I had a few Goju lessons, when I was a kid. I remember that there were some things like dive rolls that, I don't know ow thst I'd want to do at this point. I know that tkd involves a lot of kicking. I guess I'm trying to figure out which style, and I'm not interested in just jitsu or aikido, would be best for an older person, not a senior citizen, who is of average fitness level?
Tang soo, TKD, Shotokan?
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Welcome to MartialTalk, bro. Hope you enjoy it here.
Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
What you ought to do is assess what schools are available to you in your area. See if you can identify them all. Then weed out the ones that don’t fit your budget. Then weed out the ones that don’t fit your schedule and availability. What is left are the schools you should consider. Visit them, several times each. Watch classes. Talk to the teachers and students. Decide in which environment you feel the most comfortable. This means you feel comfortable with the teacher, with the students, with the overall atmosphere of the school, and you find the material and the way that they train interesting.
If you have physical limitations based on being no longer 25 years old, any good teacher ought to be able to work with you within those limitations. It is ok to modify material and expectations for someone who lacks flexibility, for example.
So it is better to approach the question from this angle, rather than deciding ahead of time what style you ought to join. If a particular style does not exist in your area, there is no point in deciding that is the one for you. Or you might find that two schools teaching the same system have a very different feel to them, and you are comfortable in one but feel unwelcome in the other.
So make your list and start paying some visits to the schools in your area. After a few visits I think you will figure out where you ought to train.
Let us know how things turn out.
May I ask, in what area do you live?
And I just looked further at your profile, it says you are 32 years old. You are still quite young and have many years of excellent training ahead of you, if you choose to do that. You are not old.
If you have physical limitations based on being no longer 25 years old, any good teacher ought to be able to work with you within those limitations. It is ok to modify material and expectations for someone who lacks flexibility, for example.
So it is better to approach the question from this angle, rather than deciding ahead of time what style you ought to join. If a particular style does not exist in your area, there is no point in deciding that is the one for you. Or you might find that two schools teaching the same system have a very different feel to them, and you are comfortable in one but feel unwelcome in the other.
So make your list and start paying some visits to the schools in your area. After a few visits I think you will figure out where you ought to train.
Let us know how things turn out.
May I ask, in what area do you live?
And I just looked further at your profile, it says you are 32 years old. You are still quite young and have many years of excellent training ahead of you, if you choose to do that. You are not old.
J. Pickard
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Every school is different. Even if two schools are the same style and part of the same organization there is a good chance the way they run a class is totally different. Personally I think the best thing to do is take a trial class at various schools and pick the one you like that is going to help you achieve your own goals.
skribs
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Taekwondo, Shotokan Karate, and Tang Soo Do are all very similar arts. It sounds like what you want is a striking art with forms/kata. If that's the case, these are great selections. You will find more variances between schools in these arts than you will between the average school of each art.
I'm guessing by excluding Jitsu and Aikido, you don't want to do grappling. But, I may also be wrong in my guess above that you want to do forms. If you want striking without the forms, then Muay Thai, boxing, or kickboxing are great bets. If you're not sure, then add the whole list together.
What I recommend is seeing what's available in your area and trying them out. You can pick the "perfect" art, and it's not available. Or it is, but the guy that teaches it near you is an idiot or a jerk. I'd rather start with a broader brush, so you're not as disappointed if you don't click with the theoretical best school.
The notion that we spend all of our time kicking head high and doing jumping/flying kicks is nonsense. Pick a school. Any school. And go work out. If the school is a poor fit, pick another. Repeat as needed.
