/ot/ - off-topic

I used to play badminton back in my home country. Unfortunately it is not popular in U.S at all.

What I really want to take on now is boxing. I feel like it will be perfect for my physique and to learn self defense. Does anyone here have any tips for taking martial arts? What should a total noob expect?

I dance, it's not very likely I'll get involved with it after college though unless I find a job teaching dance or try out for ballets once in a blue moon since not many here have auditions

I'm going to start taking ballet classes this week. I'm 23. How fucked am I?

>>232238
Depends on your flexibility I'd say. Hope you have fun!


I used to be an archer. It was really fun but my team sucked - as in the older members didn't show up to practice and instead went out to drinks etc., so I gave up on it after a few tournaments.

Would love to try pole dancing or boxing myself, but it's not available where I live.

>>232243
Flexibility isn't a problem for me (I love stretching and do it daily), but seems like that's what most people worry about so whenever I look up info I just get "don't worry, you'll gain flexibility as you go!". I'm more worried about muscle strength, I have none.

>>232238
not fucked, I do ballet as well, my flexibility is fine but i have awful balance

>>232193
>What I really want to take on now is boxing. I feel like it will be perfect for my physique
Boxing won't really do anything for your physique that generic low intensity cardio won't do. If you want to improve your physique beyond just losing some fat, lift weights.
>and to learn self defense.
Boxing (and combat sports / martial arts in general) is almost purely for sport, and won't be effectively usable in a self defense situation until you've been practicing for something like a decade and it's become completely natural to you.
Still, taking self defense classes is always a good idea, as is carrying a gun and pepper spray if they're legal where you live. Just don't let the people running those classes fool you into thinking you'll be able to actually win a fight against a motivated assailant, because you won't; a good self defense class mainly teaches you how to deescalate and when to run away.
There's some good discussion concerning that here (starting about halfway through): >>>/ot/213271
>Does anyone here have any tips for taking martial arts?
Spend a fair bit of time picking one that you think you'll like, visit the schools and ask to spectate a training session, talk with the people there. A school with no or very little sparring should be avoided at all costs. Same goes for schools where everybody is highly ranked (meaning promotions are liberally handed out, often in exchange for cash).
A chart like pic related should give you a rough idea of what you could enjoy, but you definitely need to do more research on your own.
>What should a total noob expect?
Expect to get consistently beaten up, but not too badly. If you're actually getting hurt (outside of unfortunate accidents), get the hell out of there.

I just started getting into rock wall climbing and I love it. I used to be a very competitive runner in high school but when I moved on to college I dropped it bc collegiate running would take up too much time that I didn’t have and I was pretty jaded from running so much. It’s been so long since I’ve found a sport I seriously enjoy and can immerse myself in. I’m a natural at climbing and I wish I could be more serious with it and do competitive bouldering in the future. My only problem is the cost of rock climbing gym memberships is more than I can afford so I can only go once every other week at best or on their cheap student days which are once a month.It’s like a holy grail out of reach.

>>232238
Depends on the class. I tried a couple this year as a trial, one was absolute beginners and the teacher explained everything (positions, technique etc) in detail and did babby tier exercises. The other was more advanced, nothing gets explained because it's a waste of time for the experienced dancers but the beginners really struggle and will probably never get the chance to learn technique properly.

My advice is to a) trial multiple classes before picking one, and b) do research. Ballet involves a lot of french vocab and you can get a good head start just by learning the names of exercises, position, directions, etc. Ballet technique is something you can understand intellectually even if you can't put it into practice yet too, so it's worth learning about in advance. Maybe even see if there are videos of full classes you can watch, they're pretty regimented at all levels so at least you can gain some familiarity with how they run.

Anyway good luck and have fun, I started ballet up again at 25 a decade after I quit as a teen and I'm loving it.

I used to play roller derby on a league and it was the best time of my life. It's honestly one of the most rewarding sports I've ever learned to play. The community has it's drama but in the end there is a fierce connection between all the women who play.

I was a blocker on a team that held a ranking in the top 100 out of 420 teams, so we were a mid level team. The teams that compete in champs are now on one of the ESPN channels which is pretty cool. It's one of the fastest growing female sports in the world right now.

I had to tap out due to a knee injury, but I still love skating and doing tricks I just can't take a hit anymore. I never played sports in high school so the fact that I joined a roller derby team blew everyone's minds when I told them.

Honestly, if anyone has thought about playing just do it, most leagues have boot camps and beginner level groups so they will teach you from the ground up. I had never skated before but you'd be surprised how quickly you can pick it up.

>>232396
I wanted to take up roller derby years ago as I feel like it's the only sport I'd actually enjoy. The only problem is that it's so expensive. My local team requires you do a three month course and rent equipment before even thinking about joining the team and that would cost me a fortune.

I'm interested in taking aerial arts classes. My athletic background includes dance, x-country, rowing, and fencing. But, truthfully, I'm not super flexible. Can anyone give advice or their experience with those classes? I'm not out to join the circus or anything, it just seems really fun.