Im in my mid-ish teens and is it too late to start a martial art like hapkido?

Question

and i did jujitsu for a year but quit about 2 months ago. not very flexible or strong lol.

Answer 1

no, it's never too late to learn anything..

try it,, the sooner the better..

Answer 2

hapkido is basically korean jujutsu as it comes directly from daito ryu aikijujutsu, but adds kicks from taekyun as well. so your jujutsu experience will really help you when you do hapkido.

hapkido is alot less formal than classical japanese jujutsu (which alot of people claim to teach but have no clue about..most are more like hapkido really, more modern/eclectic) ...but the end results are basically the same.

there are alot of things i learned from hapkido that i like better than jujutsu though. like how in jujutsu if you get grabbed by the wrist, you circle your arm up and raise the opponents arm, and then flip yours over and press down for the wrist lock (often called wing lock)...well if he's resisting you...and he will be resisting you..it wont work even if you are stronger than him. to remedy this jujutsu teaches distraction...you hit em to take their mind off of grabbing you so hard for a split second which allows you to do your technique. it works. (also they teach not to resist, or they'll just grab you harder, which is true)

hapkido is a bit different in that rather than trying to move his hand, you drop your elbow and squat...and 'snake' your arm around his...his arm practically never moves until its too late. so you move around the opponents strength rather than opposing it. (sometimes hapkido is more jujutsu than jujutsu is) ...but they also teach alot of strikes too.

i love hapkido because it is like learning karate/tkd/kickboxing....judo/jujutsu...... aikijujutsu..and chikung/meditation all at the same time.

like some other korean arts though, it is slowly being watered down or "americanized" and many ..even in korea are more like gymnasts than fighters. so be sure you have a good teacher. the hapkido i learned some of has basically a direct lineage back to ji han je who is the one who 'koreanized' hapkido. choi yong sul basically taught aikijujutsu...and is quite different than most other hapkido i've seen.

make educated decisions.

hapkido also teaches internal strength, breathing exercises, meditation etc. it is a very complete art...and yes it teaches groundfighting to an extent...not "rolling" like sambo or brazilian jujutsu guys do...but defenses from the ground if you happen to end up there (never go there intentionally)

but adding bjj or sambo to hapkido or japanese jujutsu would be easy, because all of the basic techniques in sambo/bjj come directly from japan anyway...but sambo/bjj work alot of variations on the ground, and teach you what to do if you get stuck down there for extended periods. just besure you're realistic in your ground training, the guy can bite you, he can have a hidden knife, he can attack your groin, and poke your eyes...bjj/sambo schools usually dont address this because they are sports.  (i know a taji instructor who beat a bjj black belt on the ground for those very reasons)

anyway...its never too late, i've seen people over 50 start classes and do well.

you can 1 wait, and regret not starting sooner or 2 jump in there and do it and have fun while learning something beneficial.

it is the instructors job to make you more flexible and stronger...it just sort of happens as you stretch out, and through practicing in class. strength helps, but these arts are not based on strength.

if you get your opponent off balance he is weak and you are now stronger than he is. remember that... balance is the key to everything. keep yours, and take his and he can't fight you anymore. if he is 10, and you are 7...he will win if you fight his force directly....kick him in the knee or the groin and put him off balance...his strength is now 4 or 5...while yours is still 7...you win.

if you'd like a really good explanation of "ju" "yu" in korean. i highly recommend buying the book "kodokan judo" by jigoro kano (the founder) its great, and has virtually the entire system of judo in it.

a word about mixing styles ...alot of people seem to think you shouldnt do that...i dont know why.

all "pure" "traditional" "classical" styles are mixed too, just read history and you can see this is a fact. people solidified 'styles' out of respect for their teachers, which is honorable, but the art is always less important than the ones practicing it....you shouldnt have to change yourself to fit the style....the style should change to fit you.

and as long as the "add on" art doesnt violate the basic principles and concepts of your main art...then it IS that art. or as bruce lee said, they (maybe unintentionally...over time) solidified what was once fluid. something that should be alive is stagnant and dead. somewhere along the way people got the idea you had to do things exacltly the way your teacher did (larglely because of religions beliefs in my opinion) ...why would you do that...you are not your teacher...you are you.

i do kempo jujutsu and hapkido mainly (hapkido added fairly recently)...i still call it jujutsu half the time, because..it is...even if its korean..or chinese...or filipino...doesnt matter. every art on the planet has many more similarities than they have differences. so when you're practicing one, you're practicing many, even if you're unaware of it.

i think largely when you say you're teaching this or that art...what you're really saying is that...this or that art is where you happened to learn these skills. that doesnt mean other arts dont teach the same skills.

don't get me wrong, i have my traditional side, the thing is and always has been (its been forgotten) is to not be bound by, or limited by tradition. you can have the best of both...you can respect the history and lineage, and still improve the art too. when you teach wing chun, teach wing chun. when you're in wing chun class...do wing chun.

you can still do jujutsu as well...but in actual application the lines blur and you do both jujutsu and wing chun at the same time.

sometimes what i did was show jujutsu, they did jujutsu. show hapkido, they did hapkido. then...have a couple days a month or something where you work on blending them together.

Answer 3

no man, i started wen i was 16 ish a year and some later i am doing good, i feel comfortable using my kickboxing, and my grappling is about on level with most blue belts i roll with

, flexibility and strength come with practice and training dont give up on it

Answer 4

Hapkido and aikido uses the oppenents momentum and strength against them so there's no probs about ur strength there. Iv been doing taekwondo for 3 yrs so far and I am 15. We do some hapkido integrated with our classes and its great. You don't need much flexability for hapkido so that isn't a problem either. It mostsly use wristlocks and throws to drop people and not much strength is needed. If you are going to use in a real fight remember to evade there attack or block it before thinking of techniques or you will be on your *** and its not much luck there. Good luck

Answer 5

No, it's never too late.

I take Shaolin and we recently had an older gentleman start the class with what it seems looks like scoliosis and he is keeping up.

Answer 6

No way- I started at 17. Go for it.

Answer 7

No, you should start it.

Heads up, hapkido is very technical.

51 ANSWERS

Answer 8

it's never too late to pick up martial art.