Best Martial arts Styles for men over 40

One of the questions that I get quite often at the Kung Fu Academy is “Am I too old to start training in martial arts?”

Warning for some of you old-timers out there,  if you're 40 years old and you've never taken a martial arts class and you have a dream of becoming a UFC champ or winning a gold medal in the Olympics for Judo it's too late. I mean I hate to be a dream squasher, but that ship has sailed and sunk.

However, if your goal is simply to improve your life, get in shape, learn practical self-defense or develop your strength and flexibility, then don't think twice about it. Sign up for a class right now.

If you're not sure which style to get involved with well made a list of my top picks for Martial Arts Styles For Men Over 40:

3 Of The Top Martial Arts For Men Over 40:

In my opinion, if you can find a qualified instructor that understands the actual meaning and application of all of the movements, then Tai Chi Chuan can be an excellent choice for you. In fact, Tai Chi can be trained well into your 80’s if done with care.

If you ever go to China you will see many of the elderly, practicing Kung fu in the park in early mornings. This definitely leads to living a much healthier longer life.

The Truth About Martial Arts Styles For Men Over 40

The truth is that training in the martial arts does get a little trickier and more difficult as you get older. Let me give you an example, when I was in my teens if I threw too many punches or kicks, sure I would wake up sore, but I usually would recover by breakfast. Most days I would be back to full power by lunch. In my twenties if I woke up a little sore and might take a day or two to recover. When I hit my thirties it would take maybe 2 or 3 days. Now I'm in my late forties, and let me tell you some days I wake up and I'm sore and it may take a week or two before I'm feeling back to normal

Don't get me wrong I can still hit hard just as hard as I could have my 20 just not all day every day. 

The bottom line is I don't care if you're 20, 40, 60, 80, or 100, whatever if you've always wanted to try martial arts do it.

If you quit martial arts years ago and now you're worried that you'll never catch up, well thinking like that just going to take you farther and farther behind.

Remember that even if you can only show up for a class one time a week it's still going to be beneficial to you. Even little martial art training will make your life a whole lot better so whether you're twenty or a hundred and twenty go for it

Life is short my friend if you want to do something go do it. I promise you the climb is worth it with each step you take the view gets a little better.

Martial Arts Fitness

 Can you imagine what it would be like to eliminate the pain you have been feeling in your body as you get older?

Martial Arts Fitness

I know how you feel. You work hard every day. You are sick and tired of your daily routine of just coming home every day and watching television, cooking dinner and slowly letting your body age and deteriorate.

That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Work has its own stresses. People around you are demanding and the boss needs to get the project done NOW. Or maybe just the job itself just robs you of your energy and takes a lot out of you.

You KNOW that you need an outlet, that will restore you and your mental energy. In particular, you have always wondered about martial arts classes and you absolutely hate going to the gym.

Specifically, there is no goal, no reward for you to achieve when lifting weights or jogging.

If you were enrolled in an actual class, you would finally be able to stick with it and enjoy the process of getting fit.

Would you like to feel young again, full of energy, like you did when you were a teenager?

Do you remember when your joints didn't hurt and you were flexible and agile enough to jump over a small wall with ease?

Here's some great news for you.... You can feel that way again!

Martial Arts Fitness Training At Our School Will Teach You One Of The Most Efficient Ways To Get In And Stay In Shape.

The Secret Method To Getting In The Best Shape Of Your Life

So what is the secret?

Training in the ancient art of Kung Fu of course.

Here's the story:

Before I started martial arts training at the age of 19, I was just like many other teenagers that I knew. I wanted to be big and jacked like the bodybuilders in muscle and fitness magazines.

In fact, my friends and I would pour over the magazines and then lift weights right afterward. I made some modest gains but back then I had a really hard time putting on any kind of mass.

When I turned 19 years old a friend of mine invited me to attend a martial arts class with him. Needless to say, I was hooked after my first class, I remember walking out of class on that first night. We had literally worked on leg strength for 80% of the class. As a consequence, my legs were now jello.

There was a small step that led out of the building, and as I took the step out into the parking lot my left leg collapsed and I almost fell to the floor!

The step out into the parking lot wasn't even a full-size step. For one thing, it must have been only about 6 inches tall. However, my legs had been fatigued to the point of failure and now they were having trouble supporting my own weight.

That first night of kung fu class here was not a weight in sight. Yet I still got the hardest Martial Arts Fitness workout I have had up until that point.

So what was it that made my legs give out?

Bodyweight exercises.

As you may have noticed, when you compare the body of a martial artist and the body of someone who works out at the gym there is a huge difference

Indeed, the martial artist has a body like no other

A martial artist does not want to be bulky. You don't want to be stiff. Additionally, you need both flexibility and speed.

So If These Are The Things That A Good Fighter Needs To Have Then The Martial Arts Fitness Workout Must Mimic And Follow What Fighting Would Be Like

So, in our class, we combine 3 things: Strength, Flexibility, and Cardio into ONE workout.

Let me be a bit more specific.

Warm-up exercises for our Kung Fu class strives to build up your speed. Just as an example, a workout could start with pushups as the strength-building exercise. Then the workout would move immediately to stretching the muscles of the upper body such as the shoulders and the back of the arms. Following that, your workout would then instantly move to kung fu punching.

Following this pattern of exercises is a super-efficient way of working out.

Think about the value of this, it typically only takes 45 min to get in a FULL workout. Specifically, there are no machines that you to have wait for. There is no downtime when changing from one exercise to another. The exercises you learn are specific to the martial arts. Notably, these exercises are all short and brief, while simultaneously intense.

