90Piesanhour wroteAnyone dabble, or hold a black belt in one?At the tender age of 53 I have managed to get to my 6th week doing Tae Kwon Do. I'm either mad or brave, or both, or neither. Tell you what, though, it's a good work out, and no mistake.
I got to a provisional black in my late twenties early thirties in Hapkido. I also did Judo as a kid some Karate in my 'teens and a bit of Shaolin Kung Fu in my early thirties. Consider why you are doing it against what you are studying. Tae kwon Do is Korean and taught in schools in Korea, Hapkido is what they teach the special forces and the presidential bodyguard there. If you are doing it for fun and a work out enjoy, do not make the mistake of thinking it will make you effective in the street. Never kick anybody above the knee if it's for real.If you want to train in something that will protect you the easiest thing to train in the UK would likely be Systema - what the Russians teach the Speznaz or Krav Maga the Isreali military stuff. Flying Eagle Hapkido that I studied is not much taught in the UK, Sin Moo Hapkido is but is mostly locks , you might as well do Aikido which would be easier to find. It all starts to go too shit though if you've had a few and the training can be a little intense. When I trained seriously I did probably 5 days out of 7 for about 4 years. I also had a canvass bag packed with river pebbles hung from the ceiling that I'd condition my hand with every day. Heads are boney things to hit and you want to damage it and not your hand. If you do the work (and pain)you should be able to go through pine board within six months.If you are doing it for defence I'd suggest cross training with a bit of boxing just to get used to taking a shot and keeeping you guard intact to counter.If you just want the work out consider Tai Chi, less impact on your knees at your age.