Am I Too Old To Start Wrestling Now?

Hi people,

Im just wondering what people's thoughts are on this?

Im 26 and thinking about taking up wrestling, Ive not done much exercise for a while, so Im a complete novice on all fronts!

If anyone here wrestles themselves any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks...

 

Not too old to start doing anything you want. But to be honest, you are not likely to get too good at it (relatively speaking).

 

as long as you've got access to instruction, go for it. nothing to lose but time.

 

If you are fit and healthy. do it.

Your body will soon tell you if it is not the MA for you.

Good luck, keep us informed.

Carys.

 

hmmm slightly negative answer that, but thanks for your honesty! LOL

Im sure if your said that to Rich Franklin or Evan Tanner years ago you would be eating your hat now...

 

...................

Why?

 

Why?

If you put forth the effort and put in the time why could'nt he be good at it?
He's 26, i say go for it , balls to wall, and listen to your body

 

lol If 26 was too old then most of the people here wouldn't be posting. They would be sitting on a bean bag naked eating cheetos.

 

i still do that, but my bean bag smells like cheese

 

lol TMI!!!

 

Its not impossible, but I've never met anyone who started wrestling after the age of, say, 18, who really became very good at it. Maybe because it takes so much time and experience to really adapt yourself to that particular kind of physicality and tactile facility. Maybe because most people who really become good at it develop their entire body to it as they are growing and maturing. Maybe as you get older you really can't devote the amount of time to building skills and training that you have to. Not sure, but there it is...

 

the thing here is: define very good.
if it's "pro wrestler" good then it's more or less obvious, since pretty much no one that doesn't train consistently since their early teens at least gets to pro level at anything. good as in "normal" good he can reach easily enough, he only has to train well.

 

"pro"?

Let's say 'very good' is being able to consistently push, and not infrequently beat, folks who are or used to be at least good high school wrestlers or better.

 

Well for instance Rich Franklin only started training in his 20's, he was a teacher for many years and look at the guy now??? Not bad for a late starter hey?

 

Not familiar with what wrestling competitions he has excelled in.

 

Actually... despite your original answer coming off as a bit negative I think it's actually somewhat more realistic than pessimistic. Here's why...

Why are wrestlers good at wrestling? Because they drill takedowns etc. all the time. Day and night... they have a work ethic on par with pro atheletes.
So with everyone drilling a limited number of moves/takedowns/counters there comes a certain point where wrestling becomes about speed... they have a limited number of techniques they drill incessantly. Over and over and over and fricken over.... so at one point much of wrestling (like freestyle or college wrestling) comes down to sheer speed. Watch the speed of the takedowns, shoots and transitions those guys pull... it's blistering!!!

If you start when you're older.... in general your speed declines from what is when you're younger... so that's a factor.

If you start when you're older... life gets in the way... you don't generally have the same work ethic towards things that don't bring in the bacon. Well most don't anyhow... you simply don't have the time to focus on wrestling as much as most younger wrestlers do. Less time to train/focus means less time to drill the moves into muscle memory. So that's a factor...

Some of these things apply to a lesser extent in other forms of grappling and martial arts in general to be honest... but wrestling really highlights the challenges these two issues bring to the table.

That being said... it's well worth it to train wrestling. There are some very good things that come out of wrestling that can carry over to other martial arts or just even in and of themselves. You can watch wrestling and develop a healthy admiration for it as as sport and athletic challenge. To my eye they're some of the most amazing physical specimens out there... agility, raw strength, conditioning and thinking on the fly. Just awesome.

So while the OP may be older than most people start wrestling by a fair bit... he still can get a whole lot out of it... but he should be realistic going into it... chances of becoming the next NNCA champ are not real high. But there is still tons of stuff to be learned that he can take with him for the wrest of his life... not the least of which includes the will to win, the discipline to train hard and the work ethic shown by wrestlers... all of which are top notch.

 

I think the idea that 'it's a waste of time if you're not young enough/genetically endowed/etc.. to have a shot at elite level competitive performance' is a kind of poisonous one that acts as a psychological barrier for a lot of people who'd otherwise benefit from the exercise.

Statistically, he's unlikely to make the Olympic wrestling team starting now. So what? barring some kind of medical problem, he's going to be a better wrestler training than he ever could be by not training. He'll probably get benefits in other physical activities from the conditioning. Just do it.

 

Has anyone said its a waste of time?

 

Couldn't agree more. Most wrestlers who train since they're young never make it into the upper echelon of competitive wrestling. But many of them do walk away with a drive and work ethic as a byproduct of all that training. It's a positive thing.

As is so often the case in any martial art or physical challenge... it's important to compare yourself to yourself before jumping into comparing yourself to others. Can he get good at wrestling if he starts late? Yes he can... he can get really good in comparison to where he's at when he started... is he ever going to make NCAA wrestling champ? Probably not... but I doubt that's his focus anyhow.

I still say go for it. It can only be a good thing.

 

Not at all are you too old, many MMA athletes took up wrestling at an older age and have become rather good at the wrestling aspects of their game,granted they arent competing as a pure wrestler but still it stands to reason their wrestling can be competitivley good in a certain scope. Geoff thompson took up wrestling and judo in later life and also became resonably adept and a qualified teacher in both arts in a year.

However, these people had the time to make wrestling a big part of life and of their training. you may not get the results great wrestling athletes get, or the results full time fighters and instructors get from it, but you will get exactly what you put into it.

And at 26,whats the talk of too old anyway,my dads fifty and he's still hefting blocks,bricks,bags of sand for his job, im pretty sure at 26 you can develop the strength and speed to wrestle. infact, the training system of wrestlers will bring you up to scratch quicker than most as you be just drilling and wrestling and not messing about with other things.

Go for it, and see what comes of it. If it proves too strenuous or you dont take to the ruleset, perhaps try Judo,Bjj or Sombo if grapplings your inclination.