Older noob feeling very uncomfortable...some advice plz

[tshadowchaser]

Echoing what others have said If you enjoy it stay.
I started early in life but the class I was in had me (22 at the time) and 8 children ages 4 to 8. I stayed am still at it at age 67.
Yesterday i had a 32 year old start his first class.
If your enjoying yourself keep your head up and lean. Some will go so will join and you may find yourslef an instructor some day.

 

[blackxpress]

I was a very young 47 when I started. There was another student in his 60's in that dojo and he was tough as old shoe leather. I had a shihan who was 63 and he was in better shape than any of us. I'm 57 now and am by far the oldest person in my dojo. Yes I do have some physical limitations compared to all the young guys I train with but that's OK. I'm not training against them. My goal is to push myself to the limits of my own abilities and then push a little harder. The young guys I train with have a high degree of respect for me and they're my biggest cheerleaders. They refuse to believe my age is a factor and they push me just as hard or harder than I push myself. They don't let up on me because I'm the old guy and I wouldn't respect them if they did. Bottom line: forget about your age and train. If you get injured give yourself time to heal and then train some more. The day you decide you're too old to train is the day you put your fighting spirit out to pasture.

 

[donald1]

I bet everyone's been in your shoes (not quite sure what a noob is) but you'll get good one day. If martial arts were easy anyone could be a skilled trainer. I know how you feel, just got finished class less than 30 minutes ago and am tired. (well actually if I went over sanchin kata really slow a couple times i could probably do it again but that's besides the point) but don't get discouraged every class is improvement even if you don't see it its a long patient process and uses effort throughout the whole process

Best of luck

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Any advice to get this feeling out of my head?

The following conversation happened right after the tournament between my guys and the Beijing Physical Education University Chinese wrestling team.

A: How often do your guys train?
B: We train 3 times a week, 3 hours each. How about your guys?
A: We train 6 days a week, 6 hours each.
B: We do envy your guys to have that much time to train.
A: We also envy your guys to have that much money to travel.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Hey allIve just started taking classes. While im not old by any means (39), Im probly older than most beginners.I know i shouldnt feel like this, but when im in class I feel so unsure and somewhat embarrassed cuz I dont know anything. All the other students are far ahead of me....and younger. Not kids or teens but like twenty somethings.The Sifus are right around my age and they say im picking it up very quickly but that may be just fluff to keep me motivated.Now...I know i should just swallow the man pride and say "hey im new at this"....its still hard to not feel uncomfortable. Especially when anyone im teamed up with immediately becomes an expert cuz they are paired up with the new guy. Dont get me wrong...the class is great and the people arent jerks or anything. I realize they are just trying to help. Its just all kinda embarrasing tho.Any advice to get this feeling out of my head?

You look at yourself compared to the 20 year olds. You see their strength and their endurance and sometimes how quickly they learn.
Yet there are some who are 20 and looking at the 16 year olds and thinking the same thing.

The best way to think about this and any exercise is not how good the best are or even the average professional or collegiate practitioners, but to think are you better than yesterday? Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Take the long plan and learn and practice and do your best. Worry not about others, but just yourself.

Good Luck