Choosing the right one available

[drop bear]

Fight Night 6, fighter profile: Justin Heitman

From our club. Trained two years doing his first fight in April.

A bit older than 20

 

[WaterGal]

I don't know. Most people think that I might not be able to learn much because I am 23 years old. Some say people my age are likely to quit, but I think the same thing holds true for some of the teens out there. Young kids probably learn faster, and I will probably need 10 years to move up in the world. I am still willing to give it a try.

As someone that co-owns a school, in my experience the main "issue" with someone in their early 20s is that they they often times are in school or working multiple jobs and don't have steady schedule availability and spare money to pay for classes. Not that they can't learn.

 

[Langenschwert]

I started HEMA at 31. I still compete and win medals, albeit not as many as when I was in my 30s. I'm 44 now. I started Judo at 41.

Of all those arts, I would recommend Judo, all things being equal. It will push you like few other things. It will also make you into one tough customer. Do not mess with an experienced Judoka or wrestler. You are also still young enough to compete in Judo if you want to.

I'd say the following quote applies to Judo as well: "Once you've wrestled, everything else in life is easy." - Dan Gable

The only thing about Judo is that it is rather injury-prone. Make sure you have good health coverage. Sprains, strains, and worse are not unusual. On the plus side, you're still super young and will heal quickly if you get hurt.

Judo is also not very self-defence oriented these days, but that's not a huge problem. The "sport" of Judo is often more effective than some self-defence arts when it's "go time" due to the intensity of the training. If you manage to combine Judo with boxing, you will be hell on wheels unarmed. Weapons are another story. So much weapon defence is of poor quality, so do your research. As a weapons practitioner, when I see a lot of weapon defence it's like a BJJ guy watching "anti-grappling" videos.

Not that the other ones can't be good, but the quality control of the other arts is generally not as good as Judo.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

As several other people have mentioned go to each school and take a class. See which one you like the best and which instructor you would like to learn from. Then make your decision!

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I don't know. Most people think that I might not be able to learn much because I am 23 years old. Some say people my age are likely to quit, but I think the same thing holds true for some of the teens out there. Young kids probably learn faster, and I will probably need 10 years to move up in the world. I am still willing to give it a try.

I started at 46. I will be 56 in July. Anyone want to tell me I'm too old? You'll have to speak up, I'm a bit deef in one ear.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Hello everyone,
At the moment I live in a pretty small town and there aren't a lot of martial art schools. There are only four. So here are my options: Judo, Aikido, Karate and Wing Chun. I have to say that I am 23, and I've done a bit of Krav Maga. I am very, very far from being an expert, though. I know I am old, but I'd like to give one of them a try. It's all about self defense, I don't want to compete. It's too late for that anyway. Most people say none of the above mentioned will do for me, but I am not entirely sure if that's true.

Thank you.

You're 23, I literally have leather jackets older than you. You are not old. If I were 23 (I have been twice so far and I am working on the 3rd one) there would be absolutely no reason what-so-ever you could not train whatever it is you wanted.