hey im only 17 nand id like to start training for competitions and seriously entering tournaments and sttuff..
am i too late for martial arts?
and what is a good martial art that is flashy and has a lot of powerful moves
as well as a martial art that encompasses philosophy and meditation and spiritualness?
JUS STARTING
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MikeMartial
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Mar 05, 2004 17:38
- Location: Alberta, Canada
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Martial Arts Wannabe
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guest
No age is really too late 
A good way to find a good martial arts for you, is to go and sit in on a class or two, and talk to the instructor about the things they do there.
Ask about basics, kata (patterns), self defense aplications etc.
Dont take what you see in fights or movies for their face value, a lot of martial arts go a hell of a lot deeper than what people think they do.
Great to see people still getting into it.
I would like to hear what you decide and the reason why.
Good luck.
A good way to find a good martial arts for you, is to go and sit in on a class or two, and talk to the instructor about the things they do there.
Ask about basics, kata (patterns), self defense aplications etc.
Dont take what you see in fights or movies for their face value, a lot of martial arts go a hell of a lot deeper than what people think they do.
Great to see people still getting into it.
I would like to hear what you decide and the reason why.
Good luck.
One is never too old to begin martial arts but sometimes it can be a limiting factor as to which art you study. For example, you're not going to see too many elderly people doing capoeria since it involves a lot of flips and cartwheel-like moves. Yeah, maybe that wacky old guy from the Great America commericals could do it but my grandma sure couldn't. At your age, however, you should be able to do pretty much whatever you want.
As far as advice on a martial art that is conducive to tournmaments, has lots of flashy moves, and emphasizes philosophy and spirtualness, well, you've got me there. You might have to decide which of those aspects are more important to you. Capoeria certainly has lots of fancy moves but I'm not sure how wide-spread tournaments are. Tae kwon do is big on tournmanets but the Koreans are pretty pragmatic people so they don't place too much emphasis on spirtual aspects. My suggestion would be to start doing a little bit of research on martial arts in general, and then start trying to learn more about specific martial artsthat you think might interest you.
The advice the others have given is also good. There is a martial arts proverb that says that it's better to spend years searching for the right instructor than spend years studying under the wrong one. That might sound stupid to a 17 year old but this 34 year old can tell you that there were plenty of times in my life that I wasted valuable years doing stuff that didn't pan out.
Good luck,
Mark
As far as advice on a martial art that is conducive to tournmaments, has lots of flashy moves, and emphasizes philosophy and spirtualness, well, you've got me there. You might have to decide which of those aspects are more important to you. Capoeria certainly has lots of fancy moves but I'm not sure how wide-spread tournaments are. Tae kwon do is big on tournmanets but the Koreans are pretty pragmatic people so they don't place too much emphasis on spirtual aspects. My suggestion would be to start doing a little bit of research on martial arts in general, and then start trying to learn more about specific martial artsthat you think might interest you.
The advice the others have given is also good. There is a martial arts proverb that says that it's better to spend years searching for the right instructor than spend years studying under the wrong one. That might sound stupid to a 17 year old but this 34 year old can tell you that there were plenty of times in my life that I wasted valuable years doing stuff that didn't pan out.
Good luck,
Mark