Martial Art for an Old Fart

I'm getting up there in years myself, aren't we all, if some are not already.

Anyhow, I was wondering what would be a good MA that you can still practice in your advanced years, a style that would still be viable for self defense, one that doesn't require physical strength or flexibility?

 

zhoo zhitsoo.

 

How about FMA? My buddy always says..."one day I won't be able to kick and punch, but I can still swing a stick"

 

Puali and Pacificshore, thank you.

I'm seriously looking at zhoo zhitsoo, and I have some experience with Modern Arnis. I suppose when I become feeble I can carry a cane with me and not look out of place

 

Bagua, you get the benefits of IMA practice but it is also effective for self defense.

 

Age isnt an excuse.

The Spartans fought until they were like 50+, hell they werent even real soldiers till they were 40 odd.

Any style will cater to you, you dont have to go balls to the wall and compete full contact if you dont want to.

 

Well I am 5 years from Spartan material but yeah, I make the 40 "odd"! Of course, competing at this age is quite fun! Nothing like a test to see how you are progressing.

 

They stopped fighting at the 50-60 mark, fighting in wars that is. They trained till they died.

 

I'm with them on that one! Nothing like turning a few younger birds' heads! LOL

 

hahaha...so true. tatang was still whipping boys three time younger his age group before he died. he even killed a mugger a year or two before he died.

 

Weapon arts are probably going to be your best bet. Weapons are force multipliers, allowing one to do more damage at a greater range with less effort. Studying FMA or WMA (for example) could make one a dangerous SOB with a baseball bat or a piece of rebar. In addition, weapon arts are likely to contain a lot of grappling, so you're effectively killing two stones with one bird. Or something.

Best regards,

-Mark

 

I've never really heard of Ba Gua before, so I did a search on the Interweb and it looks interesting. Too bad no one seems to teach it in my neck of the woods.

 

Tai Chi and Xing/Hsing Yi would also be good, both have the health benefits of IMA's and are also geared for self defense

 

We have a 73 yr old that does TKD, and Hapkido and he does very well. Even the grappling arts would be OK, just be careful with the throws and take downs.

 

That's really cool. Hopefully I'll be swinging my swords, doing Ringen and tromping about in armour when I'm that age.

-Mark

 

Yip Chun, the headmaster of Ip Man Wing Chun Kung Fu Association, trains & chi-sau's regularly, & he's 82.

 

These are excellent suggestions along with his earlier one on Ba Gua/Pa Kua. The FMA are also excellent. They're not all about sticks.

 

there's a guy i used to work with, in his late 50's, takes aikido & loves it - he's not the most mobile, but feels like it fits his abilities very well.

 

thank God someone notices this. fma isn't just stick fighting....