Would taking up a martial art really improve my confidence and general self worth? I'm not looking to get ripped, or even be able to beat people up, just really need something to give me some sort of confidence to do things with my life and not view myself as a useless piece of shit.
Also, is it a pathetic thing to take up at 26?
>>1435462
It would but first you should lose weight and have sex, also gain height if you're under 6'0''. Then you'll be fully ready
>>1435463
I'm skinny, have sex regularly and am 6'1".
Doesn't help.
>>1435462
>is it a pathetic thing to take up at 26?
Jesus man, do you want to start now or start never because of a vague fear of being judged? Just START. ANYTHING.
>>1435542
BJJ and Judo are useful beyond just enjoying them for their art. Tai Chi is basically yoga.
>>1435542
Bjj and judo are 90 percent the same. Just do the free trial for bjj and judo dojos around you and pick the one you like.
>>1435462
The thing about martial arts is, you're not just learning how to defend yourself, you're also kind of joining a club. If you can find one where you feel like you belong and you make friends, you're going to feel confident no matter what, even if it's not martial arts. Likewise, if you join a class where no one talks to you, you're going to feel low regardless.
>>1435742
Are they usually quite accepting of new people?
>>1435476
>I fucked last night
>>1435907
That's like asking how each different classroom across the world welcomes new students. There can be cool people, there can be dicks, sometimes your teacher won't know shit and sometimes you'll find a guy you'll look up to for the rest of your life. Just go and check it out yourself, new people get into martial arts all the time nigga.
Judo and BJJ are two good options for avoiding the regular martial arts pitfalls which can be summed up as "teachers that don't know shit and are essentially running a scam". They're both very hands-on, you don't just breeze through ranks and have competitive sparring as an integral part of the experience to polish your skills. BJJ is typically more ground-based, while Judo is more about staying standing and throwing the other guy.
>>1435980
How quick do you get to sparring? That makes me nervous.
>>1437277
Most dojos won't let you spar until the instructor feels like you are safe doing it.
>>1437277
Pretty much what >>1437481 said. A good school will build up your base, make sure you have the skills to fend for yourself and not get hurt then slowmy move from paired drills to sparring as ways to polish application of skills. Also please stop being a giant pussy, martial arts take effort and part of that effort is sparring. It's not an all-out fight, avoid sparring with tards and assholes and you'll shave off something like 90% of the risk of injury.
Having said that, if a school throws a beginner into hard sparring or if it takes sparring as just going all out on eachother and people get slammed extra hard beyond reason/constantly, actually choked out or put in dangerously cranked submission holds, then you should feel free to walk out because that "go hard or go home" shit is retarded.
>>1435562
Tai chi quan is a form of folk wrestling , it's actually a surprisingly interesting style once you dig a little
>>1437854
the problem is finding a place that actually teaches all the martial stuff and applications in proper, accessible ways rather than focusing on the legitimate health and spiritual stuff at best, and being outright bullshit trying to scam people at worst.
>>1437838
See, I need something for the confidence boost to stop being a giant pussy.
>>1435462
It'll give you something to do a couple of nights a week. That'll probably go a long way to helping you feel better. It's that simple.
>>1438597
That's encouraging, thanks man!
>>1438648
Also, the general consensus (and I'm happy to be corrected) is that you will learn more, faster in BJJ than in Judo. Progress - measured intrinsically or extrinsically - is also a confidence booster. So there's that.
>>1438561
You'll get that with sparring when you start figuring out how things work and see your own progress when you throw/tap guys if we're still talking about BJJ and Judo. Or when you start being able to hold your own in striking arts. It's definite, undeniable proof that you're learning and progressing and doing so in an environment that puts these things to the test. But you gotta start on your own and stick with it, not quit because training hurts or you might be scared what people think. Everyone was a beginner once. This, however, comes from someone who is into practical application.
You could also get likely the same confidence boost by doing something that doesn't, generally speaking, engage in sparring as seriously (non-Kyokushin karate, Taekwondo, some chinese martial arts schools) or at all (stuff like Aikido, lots of chinese martial arts schools). They'll give you the same sense of progression as you learn sequences and advance in rank. Or just doing something like capoeira which is 99% dancing or just going to the gym and putting in work. I'll personally tell you to get into more "serious" martial arts, but that's because I happen to like them.
You don't need to learn to fight to be more confident, you just need to be more comfortable with yourself and your image, engage other people, step outside your comfort zone a little. Martial arts will help with that, but so will a ton of other activities. Go out for a run, do indoors climbing, swim, whatever. You just gotta do the thing instead of posting about it on 4chan of all places.
>>1438851
>capoeira which is 99% dancing
You take it at face value, you fucked up. Brazilians love to fight.
>>1438868
Yes and that's why they have brazilian jiujitsu and some really good muay thai schools. Luta Livre is also kind of a thing, based off of old catch wrestling. Capoeira as it's taught is 99% dancing and while being healthy and having even a modicum of fighting knowledge puts you above the untrained boob, it's not exactly a prime choice for a throwdown.
Do feel free to tell me about the mythical True Capoeira, used by slaves to beat up hordes of armed portuguese while their hands were shackled together, if you want. Capoeira might have legitimately effective techniques in its curriculum, but chances are the place you'll go to train teaches it as a dancing thing, and then you're not gonna be much good for a fight.
>>1437854
There's some truth to this. Taijiquan is pretty interesting with good grapples and methods of defense against getting grabbed up. It's not perfect but not the shit style everyone makes it out to be.
>>1435462
In my thai gym we have a few guys way older then you, we have a 50+ year old man trying to fight and just had a man in his mid 40s have a smoker last week, we have a fighter who just turned 30 who started last year, just start it.
Confidence will build, self worth will build and if your passionate about it you'll become a better person at your core.
Pick one up, learn grow, you have one life... live it.
>>1439000
Damn. Those trips and that inspirational shit,
Your post is why /asp/ is such a Fucking great board.
>>1438935
Nah man, Taiji is a perfect standup grapple art. You just gotta train it like the Chen villagers.
The spiritual stuff is important, but don't ignore the martial aspects.
