I'm the oldest guy in my school

[dkm]

and I'm only 32. There is one guy older than me, but he is 60 and comes in only once a while. Everyone else is in the range of 14 - 25 and damn some of these youngins can fight hard and have tons of stamina. So anyway, where do you fit in your school in terms of age and how do you feel about it?

[robertlee]

Better to have youth and adult classes. 16 years and up for adult 15 and under for youth. beginer classes and advanced classes. But this is up to the instructor. I guess as long as the youth are not cutting up and are paying attention its fine 32 is not that old when your in shape. Alot of adults prefure working with adults. Might think of private lessons also. How do you feel in the class? Thats whats important here. If it bothers you talk to the instructor.

[ryanhall]

Don't sweat it. Age and treachery beats youth and skill every time

[Kingston]

im 18, at the places i go im one of the youngest...i think its great, still have lots of time to try out all the MA's i want to, and if im lucky, get good at one!

its nice to have alot of older people with more experience to be able to give advice....

it seems the younger the crowd the more B.S. that comes from thier mouths, its like watching TLC's ultimate 10 martial arts all over again . sometimes its funny other times its just anoying.

oh ya, if your young and show potential, there's a feeling that i could still jump on the fast track, start competing, training hard, and i could make it to the Canadian team or something. (of course personaly im not serious enough to do that, and times running out!)

im taking kendo and Russian martial arts right now.

[dkm]

Originally posted by robertlee
Better to have youth and adult classes. 16 years and up for adult 15 and under for youth. beginer classes and advanced classes. But this is up to the instructor. I guess as long as the youth are not cutting up and are paying attention its fine 32 is not that old when your in shape. Alot of adults prefure working with adults. Might think of private lessons also. How do you feel in the class? Thats whats important here. If it bothers you talk to the instructor.

I feel fine about it b/c I been doing it since I was 21, so I been in their position.

[dkm]

Originally posted by Kingston
im 18, at the places i go im one of the youngest...i think its great, still have lots of time to try out all the MA's i want to, and if im lucky, get good at one!

its nice to have alot of older people with more experience to be able to give advice....

it seems the younger the crowd the more B.S. that comes from thier mouths, its like watching TLC's ultimate 10 martial arts all over again . sometimes its funny other times its just anoying.

oh ya, if your young and show potential, there's a feeling that i could still jump on the fast track, start competing, training hard, and i could make it to the Canadian team or something. (of course personaly im not serious enough to do that, and times running out!)

im taking kendo and Russian martial arts right now.

Yeah, the only problem I find with the younger crowd is that they tend to have the attitude "I am the next Bruce Lee, XYZ Gracie, etc etc" , but anyway, competitions are definetly an excellent way to measure your street abilities in terms of facing strangers, nervousness, etc etc

[rockinronnie]

I'm 41 and I'm the second oldest I believe at the club I train at.
Most of the guys are in the 21-29 range. I can hang with most of
them in bjj/no-gi grappling, but my stamina lets me down most
of the time. Most of the vale tudo guys can't touch me in
hand speed and coordination (boxing) but I get spanked most
of the time when kicks and takedowns come into play.

[magic]

I'm 35, and at the club where I train there are few people older than me, but the majority (in the sneior classes) would be 15 - 25. Some of the young guys really like to let fly in sparring, but funnily enough, most of them can't take it when they cop one back! They get really aggro when sparring each other.

When the older guys spar against them they definitely have the edge in speed and stamina, but us older guys don't mind taking a few on the gloves/arms in order to dispense some of our own. Age and experience definately toughen you up, and can compensate for lack of stamina and speed . . . most of the time (ask Ken Shamrock about age vs youth!).

[jonbid]

I am 15 and go to an adults kickboxing class, i watched a lesson and told him that I would be interested in strting and he said becuase of my height i should be in the adults class.

I think its good to be in with older students as it must toughen you up. Nobody in our class would give any aggro to anybody because they know they would be shamed and thrown out of the class.

When in a tournament/competition, does it go on age or belts or both how you are selected for fights???

[jesse7]

My class is 16-24 .. Im 23. I dont mind the younger students. I can train at two diferent places if I want and we sometimes mix the two diference locations into a group training. The other group has older people from like 16-40 .. so I prefer to train with those closer too my age .

Someone was asking how they do tournyments in terms of age etc.

Usually there will be age groups and in those age groups there will be wieght groups and/or belt groups.

If you wiegh more than a certian wieght they may bump you up an age group. It all depends.

[crazyjoe380]

I BELIEVE DKM IS TOO OLD.. HE SHOULD STICK TO COLLECTING STAMPS..

You bastard! I am 39!

Anyway, I almost always have more strength than the younger guys (it is probably the attribute you can keep improving longest) but definitely suffer regarding stamina.

All you can be is the best that you can be. If you keep worrying about age you will give up, and then really be at the bottom of the pile.

[Szczepankiewicz]

Yes, Bitty, moms was just complaining about your lack of 'stamina' the other day. Getting old sure is a biotch!

Spanky