To want to take up martial arts/self defence at 25?

[partaaaay]

I’m 25, going through a very raw break up and I’ve realised I have zero confidence. I walk around with my shoulders hunched without even realising and I just don’t carry myself very well.

I was thinking of joining something like women’s self defence classes but I’m not very familiar with other martial arts that may suit me better.

Does anyone have any ideas or experience? Thank you x

I recommend Krav Maga too

I used to go to lessons with Dennis in Bloomsbury

Small world!

My advice to anyone starting martial arts, who has a choice, is don't choose the art, choose the teacher. An outstanding teacher makes a huge difference.

I did Karate as a child, and it's only with hindsight that I realised how good my first teacher was. (After moving from that town, and attending classes in three other places associated with schools and universities, I was never able to keep to a satisfactory schedule again. Although the fact that school and university holidays interrupted things wasn't the fault of instructors, even within a term, at a particular class level, there was no longer the sense of making structured progress, week after week. My first teacher wasn't just one of the best in the country, he had achievements that ranked him as part of the worldwide elite. Although what made him good as a teacher was the fact that he taught four classes a day, six days a week, in a dojo property purpose-built and only used for Karate, owned by him. Not that a generic gym isn't suitable for Karate, but someone who teaches in one isn't likely to be a self-employed professional teaching 24 classes a week as their only occupation. )