Starting Training at 45

[Please visit our sponsor:]

[arturolczykowski]

Hello everyone. I am just thinking about starting practising Akido and wanted to learn something about it on this forum. Isn't 45 too late to start practising?

[Sojourner]

Not at all! Aikido is ideal for Over 40's, many people often move across to it from other martial arts for that reason! This group here can be very helpful if you are taking up Martial Arts as an over 40 - https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldfartsmartialarts/?fref=ts

[SeiserL]

I started at 44, now 65.
A good friend started at 70.
Bow in youngster.

[Steven]

Two gents in my dojo started at 68 and 72. Both still going strong. So stop the age excuse and get yourself to a dojo. :)

[BWells]

I started at 45, am turning 67 this month. My age has never been an issue:-)

[Hellis]

I remember some 50 years back, Kenshiro Abbe Sensei saying that Osensei had said the peak age for a man was 55 years of age, he said it is a time when a man has to use technique rather than strength.

Henry Ellis

Co-author of `Positive Aikido`

http://kazuo-chiba-sensei.blogspot.com/
http://rik-ellis.blogspot.com/
http://henryellis-aikido.blogspot.com/
http://britishaikido.blogspot.com/

[lbb]

Hello everyone. I am just thinking about starting practising Akido and wanted to learn something about it on this forum. Isn't 45 too late to start practising?

Why are you asking? If we said yes, what would you do?

[nikyu62]

I started at 46 or 47, it is never to late to start.

[Brett_D]

I started three years ago at the age of 46. Some of the damage I've done to myself over the years playing various sports now occasionally manifests itself, and I'm having to learn how to be a little more careful about how I do things, but I'm also now more flexible, more balanced, more relaxed, and just enjoying my aikido. So let me encourage you to get in there! 45? A great age to start, IMO.

[RonRagusa]

Artur - The oldest person we had to start training started at 69. You're never too old.

Ron

[Larry Feldman]

Stay away from break falls.....just roll.

[Le Samourai]

While I don't think it's too late at all, I would be curious to hear a bit more from those who took up Aikido later in life, especially those who had background in other arts. How would you describe your overall experience as an older newbie Aikido student? Since Aikido is often described as having a rather steep learning curve, do you find your age a help, hindrance, or neither?

I am asking as a 44-year-old JKD/Kali/BJJ guy with an interest in Aikido.

[lbb]

Since Aikido is often described as having a rather steep learning curve, do you find your age a help, hindrance, or neither?

I'd say it depends entirely on how well you can empty your cup, and how patient you are with letting it fill up on its own rather than grasping at things with which to fill it. Some people, as they get older, become more rigid and less able to adopt a fluid and open mindset to new things; others become better at this. Study in other arts can help or hinder; IMO&E it's a big mistake to try to understand or frame aikido in terms of what you already know. If you can give all that up and let aikido emerge as its own thing, not "like this" or "like that" or even "different than the other thing", down the road (meaning some years) the experience in other arts can help your understanding.

[PeterR]

While I don't think it's too late at all, I would be curious to hear a bit more from those who took up Aikido later in life, especially those who had background in other arts. How would you describe your overall experience as an older newbie Aikido student? Since Aikido is often described as having a rather steep learning curve, do you find your age a help, hindrance, or neither?

I am asking as a 44-year-old JKD/Kali/BJJ guy with an interest in Aikido.

This reflects my background and the added proviso that aikido drew me far further into its clutches than anything I had done before.

One comment I could make is that age is not really the determining factor but your condition. Beyond the 45 year olds going on 60 and those 45 year olds going on 30, there are many things that determine how quickly and how far you immerse yourself. As an older student your judgement about your own body is probably better now than it was at say 15 but still we see older people holding back too much, just as we see much younger people not take the proper care.

If you have the background in other martial arts you should have a pretty good idea how to adjust your training.

[jamesf]

One my dojo-mates, a 70-something year old woman, received her shodan about this time last year, and about half of our kyu-ranks are in their 40s or 50s, so yep, you'll probably be fine as long as the dojo you pick isn't one of the very few, excessively-aggressive ones.

[Le Samourai]

Mary and Peter,

Thank you both for your comments.

For me, Aikido would really not have been a viable option when I was younger. I readily admit I lacked the patience and discipline. And physically, I am actually way fitter in my 40s than I was in my 20s.

As for the "emptying the cup", this is such an important concept to me I wrote a blog post (http://www.agentintraining.com/2015/06/respect-open-mindedness-and-martial.html) about it.

Finally, I think these two news stories are relevant to the discussion:

At nearly 80, he earns his black belt in Aikido
(http://articles.philly.com/2015-03-23/news/60373427_1_aikido-dojo-black-belt)

Daily Aikido routine provides strength, confidence after stroke
(http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/cityexposed/article/Daily-aikido-routine-provides-strength-6039314.php)
(Why do I sense that the above is some sort of subconscious effort to convince myself to finally take up Aikido?)

[Michael Douglas]

I remember some 50 years back, Kenshiro Abbe Sensei saying that Osensei had said the peak age for a man was 55 years of age, he said it is a time when a man has to use technique rather than strength.
Whehey!
Artur has ten years to go, get cracking!

[Rmada]

I just started and i'm 49, you can do it!

[John McBride]

Hello everyone. I am just thinking about starting practising Akido and wanted to learn something about it on this forum. Isn't 45 too late to start practising?

Hello Artur!

I am new to the forums, but, in a strange way, NOT new to Aikido/Budo.

Years, and years ago, (way, way, WAY, more than I care to admit) i studied Aikido very diligently and earnestly.