The intensity at the volume at which you perform them is ultimately going to yield the results that you are looking for.

OK, I Know What You Are Thinking.

You feel a bit of anxiety about the word intensity.

Don't worry

Initially, Kung Fu exercises can be as challenging or as easy as you make it. Our school is not the military. I know you are imagining a drill Sargent yelling at you to "drop and give me twenty"

Don't worry. You will never be yelled at in class. It is my philosophy that everyone is running their own race.

When you are in our class you will get the same set of instructions that we give to students who have been training for a while. The older students know the standard way of doing the exercise already.

You can perform them with explosiveness, add extra repetitions or even shortening the breaks between exercise will all add up to a super-challenging workout for any skill level.

The exercises of kung fu don't just use body weight to add resistance. You can also make each exercise more about balance than strength or perhaps make each exercise more about speed.

The bottom line is that you take things at your own pace here. Even slow progress IS progress.

Just Imagine Having The Balance And Coordination Of A Kung Fu Master

You can, through practicing the basic body-weight exercise found only in a martial arts workout.

These martial arts warm ups give you results fast because they are not isolating muscles like in bodybuilding. For example the basic dumbbell curl, this exercise works just one muscle the bicep.

Kung fu warmups, on the other hand, utilize many muscle groups at the same time.

This is called compound movements. These are extremely effective for gaining strength and flexibility.

Proper warm-ups not only induce blood flow to all of the muscles in your body but also consists of a cardio element as well. A quick burst of cardio exercises like high knees in between pushups and stretching will keep your heart rate up during the whole workout.

More important than that, warm-ups will increase your strength, stamina and the amount of oxygen your body can take in.
So what does this all mean to you?

Well, after a workout like that your body will feel light and limber and the entire body is woken up Your body can stay in this state for hours after your workout. Your metabolism greatly increases and help you to keep burning calories even when at rest.

I Am Not Against Gym Workouts

Any kind of workout is better than nothing, but if you have the choice, martial arts gives you far more than the gym ever will.

But make no mistake about it.

Our classes give you the total package combining strength, endurance, and flexibility.

The ultimate result of all of this is that you will gain functional strength and fitness from doing martial arts.

Now you are probably wondering what exactly do I mean by functional strength? Functional strength is the type of strength used in everyday activities. Functional strength is natural and fluid.

The best part about it is that It helps you to perform at a much greater level in ANY sport.

When I was 19 years old and lifting weights on a regular schedule, I noticed one thing that I still remember to this day.
I was stiff.

I could not stretch, I always felt tight and if you were to test my speed back then It would be at snail level. Every other day, I would train my chest and arms lifting weights, but I couldn't do very many pushups.

I didn't feel natural

Once I Started The Martial Arts Fitness Workout Everything Changed For Me.

My nagging shoulder injury started to heal up I could move easily and freely, I had flexibility.

Most people will feel a big difference in general agility, strength, and flexibility within just two weeks of starting to do these basic exercises.

Let me ask you this question.

Can you imagine what you could achieve if you can apply these strengths to other aspects of your life?

The bottom line is, that no matter how many times you change your free weight routine or switch to new machine, working out at the gym is going to start feeling stale.

How Many Times Have You Started A Diet Or An Exercise Program, Only To Just Give Up One Day And Justify It With An Excuse?

I am too busy, I don't have the will power or I'm just too lazy

When you start up exercising you have the motivation but as time goes on we feel less and less motivated. You are too tired to get off the couch and start. Then comes the guilt of not having enough discipline to do it.

But what if I told you that everyone is just like you?

Everyone has there ups and downs and everyone will one day hit the wall.

So why am I telling you this?

Is it not my job to call you up and yell at you to get to class?

No.

Who holds you accountable then? It's the friends that you make in class.

In Any Exercise Program, If You Are Only Accountable To Yourself Then You Will Fail. 

However, when you feel like you might be letting down your friends if you don't show up you will make the time and put in the effort to get here and train.

Here's what I mean.

Our school is a tribe. It is a community. The students here are just like you.

They want the benefits of martial arts fitness training as much as you do. They are here to encourage you and everyone wants to see you succeed.

You see, if you succeed that means that there is one more high level training partner for them to work with in class. That benefits their training because the only way to get better is to work with better and better people.

As I said before, everyone is running your own race and we are all a work in progress.

"But don't take my word for it! Here are some of our students talking about our program:"

Choosing A Martial Arts School Is A bigger Decision Than You Think

Here are some questions to ask yourself before signing up at a martial arts school

Questions To Ask Yourself Before Signing Up At A Martial Arts School

5 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Signing Up At A Martial Arts School

1. "What would I like to gain from martial arts training?"

-Is it to keep fit?

-To learn self-defense?

-Help you to discipline yourself?

-You have always had an interest in martial arts?

-Is it because it looks cool?

2. "Can I see myself actually enrolling in martial arts?"

-The answer has to be a sure yes. Martial arts do not only take time to learn, but it also costs money. Many times people like the idea of martial arts but ACTUALLY enrolling is something different.

3. "Am I able to stick at something for a length of time?"

-Learning to fight is easy. All you have to do is get into many fights. Learning an art form is not easy it takes works and quite a bit of time.

4. "What do I know about the different types of martial arts?"

-E.g. documentaries, films, tv programs, information, posters, internet, etc.

There is so much information on the internet regarding the different styles anyone can be knowledgeable about martial arts in general.

Knowing These Answers To This Question Is Step One

In conclusion, those are the 5 Questions to ask yourself before signing up at a martial arts school. Put some thought into this and write it down. There are no wrong answers and your reasons are your own. Prioritize which benefits are the most important to you.