At what age are you too old to start Judo?

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The Bomb

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I hear from plenty of martial artists and even some former Judoka that say Judo is a young mans game. I am fast approaching 40 and want to give it a try, but have some disc issues in my lower back. I am a purple belt in bjj, but want to become a more well rounded grappler.

Is Judo as rough as they say it is?
 
Depends on the individual and how much throwing your body can take.
 
we have at least 3 guys over 40 and 2 guys over 50 who still randori. you're only as old as you feel, right?

but, yeah, throw-centric contact sport. you're gonna get injured, or aggravate your discs. it's not 'if', it's 'when'.
 
never. i trained with a really motivated 44 year old judo player, and he didnt start till 41.
 
I think it depends on how you feel. Some people are physically done at 30 while I've seen people active until the day they die.

When I was training Judo the guy who taught me was closing in on 60. He had to take rests here and there but he could easily destroy any beginner and give any high level guy a run for their money. I was 20 at the time and he was tossing me around like I was a sheet of paper.

I would say give it a try and see how you feel. Get in there and toss some arrogant young punks on their heads.

The saying goes "Youth is wasted on the young" and its only too true.
 
The Bomb said:
I hear from plenty of martial artists and even some former Judoka that say Judo is a young mans game. I am fast approaching 40 and want to give it a try, but have some disc issues in my lower back. I am a purple belt in bjj, but want to become a more well rounded grappler.

Is Judo as rough as they say it is?
Click to expand...

I'm 34. You should stick with Jiu-Jitsu.
 
We have lots of 40+ guys in our judo club who train and compete. Most of the pure judo guys started as kids and then took 20+ year breaks before coming back as adults, but there are still a fair amount of guys who started at age 35 and older. I'm almost 39 and pretty horrible at judo compared to the "judo guys," but its still fun and at worst I'm still probably better at takedowns than many of my BJJ training partners. If you find a judo club that is ground oriented you'll also learn a lot of different attacks to and from turtle and some other positions.

Judo is also pretty scalable-- I have a fused ankle and if I do a lot of standup sparring I won't be able to walk well for a couple of days afterward. So even though I do judo a lot of the time I just skip randori (standup sparring). It's no big deal, I still get in the warmups, drilling techniques, uchikomis, newaza, etc. I'll probably never get as good as a guy who is able to spar more than me, but I'll be a lot better than guys who aren't doing any judo at all. And it's fun. Just tell the judo coach about your concerns.
 
The Bomb said:
I hear from plenty of martial artists and even some former Judoka that say Judo is a young mans game. I am fast approaching 40 and want to give it a try, but have some disc issues in my lower back. I am a purple belt in bjj, but want to become a more well rounded grappler.

Is Judo as rough as they say it is?
Click to expand...

I'm 34. You should stick with Jiu-Jitsu.
 
I just started at 37. Yellow belt now. Learning to fall is the most important part. But if you don't have a bunch of pre-existing injuries, you'll be fine.
 
Never too old.

Find a partner who's willing to go slow and easy at your pace and you can still randori. Decide weather competing is an option for you or not and you can always do kata. On static throwing training, try to match up with higher grade players, since they're less likely to pound you.

Course ukemi is still a must.
 
Falling Hard by Mark Law is basically a book about starting Judo after 40.
 
I've seen a lot of players past 40 that are still going strong (hell they can still kick my ass), and even some players past 50 that are still competitive and train as hard as any of the younger guys. Do it! Judo can be rough, but so long as you're not overly gung ho and manage your past injuries, you should be fine.
 
theres a few guys were i train who are in there mid to late 50's. one of them is crazy and gets stuck in like he's still in his 20s. a couple of the others tend to take it a bit easier. they will do randori but might sit out a couple of rounds and they'll ask you not to go too heavy.

late 30's is still young.
 
You should be okay just pick your training partners well and make sure the coach is aware of you back problems.
 
I'm 35 and I train both. Judo hurts more for sure but it's doable. For me the secret is the gym. Keep your body strong and your core tight, especially if you have lumbar issues already. I am a believer that you can train until you can't walk anymore - your intensity will just change. You can learn Judo without always being thrown or doing hard randori alot. Grip fighting is a valuable skill. Sometime we will just fight for a dominant grip then reset. I think you should do it. The gripping alone will help you BJJ game.
 
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