To Old For Kung Fu?

[cybermantis]

Is it possible for a person who is mid aged 50 yrs old to start to train in chinese martial Arts and become good and be able to defend myself as well as learn a complete MA system , I have alot of relatives of mine who say thats only for kids and young adults, that If I wanted to do that I should have done that years ago that Id just be wasting my time, instructors time and my fellow studens time?
Ive heard of stories that some legends claim that some of the martial artists of the past were mid aged, outa shape, even fat and unflexible, when they started their training and then later on in life they became master of that particular style?
So my question is being mid aged and never taken a authentic MA class, Ive worked out with daily walking routine and 2x per week on my bowflex.

[PangQuan]

its never too late.

you wont have the flexability and spring that a young pup would. but thats age.

dont ever let anyone tell you an old dog cant learn new tricks.

from 50 years of living, there will certainly be some things you just physically wont be able to do. but we are talking backflips, hand springs and stuff.

you dont need that anyway.

some flexability will never be yours. but thats fine too.

its better to start at 50 then never start. as long as you have taken moderate care of yourself then you will be fine.

[cybermantis]

Thanks for the sound advise the art I was thinking of taking was some kind of internal art, but I have taken care of myself, I dont look fifty some say I look 35-40 it just the grey that makes people think im old, ive been known to do 1500 pushups a day and that was about 30 days go, havent worked out about a month mainly because been busy but last few days been getting back in the grove of things. Hopefully MA helps m e grow as a person?

[Green Cloud]

Try Hsing Yi bat gwa, back mei, wing chung, southern preying mantis, or Hung Ga. All these styles require very little athletic ability and styles like Hung Ga focus on dynamic tension and do little kicking. I have had guys in my classes that were over 70.


greencloud.net

[cybermantis]

I dont consider myself outa shape I am very athletic like I said earlier I was doing 1500 pushup per day and running on a daily basis, I play basketball with my co-workers who are like in their early 20's and they seem to always be running outta breath and my endurance seems to last forever.
But I was thinking something like Bagua? Baji? Etc?
What are push Hands is that an Internal art that can be used as self defense? not alot written on this art? Huh?

[Oso]

What PQ said.

Not sure I agree with Green Cloud though. I did some hung gar for 7 years and needed every bit of athleticism I had. heh, I just got my ass handed to me by that same teacher a month ago...some things never change.

Any good teacher of any style should be able to understand and work with any age induced limitations you might have. Though, it doesn't sound like you really have any. No, you probably won't be doing 540 or 720 jumping spin kicks but do you really want to train TKD or Wushu?

some say it takes 10-15 years to learn a system but that's just the basic mechanics I think.

But, what are you after? Answer that and then go looking for a teacher who can help you meet that and don't worry about style so much.

good luck.

[joedoe]

As others have already said, you are never too old. However I would add that you have to make sure that you examine your expectations closely and ensure that they are realistic. I have taught students who started in their mid 50s, and even one in his mid 60s. Obviously these guys train as hard as they can, but they also understand that they are going to be limited in some things - like full contact sparring.

Jump in and try it out, and do as much as you feel you can do.

[cybermantis]

I mean I work out daily, I love to take my daily walk and daily run although I only run 3 miles a day I feel that I could do like 5-10 miles per day , But it seems that it would morew beneficial if I direct my energyin MA learning and training? Ive always been a runner and into pushups cause gyms are not my thing , full contact sparring dont intimitade or scare me Im sure I could handle something like that it just the high kicks and flips that I may have a problem doing. Like I mentioned earlier I hear some good opinions about bagua and Baji/Piqua these seem like arts that I could handle and stay with them and be faithful to these style ? Would i also have to give up my running and pushups if and when I start my MA training or they compliment each other?

[David Jamieson]

It's never to late to take up something that is healthy and good for you.

Understand what you want to achieve and go from there.

Before setting out on a path, a sense of direction really helps.