Am I too Old for Judo?

Hiya Guys

I want to ask the question, Am I too Old fror Judo?

I am 37, 18 stone (120kg ish) 5'10" (178cm ish) and got around 10 years experience in Martial Arts, (I've not mentioned the 10years experience to the Judo Instructor - He was told I haven't trained for a while) studying Tang Soo Do, Shotokan, Ashihara Karate, Atemi (Kempo) Jujitsu, Krav Maga and Wado Ryu Karate. Although teaching studying Ashihara and Wado Ryu are now my 'full-time' fields now.

I looked at Judo and not Jujitsu as the style of Karate I teach fills the 'gap' regards striking etc. :karate:

I wanted a different aspect to my martial arts resume' and I don't want to concentrate on ground fighting (my view is go to the ground in the street and be prepared not to be getting back up). Judo fits these criteria as from what I have read, judo concentrates more on throwing 'Nage Waza' as opposed to groundwork 'Ne Waza' which is more Jujitsu based. :meditate:

Not to sure on what style of Judo I am learning I read in one source that strikes/counter strikes are part of the Dan Grade syllabus but that is in certain styles/schools.

I hope I'll enjoy Judo through out the years anyhow - any thoughts please advise :hat:

 

No, 37 isn't too old, assuming you have no health or injury issues.
Be aware though, your 10 years prior experience appear to be with purely striking styles. Be ready for them to have absolutely no bearing on your Judo.
I say this as I took up Judo after getting to 3rd Dan in Shotokan Karate and having done around 3 years of Muay Thai. I have never been so much and so often out of my comfort zone as I was in my first 6 months of Judo.

In terms of style, Judo doesn't have multifarious styles, like Karate etc. Judo is Judo.

In terms of strikes - you'll find the traditional ju jitsu influenced strikes in Kata, which your school may or may not practice. Alternatively, if your school has a bit of involvement in MMA, you may find more modern striking and MMA type stuff being taught. Or you may get no striking practice at all. Once again, depends on the school.

I hope you do enjoy your Judo. I've been at it 5 years now and absolutely love it.
Other tips to remember are, learn your Ukemi and relax during your randori (good advice for anyone). Try not to resist throws too much and always strive for good technique. Hopefully you'll stay injury free and have many happy years in the sport.

 

Both the newaza and tachiwaza in Judo are primarily distillations of koryu (classical) jujutsu. In general, there was no particular focus on newaza in koryu. In fact if anything I'd speculate the opposite were true in most cases, as koryu jujutsu draws its roots from battlefield combat.

The modern association of the word "jujutsu" or "jiu-jitsu" with groundfighting comes from BJJ (brazilian jiu-jitsu) which is derived from Judo's groundwork. People throw around the term "jiu-jitsu" with reference to BJJ or general groundwork and so confusion is created.

However, you're right that these days in particular Judo tends to focus on standing techniques (throws and 'takedowns' and so forth). I think this is a good focus for self defense training, but I also think you should not neglect your groundwork. While being on the ground in a hostile situation is far from ideal I'd much rather have some idea of what to do while I'm there than not. Also, newaza has usefulness for situations where you need to restrain someone without injuring them (combative hypoglycemic diabetic, drunk friend, etc).

So, learn your throws well, but don't neglect your groundwork.
And I don't think you are too old. No one is too old if they train intelligently. (Also, isn't Ashihara a "knockdown" style derived from Kyokushin? If so, what are you worried about? )

I hope you start training in Judo soon, and I hope you enjoy it thoroughly

 

All

I managed to complete my first lesson of Judo last night and I enjoyed every minute of it, I actually felt exhausted at the end of it which I haven't felt for a while. I used muscles I haven't used for a long time. I enjoyed the back to basics approach. It gives me the chance to learn Judo correctly. I haven't told anyone about my experience as I don't want this to inhibit my 'back to basics' training.

Thanks for you comments and advise and looking forward to enjoying many years on training to come. Not to sure on Competitions though, what are you thoughts on that?

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed your first class.

Actually, as a relatively late starter to Judo myself, I'm a bit ambivalent about competition.
It is a huge part of Judo, and one that you should experience. In fact, coming under JudoScotland's umbrella, I had no choice as they use a competitive grading structure.
Look at competition as a fun and challenging way to measure your progress. At our age, we're never going to be national champions, but if you are smart about the competitions you go to, you could have some fun, learn a lot about yourself and your Judo, and maybe even achieve some success.

 

All

I appreciate all you thoughts and guidance

I've been looking through Youtube at Judo clips and I found kodokan goshin jutsu, this has strikes in it, is this where I get the strikes bits at higher grades from?

What level do you have to attain before you get to learn such an excellent form?

 

I looked on the British Judo Association Website and was a little bemuzed.

The Licence fees are directly paid to the BJA and cost £32 for the first year and £31 thereafter.

I sent a mail to them asking if it included grading fees for this price and was I believe given a generic mail response back.

I charge my students £15 per year for their licences within a Full Contact Style but their Grading fees are separate.

Are there any other Judo Organisations within the manchester area within 20 mins of Manchester Airport out there.

The other option is recreational Judo which I wont grade for but I already have a blackbelt another one doesn't matter. but would I still learn all the same techniques and all the Judo Kata

Your thoughts please

 

My Judo hero started when he was 40 and was on the mat days before his death in his 70's. Also have a good player who started the same time as me in his 50's, tough as nails.

 

That seems to include insurance, at 60 pence per weekly class thats not an overly large amount.

 

When I did judo a couple of years ago I had just started doing it after "migrating" from TSD. At my old TSD class there had been quite a few older guys (much older than the OP) who were fat and inflexible; the instructor was happy to attribute their poor level of fitness to their age and didn't push them too hard (in hindsight I suspect that he wanted to take their money by giving them false confidence).

When I started judo, although some guys were young and very athletic, there were also a fair few blokes of middle age and upwards (again, older than the OP). These guys might have been past their peak physically, but they would still have seriously embarassed even the younger guys from my TSD club in terms of fitness, toughness, attitude and general fighting ability. They weren't content to simply sit around making excuses about being too old to train properly and as a result they were great judoka.

I'm sure that with the level of competition in a popular sport like judo older guys are going to be at a disadvantage in tournaments against younger guys but I'm pretty sure they can do very nicely if their goal is self defence or fitness.

 

They have seniors events for over 35s at some competitions. One guy at 37 entered as a novice and found it to be really good experience. Go for it.

 

I just finished reading "The Pyjama Game: A Journey into Judo" by Mark Law. He was 50 when he took up the art, and is now around 60 still training I believe.

So, no, you're not too old

 

I have found the posts by Lucius to be spot on.

Check out Kyuzo Mifune on youtube for truly inspiring Judo.

I started out with judo and moved on to traditional aikido riai. have been crosstraining now for fifty years.

Seventy years old next month and still training.

Competition? go for perfection of technique and try to win but winning is NOT the be all and end all.

regards koyo

 

Greetings each
I to started late on in life ,mind is always willing ,however the body does rebel on occasions ha ha . Never done competion Judo so cannot comment on it , i just seek knowlage and try try to get some understanding of the art . Not just Judo either in short 'DO'

Yours in the spirit of Budo

Mike