Any advice for an "old man" starting back up?

[Highlander]

The first half of this I already posted on the introduction page but I felt it was necessary to repost it to get an idea of were I am coming from.
I am 45 years old.
I live and work in the central Florida area. Have lived in the Florida area most of my life.
I now work in the construction/contracting business.
I have been in love with the martial arts since I was old enough to watch those old Japanese shoalin Saturday morning kung-fu shows at age 12.
In my youth I worked in a law enforcement atmosphere and worked out with MMA quite a bit.
I AM NOT a professional fighter and never have been but have always loved all forms of martial arts.
I have been in a 10 year hiatus (did I spell that right?) since starting my career and family.
While I miss what I had with my martial arts I don't regret my decision. My family is my life.

I am looking to get back into my training because for the past few years I have been feeling like "an old man" and at 45 I shouldn't feel this way. I am watching guys with 10 to 15 years on me jogging by my house every evening.
The every day "family" gyms are all around me but every time I think about going to them to work out all I can think of is: "Damn this is like going back to work for another 2 hours." It's not enjoyable.
I want to be able to enjoy getting back into shape. While I realize that the every day gym exercises are necessary I don't want them to be the only thing I have to look forward to every evening on my road back to fitness.

While I am not looking to get hardcore, I am looking to train hard, get in shape and get back in touch with my martial arts background. I have always loved Iaido, working with the bokken, escrima sticks and other weapons drills.
I used to get a work out just doing these drills.
I have no intentions of competing in a ring. The training I do I want to use just to get back in shape, feel good about myself again and regain a sense of security in being able to take care of myself in a threatening situation.

My diet is the typical married man with wife and child type dinners.
Lunches are typical, whatever I can run out and get. Lately though because I am working closer to the house at this time I am able to come home and have healthier meals. While do try to drink water during the hotter parts of the day I do have to admit that in the evenings and when sitting in my office doing work at the end of the day I usually drink "Pepsi one". While I have no reservations about the chemical content of these things I did start drinking the Pepsi one instead of regular Pepsi when I saw that there was a 1500 calorie per can difference.

I am 5'-8" and weight about 230 lbs. While that seems heavy I am probably only about 20-25 lbs. overweight. I am large boned with broad shoulders and have always worked hard and worked out hard when I was younger.

The thing I am mostly wanting to work on at this time is my weight and wind.
I am not concerned with muscle building or bulking up. I want to get my body weight down to where I don't feel so uncomfortable all the time and get my myself back to the point of running around the house or a couple of laps in the pool doesn't have my heart pounding in my chest.

Anyway I look forward to chatting with lots of you and getting input.
Please, professional and courteous remarks only. I would hope we are all adults in here no matter what our age.

[DickHardman]

hi highlander. what are your thoughts on joining a boxing gym or a muay thai gym? you will get in great shape from boxing and muay thai. i have literally seen morbidly obese men turn themselves into athletes by training in muay thai and boxing. i am biased, but i believe muay thai and boxing are awesome arts that have a lot to offer and get people in great shape. whats great about boxing is its a very popular sport, you can find a boxing gym almost anywhere.

[Tom Yum]

Reading your interests, Highlander, you might want to check out karate but not just any form of karate. There's an art called Koykushin Karate, which although is very traditional in the Asian sense of the term, stresses fighting.

This doesn't mean you have to compete against professional fighters, but it might mean that you will have to prove your skills every now and then to get rank.

Here's an introductory video from the founder, Mas Oyama, who trained and fought into his elder years.




And in action...



There's also an art called hwarangdo from Korea. Again, its a traditional martial art in the sense of structure and principles, but the focus is on combat.

[Highlander]

Originally Posted by DickHardman

hi highlander. what are your thoughts on joining a boxing gym or a muay thai gym? you will get in great shape from boxing and muay thai. i have literally seen morbidly obese men turn themselves into athletes by training in muay thai and boxing. i am biased, but i believe muay thai and boxing are awesome arts that have a lot to offer and get people in great shape. whats great about boxing is its a very popular sport, you can find a boxing gym almost anywhere.

It's funny you should mention this. In the area I am located there are not a lot of what I would call hardcore serious martial arts locations. I'm not into the family night at Y.K. Lee's martial arts studio where we all line up and do katas together. I like the hard core sweaty atmospere of a real gym type studio/dojo. I live in Oviedo, Florida and my current jobsite is in Oveido as well. The nearest "hardcore" facility I could find was a kickboxing/boxing facility in Orlando where David "thunder" Cummings teaches Muay Thia and kickboxing classes. He also doubles with another instructor and teaches Hapkido on the weekends. The gym also doubles the local "Jeet Kun Do" institute for additional training. The gym is branching out to 6,800 sq. ft. and going to have around 30 Muay Thai bags added. While I was committed to driving this distance to achieve my goal I may have found an alternate hence closer solution for the beginning phase of getting back into shape.
I haven't had a chance to check it out yet but LA Boxing just opened up a new facility down the road. I remember seeing the one and only ad they put on TV on the local news channel. It looked like a pretty decent facility. From what I hear from the "salesman" they do a Muay Thai kickboxing workout routine. They also have a ring with sparring nights and over (30) 150lb. Muay Thai bags to work out on. While I don't think it is as hardcore as the other faciltiy for the time being it is closer and might serve to get me going to where I want to be.

[ttruscott]

I'm 60 now and went thru the same thing.

My advice: just do it, what ever is closest and looks good.

Just don't let the reminder that you are not 20 anymore cost you a year of workouts from injury...