16
Absolutely. I was 27ish when I took my first lessons, and was so inflexible that when I sat on the floor and stretched my leg out I could only reach halfway down my shin towards my foot. And the splits? Fuhgeddaboutit. At 14 you'll also have an inclination towards trying hard and doing your best, unlike, sadly, many kids under 12.
TKD, probably like any ...
14
Yes, it's possible, but if you focus on that you're likely to be disappointed.
Most people who start (any martial art, or anything else difficult for that matter) tend to drop out after a short time, or simply not have the time or natural talent to rise to elite competitive levels. And that's ok.
It seems a little early to be caring about national level ...
11
Every individual muscle fiber cannot contract for long without being damaged. Therefore, in any static posture or exertion of strength over a significant period of time, muscle fibers within muscle bundles and muscle bundles within muscles coordinate with each other to do the job in turns, as it were.
This is normal and the reason why we can exert much more ...
8
Answer: Absolutely
16 is a great age to begin TKD training and you have plenty of time to become proficient enough for competition, provided you are in good physical condition. Since you mention that you practice ballet and gymnastics, your athleticism makes you an excellent candidate for TKD competition training. I would argue that someone could achieve ...
5
Yes. Without a question.
I'm a Taekwon-Do instructor, and we have students join us from 5 years old through to 40/50+. It's a bit clichéd but you're really never too old to start, like some others have said as long as you're eager to learn and you try hard, you'll do fine.
I started Karate in my late teens when I joined university, and then Taekwondo in ...
4
You can only train with the people who are present. If there are a large number of beginners, there may be a separate beginner class, but if not, you can expect to be in the regular class where others will be more experienced.
It's beneficial to train with more experienced judo partners:
You get to understand techniques directly rather than from a partner ...
4
Yep!
I'm going to back this up with a few points:
Learning anything, not only martial arts, is always best to be started at a young age. 14 is the age that many people would consider to be one of the best times to start because your brain is still in development.
It doesn't matter what martial art your talking about, I have met sever people that started ...
4
Yes, it's fine (good, even!) to start at age 14.
It's a common concern from beginners that they do not have enough strength or fitness or flexibility to start martial arts. Do not worry about this; you train martial arts to acquire these attributes and improve yourself. It's never too late to train to improve yourself.
4
Certainly kids that started off earlier than you would have an advantage over you. But the good news is that Taekwondo divides competitors a number of ways, depending on how many people are competing: sex (m/f), rank (beginner, intermediate, advanced / black-belt), age (children, junior, adult, senior), and weight.
Chances are, you'll compete very locally ...
4
I'm not involved in Taekwondo (so, answer from Taekwondo master should definitely be the best and accepted here), but the question is a bit wider, I think.
Short answer: from my opinion it is OK.
Results you gain depend on your amount of hard work and believing in yourself, not your age. Of course, it is easier to learn in your early ages - because of that ...
4
The average age of medalists in Olympic Taekwondo is 24 years old for males, 23 years old for females. The medalists go up to over age 30.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3863920/
The average age of the Olympic Taekwondo team for the U.S. is 27.
There are competitors and medalists who are over age 30.
No, you don't need to have started Taekwondo ...
3
You'll train with the other students and instructors at the dojo.
With specific techniques, good students and instructors will present rank-appropriate material. One strong benefit of being surrounded by more-experienced classmates is that they've already been through what you're going through. It's easier for higher ranks to feel your mistakes and correct ...
3
I've had experience on both sides, instructing and taking lessons via remote/zoom/teams/etc.
What I've found is that it is more useful the higher up in ranking you go, mainly because the refinements that are needed are fewer, and it is easier for the student to hear what the instructor is saying and turn that into application. The understanding of the basic ...
3
Moving joints suddenly and with force while having arthritis can cause intense pain and wear damage of the joints over time. A qualified specialist is necessary for evaluating what exercises are appropriate for ones particular condition. And that's what I think should be done in this case. This is a very serious condition that requires expert knowledge of ...
2
I personally didn't start Taekwondo until I was in my late 20s; I wish I'd started at 16!
In my school, we have a gentleman who started after he retired! He is now 74 and a 1st Kup, so it really doesn't matter what age you start at.
Some years ago, we had a teenager who did ballet join the school; she'd been dancing for many years and ended up going to ...
2
Absolutely! I was 14 when I started martial arts. Originally, I trained in karate for three years, but I moved to Taekwondo at 17 and earned my 1st Dan at 21.
That was some 30 years ago now, and I still train. My eldest daughter started at age 12.
What really matters is your attitude and commitment rather than your age.
2
I started at 13. I got reasonably good before I gave it up around 16. So yes, you absolutely can. You might not be able to do the splits like the little kids can, but it won't stop you getting good, and you're still young enough that you can easily build decent flexibility.
By the way, our instructor was female, and she was awesome. Some people are just ...
2
You can start Taekwondo at 14 or like me at 28. Your flexibility will improve with time and it will depend on your work not your age. Have seen people in their 60s being better than someone in their 10s or 20 not because they have been practicing for a long time but because of their commitment to improve a little every time. You will see the benefits and ...
2
The question asks which martial arts would improve sciatica.
First off, this sounds like a question for a physical therapist, not a collection of martial artists. Go to your doctor first. And you can easily google for exercises that improve sciatica as well as exercises that make it worse. Read up on what the medical community is saying first.
The main take-...
1
I do not have experience in qigong, but I have seen this behavior in yoga, when standing at attention in odd poses in marching band Color Guard, and in some martial arts. It basically comes down to muscular tension in an unaccustomed pose. Almost every static position that humans hold requires some degree of effort to maintain that position, even just ...
1
There is nothing that anyone can claim about anything which does not manifest. If it doesn't manifest, how can anyone observe it in order to know anything about it?
You can hold a qigong pose and feel heat on your palms when you concentrate on them. Is that chi? What is chi? Define it.
So far, nobody has shown that a metaphysical definition of chi (as a &...
1
Many (most?) martial arts are concerned primarily with fighting and/or sport, and health benefits are a side effect. With a condition like sciatica, I expect your primary motivation is health and not fighting.
Without any personal knowledge of sciatica, I would expect you would want to work on lower spinal mobility. In terms of yoga exercises, this would be ...
1
I started at 14 and continued throughout high school. I don't know how much it helped me learn to fight, but it started me in a habit of being physically active that's lasted me into my 30s and served me well. Plus it's cool to be able to say I'm a black belt, even if I probably can't kick past my waist anymore :)
1
Definitely give it a go, if you enjoy it and you're willing to work, you can do well.
I started in my mid twenties and I've competed in patterns, sparring and breaking at countless competitions, winning plenty of medals along the way. I'm also now an instructor at my local club so I can help teach the new students coming through.
You are never too old, ...
1
In my experience training in and teaching TKD, I've found it can be an advantage starting around 16 rather than at say 12 or younger... younger students struggle to understand or find interest in the subtle body mechanics needed to do the techniques with optimal power, balance, efficiency etc.. They can form bad habits that rely too much on flexibility, ...
1
I started when I was 13 and I won the British open the next year and by the time I was 16, I finished 5th at the world championships for Junior Male Patterns. Would I have been better if I started sooner? Yes. Did it stop me from competing at the highest level? Nope.
As long as you're flexible and can dance fairly well, you should be alright. Dancing isn't ...
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