Old guy doing new things.

[Gyakuto]

Judo is the great unsung martial art. Many high-ranked karateka have backgrounds in judo. It is what they learn first. The difference between judo and combat jujitsu is easily learned, should you ever need the latter. Judo is serious self-defense.

Judo self defence? Ouch!

 

[opr1945]

Being a novice this advice seemed to make sense to me.

 

[JowGaWolf]

This is true but is much easier said than done. I think our natural survival instinct is to hold on whenever we grab something, whether it be a weapon or a tree branch 40 feet high. I have found it takes a lot of practice to instantly let go when your grab is being used against you. Disengagement is one of the most difficult tactical things to do be it a battle, argument, or single combat with or without a weapon.

The only time this was easy for me was in training knife defense. Drop the knife in the free hand then stab your partner lol.

Judo self defence? Ouch!
View attachment 30729

Well it's like the picture Kung Fu Wang always posts. The one where the guy's head is planted in the ground.

This is what it looks like when you do something correctly. Watch his foot work, you can see his body struggle to maintain balance.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

I don't stick fight so some of this seems questionable to me.

Yeah, "Kempo-fication of FMA" is probably an apt description. The techniques shown are derived from FMA, but it's pretty clear to me that the instructor doesn't have any experience applying them in sparring, because too many functional details are wrong. Honestly, the original techniques that these are derived from are relatively low-percentage moves that sometimes can come up opportunistically. But the way they are shown takes them from "might come up occasionally in the middle of a transition" to "never going to happen."

 

[marvin8]

Judo self defence? Ouch!

View attachment 30729

The how...

As mentioned in the timing and action/reaction principles, a possible problem is time. After recognizing a weakness in a position, you need to get into position to attack—before the opponent moves. Creating an opponent's weak position can give you more control and time. A stand up grappling example...

Creating a weak position: I use foot sweep to make my partner take a reaction step back. As my partner takes a recovery step, I step and pull him into the line of attack using his momentum. This blends and disguises my actions. I take my second step while my partner's foot lands and throw him with Seoi nage.

https://imgur.com/IzmmN07

 

[Taiji Rebel]

Head on over to the schools and take a lesson in each one. See which one you enjoy the most and stick with it. This is how we did things before the internet. The majority of adults seem to drop out quickly. Experience is the best teacher. As Nike like to remind us... Just Do it!

 

[Cri70]

Hello, I'm 51 and have been shopping around for a Martial Art to take, I've decided to go against popular opinion and skip Jiu Jitsu and instead go with Karate. My question is the local school I think is a chain, Amerikicks. I hear people talk of things like belt factories and such. I was looking for more general knowledge and opinions on the chain. I honestly don't have a lot of choice, there is one other school, but Amerikicks meets my schedule much better.

Thanks for your time..
cheers!

Honestly, at start the school really doesn't matter much. If you haven't done anything similar before, the first several months will be just to about beginning to understand posture, coordination, balance, relaxation, and begin to use and appreciate muscles that normally you aren't that aware of, to say nothing of train them! Just keeping your leg up enough is gonna be hard at start; figuring out how to move properly without having to think about it will take months if not a year.

Imho you simply haven't much use yet for anything deep, advanced or complex at this stage. Training with children will benefit you as much as training with anyone. Whatever you do in whatever school it will be beneficial, if you like and get interested and try to understand how to change the way you carry yourself for the better, and get to grip with the fundamentals and improve your athletic capabilities - your centers of gravity and how to shift them, the use of centrifugal force, independence between chest and hips etc.

Obviously you need someone that can at least point you in the general direction.. I'm not in the US and completely unfamiliar with the MA factories there but so long they aren't really improvised bozos they will be able to do it.

Belts and stuff like that shouldn't even enter the picture at this stage and are completely irrelevant. You will earn your first mental "belt" the moment you manage to keep your posture straight all the times.

And don't get me wrong: if you get passionate about it... the things above, that you begin to learn the first few months, you will practice and perfect until you die. They are the essence of the art (and the fighting system) and the best is to stay a white belt (mentally) as much as possible.

So if I were you I'd just try the nearby school. See if u like it. If you do, it's a lifetime of opportunity to find better schools and practice, regardless the starting age.