How Old Is Too Old To Start Learning Judo?

Many people will tell you that you are never too old to start learning judo. Whilst the sentiment of this phrase is true, it should be taken with a large pinch of salt.

Not everyone is the same person physically when they reach a certain age. For example, you may have a man who has worked as a builder and exercised regularly with no real health problems aged 50. On the other hand, you may have a man who has worked as an accountant, not really had any physical activity for 25+ years and has a poor diet. The difference between these two bodies is vast. Whilst judo could be recommended to the first man, it certainly shouldn’t be recommended to the second.

You Can Start At Any Time

Although competitive judo is a young person’s sport at the professional level, almost everyone training judo is an amateur. Compared to other combat sports, judo still has a lot of older practitioners well over 70 years old. Not only do these people train, but they also compete against people in their own age bracket.

As previously mentioned, age is just a number, but this doesn’t mean you can just turn up and be able to perform in a judo class. What matters more is the relative age of your body, not the day when you were born.

With this in mind, there is no upper age limit in judo. You may well be able to start at 40, 50 or even 60 years old, but this will largely depend on your athletic background.

As a general rule of thumb, if you’re 40 years old and in physically good shape with an athletic background and no pre-existing conditions, you should be able to cope with judo classes.

Hips, Shoulders & Pre-Existing Injuries

A large part of whether you’re going to be able to learn judo at an old age is the condition of your joints, specifically your hips. In the sport of judo there are no two ways about it – you’re going to get thrown. Even if you’re a seasoned black belt, you will still get thrown by beginners when drilling techniques.

However, being thrown against your will is generally more impactful on your body since you won’t be expecting it. If you have any sort of arthritis in your hips or knees, this can be compounded by being thrown to the floor. This is not to say you cannot do judo, it is just going to be a LOT more difficult.

Older men tend to gravitate towards sports such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu. On paper, BJJ may look equally as dangerous and heavy impact as judo, but in practice it doesn’t have to be. Starting from the floor may not be as efficient for self defense, but it will help your hips. In short, if you already have a damaged body, you need to test whether it can take a heavy impact on a regular basis. If not, it may be worth considering an alternative grappling sport.

Being Realistic With Your Own Goals

If you’re an older person, you are not going to be able to keep up with the 18 year old judokas. There are no two ways about it. Even if you’re able to hang with them in a single class, they will be there the next day with no injuries, whilst your body will still be recovering. Sadly this is a fact of life and there is nothing that can be done about this.

It is important then, that you set your own goals and do not judge your judo progression compared to much younger and fitter adults. These people will not have the responsibilities that you have and can recover much faster from any physical setbacks.

In general, as long as you’re showing up and gradually improving, this is all that you can ask for if you’ve started judo after 40. You are never going to be a world champion and are even fairly unlikely to win a local competition. This is because some people have been training judo for 20 or 30 years before you even started.

Finding Sensible Training Partners

This is arguably the most important attribute of being able to start judo at 40+ years old. If you are able to find someone around your own age with a similar physical strength this is ideal. If you’re not able to do this, it would best be advised to find a younger training partner who is willing to go at your pace. This way you do not have to worry about being slammed into the ground repeatedly by a 21 year old. Whilst there is nothing wrong with them doing this to you, in the long run it will likely add up and you will become injured.

The key to improving at judo throughout your 40’s and 50’s is being able to stay on the mats. If you have someone with a similar mentality to train with, your judo progression will be a lot smoother and easier.

Strength & Conditioning

Just like any other martial art, judo is a lot easier if your body is strong and well conditioned. These two attributes simply mean that it is going to be a lot harder for you to get injured than a regular person. If you have already done other physical exercises in your life and have a well built core group of muscles, you are going to find judo at lot easier at an older age than a person who has not done this.

Strength and conditioning is not something that can be done overnight and is best to be built up over a number of years. This is not a silver bullet solution to stop you from becoming injured and allow you to train 5 times per week whilst in your 50’s. But it will certainly help you stay on the mats and reduce any problems you may encounter when a young man throws you very hard unexpectedly.