Suitable sports/martial arts

[Dishwasher]

Can anyone suggest suitable sports or martial arts/ general keep fit hobbies for dyspraxic 30 year olds.

Just want something thats good for keeping reasonably fit but thats also fun and has a social side to it (not trying to be an athlete)

[Tim G]

Swimming - that can help with quite a fue things but you dont have to focus on balance and things like that, I have found water quite relaxing and calming etc its quite a singular sport though but mabie you could meet people from it.

Bowling (10 pin) this can really help coradation, balance etc and its naturlie a sochal sport so theres the option to meet people through it and join a team etc.

[Dishwasher]

Have you tried a basic gym program?
I find the gym very helpful.

[xxarianwenxx]

I personally find that Judo is a great martial art!
I have been doing it since i was 5 years of age and i am now 21. I teach it to people of all age ranges and different abilities, as we run an integrated judo club. Judo is all about balance, not just physically but mentally. It has taught me a lot of self control, and i find it is a brilliant, yet safe form of releasing all my frustrations and venting said frustrations that have built up during the week.

I don't need to engage in social interaction to release these frustrations, I simply do it through putting my body through the paces, and i always feel as though my mind is a less dark place to live in after a session of judo. I find that i am also very good at judo, as I have a very high pain thresh hold (thank you dyspraxia ) and would absaloutly reccomend this to anybody !!!

[Bert]

I would recommend running. I ran when i was younger and found it as the sport i really enjoyed. about three and half years ago i got back into it. Starting with a 6 mile race moving onto half marathon and then marathon. I ran my first this year, Brighton in 3 hours 57 mins. Im now hooked. Similar to the post about judo. When i have a bad day i take it out by running harder and pushing myself harder. I recommend getting quality running shoes. Its best to go to a proprr running shop, where they can do a gait anaylsis to see how your feet hit the ground and its likely that supports will be needed to be placed inside.
I think the best way to get into running is finding your local park run. Its a free 5km run.that takes place across the country on every saturday morning at 9am. its for runners of all abilities and everyone is supportive and a great way to socialise with likeminded people.

[Captain_Ludd]

Apparently Pilarties (OK I know its not technically a martial art and that's not how you spell it ) is very good for co-ordination and flexibility and general fitness might be worth a go.

[PhilB]

Like Bert I do the running, I also like to get out on the bike and do the occasional triathlon.

[deductress]

I would recommend any martial art, just make sure to inform the teacher you have dyspraxia and what exactly you struggle with.

I've done Kung Fu for a few years now, and my teachers are aware i can't tell left from right, and that sometimes simple movements that others will get in the class almost instantly, might take me a long time to catch on to - and they're perfectly fine with this. When they get time, they take me aside and run over the movements several times until i have the general idea.

And i don't know about you, but for me, endless repetition helps me memorise a movement, so after a class i just practice the whole week on one move so for the next, i'm at the same level as everyone else.

Does this help any? I don't know what your specific difficulties are, but i find if you explain it to the teachers they're always willing to help however they can.

[JVJ24601]

Can anyone suggest suitable sports or martial arts/ general keep fit hobbies for dyspraxic 30 year olds.

Just want something thats good for keeping reasonably fit but thats also fun and has a social side to it (not trying to be an athlete)

Funnily enough, I AM a 30 year old with dyspraxia. I do Jiu Jitsu or Krav Maga most days of the week. I'm not the most amazingly talented martial artist in the world, but with effort, I have found that I can do it quite well. Its not competitive (unless you choose to let it be) and the social side of my particular Jiu Jitsu club is quite good.

What I would say is that it helps if you can find a particularly studenty martial arts club. Students tend to get involved in more social activities and especially at the beginning of a term are more up for making new friends. I enjoy Krav Maga, but most of the people who train there I have found are middle aged men who don't really want to socialise and have got families and an established friendship network. Unfortunately, socialising with students can mean going clubbing and drinking silly amounts at times, which at 30, I'm getting a bit bored with, but just going to the pub afterwords and talking to people is good fun.

[calumfsinclair]

I like running but only outside. I go trekking a lot but my passion is mountain biking, crazy I know but it's strange the concentration clears my mind and it's the only time I concentrate on only one thing! It's a little dangerous and I have a few scars but it's quite a laugh. I have a dyspraxic friend with whom I'm quite close and she got me to go climbing, since she loves it and I can report back that it's great fun!!

[dragontail]

My physical activity of choice is tai chi. It can even be a martial art--one of the tai chi teachers I had over the years was especially strong on the fighting art aspect of it. My current tai chi practice is based more on the health aspect of it, although where I study, the martial aspect gets an occasional mention.

I find it to be the perfect exercise for a youngish dyspraxic (I'm 37, dyspraxic, and have been doing tai chi on and off since my early/mid twenties). Perhaps one of the best things about it is that it's a multi-age sport: many tai chi players are in late middle age or older. In the group I practice with, there's a significant younger set--maybe a quarter of us are under 40--but with the diverse range of ages, you get a diverse range of abilities and a more mentally diverse group of people. I'm more comfortable socializing in that kind of group, too. And, as one of my tai chi friends pointed out recently, it's a kind of socializing where you can interact with people without necessarily having to talk to them.

My sense of balance has been improving through my tai chi practice, slowly but steadily. I had a deeply touching experience connected with that a few months ago: I was one of five or six people taking part in a public tai chi demonstration. The purpose of the demonstration was not just to show off tai chi, but to draw people's attention and get people interested in joining us. There was a man watching us for a while, and one of the other people in the group invited him to join us--and the man said, "No. You're all so graceful. I could never do that."

All? That included me.

No one ever called me graceful before. No one. Ever.

Says something about tai chi and dyspraxia.

[JVJ24601]

Yeah, I would definitely recommend a martial art. It certainly helped with my balance and coordination. Just be patient and remember that the only person you are competing with is yourself.