what's happened in the last 25 years (what a mess!) and get the lay of the land. I've found a dojo and a sensei that I feel comfortable with, although it's a 2 hour drive each way that I plan to make once a week, maybe twice if I can.
My wife and daughter think I'm nuts. My 13-year-old daughter thinks I should also find Gotham City and study with Batman while I'm at it. It's entirely possible that this is my mid-life crisis, but I figure it's both cheaper and healthier than buying a Corvette and getting a girlfriend - and a divorce.
Any advice from the seasoned members?