For reasons I will not get too deep into here, I had to step off the mat. Marriage, kids, career, bills to pay, all played their part in the sabbatical I was forced to take.

i think that all the responses here are spot on. The short answer to your question is no, it is not too late to start training.

Here is my take. When I was a younger student, as hard as I might try, the allure of that Shodan was a constant battle for me. I knew intellectually that ranks, belts, and ladder climbing were OK as bench marks and in some respects, a way to gauge where one stood in the eyes of Sensi. My journey back then was a constant battle between the western view of martial arts, and the more metaphysical perspective. Somewhere in my gut, or hara, I knew that the brass ring was never really found on the mat, or determined by what was tied around my waist. yet I still struggled internally with the desire for affirmation.

After more than 20 years off the mat, I am once more into the breech. I am reentering Aikido training at the age of 45 just as you are. I am doing so with a healed broken back, joints that creak and ache, and also with a mind that years of living have opened to a much bigger world view and much more introspective approach to the art.

I think that one of the respected members mentioned Osensi's belief that one's Maturity as a practitioner of Aikido did not full reach it's peak until the age of 55 or so. He felt that it was at this point that one had to develop technique to the point of proficiency so as to be effective without depending on physical strength to produce desired effects. i subscribe to this notion. I subscribe to this as someone who has practiced as a young man, and is now entering into that sweet spot chronologically. Not just as an old fart getting on the mat.

One other thought that occurs to me, at our age, generally speaking, we stopped "proving ourselves" about a decade ago. This is, in my view, the PERFECT time to take up Aikido. We have the unique opportunity to dive right in, caring not a wit about anything more than what technique we are practicing AT THAT MOMENT. This is key in my mind. It helps not just with the integration of the technique into our quiver of movements, but it is also a lovely way to develop mindfulness. Taking all this together, it is a wonderful recipe for good health both in our soul, as well as in our body well into our dotage.

Enjoy the ride, I know I am!!!!

[dorit]

Welcome Artur
the one and only answer is
NO

[Hellis]

Hello everyone. I am just thinking about starting practising Akido and wanted to learn something about it on this forum. Isn't 45 too late to start practising?

Artur

I was just reading your message again, I find it a little misleading when you say you are ` thinking ` about starting to practice Aikido, yet, your profile date shows you are already with a dojo in Farnham, I would assume that Dominic Foster would be happy to help you with your questions as a beginner.
Of course you are also welcome to ask here as well.

Henry Ellis

Co-author of `Positive Aikido`

http://kazuo-chiba-sensei.blogspot.com/
http://aikido-controversy.blogspot.com/
http://henryellis-aikido.blogspot.com/
http://britishaikido.blogspot.com/

[erikmenzel]

Hello everyone. I am just thinking about starting practising Akido and wanted to learn something about it on this forum. Isn't 45 too late to start practising?

It is never too late to start!
Some people say aikido is about breathing and focus.
You are still breathing, aren't you?

[edshockley]

My kid started when he was 12 so I sent with him. (I was 42) I continued 13 years then I had a major stroke. My Shihan (Henry Smith) can twice to my hospital to learn how I was. (I had aphasia and could not speak letters.) He gave me some exercises I could do in my bed and as soon as I could leave the hospital (one month later) I could walk enough to get up to the second floor (and clean myself!!!) It is four years now and I do complete aikido/jo/bokken/iaido once more. I do not try to pretend I am what I was and several aikido friends ask me if I seem to be going too much. Qi Gong always is what I liked back in Columbia College and it still is the best exercises for me. "Make yourself new!"

[Eamon]

Hello everyone. I am just thinking about starting practising Akido and wanted to learn something about it on this forum. Isn't 45 too late to start practising?

Way to go! You're a braver man than me!

[fatebass21]

My kid started when he was 12 so I sent with him. (I was 42) I continued 13 years then I had a major stroke. My Shihan (Henry Smith) can twice to my hospital to learn how I was. (I had aphasia and could not speak letters.) He gave me some exercises I could do in my bed and as soon as I could leave the hospital (one month later) I could walk enough to get up to the second floor (and clean myself!!!) It is four years now and I do complete aikido/jo/bokken/iaido once more. I do not try to pretend I am what I was and several aikido friends ask me if I seem to be going too much. Qi Gong always is what I liked back in Columbia College and it still is the best exercises for me. "Make yourself new!"

Definition of dedication...

[arturolczykowski]

Hi everybody,

Sorry for not answering earlier but I was busy practising aikido ;-)

It took me a few months to make my intention reality. In September 2016 I started my journey back in aikido with Musubi Aikido Club in Finchampsted (Iwama style). I didn't mention before that when I was a teenager I practised aikido for about 2 years back in Poland but for some reasons I had to stop doing what was once a love of my life. So now I am falling in love with aikido again....

[arturolczykowski]

After more than 20 years off the mat, I am once more into the breech. I am reentering Aikido training at the age of 45 just as you are.

Enjoy the ride, I know I am!!!!

It took me 30 years to do this step I am happy I did it :-)

[Malinki_Malinki]

Hi All,

Sorry I too am late to this discussion which I just came across today. With no previous Martial Arts experience I took up Aikido at the age of 50. Having injured my knee and told to stop running I was looking for something that was 'Mind, Body and Spirit' that I could do. Despite this limitation I gained my Shodan 1st-Dan Black Belt after 6 years and as I am, despite my increasing years, still getting better, I am looking to try for my 2nd Dan soon.

What I would say to any beginner in their maturing years is to give it a try, persevere and just enjoy it. If you persevere with your training and practice, and continue to enjoy it, you will keep getting better, and who knows where that journey will take you! :)

Best Regards,

Malinki_Malinki