There are daily posts on here by people who want to try martial arts for the first time and ask “which martial art should I try?” Often these are youth, older adults, or people who know they are out of shape. Regardless, many of the answers on this forum are variants of “you should cross train, and what’s most important is applicability to MMA and/or street fighting”. I call bullshit.

• Unless someone specifically says they want to get into competitive sparring, a first time martial artist should pick one martial art to focus on.

• A martial arts newbie should be training 2-3X per week max for six months. Else they risk injury, exhaustion, or burnout. It takes six months to get your body, mind, and life schedule acclimated to martial arts. After six months one can re-evaluate. So even if they wanted to cross train out of the gate, they probably shouldn't unless already in great physical shape.

• For a newbie, the most important factor in selection is picking a martial art they enjoy, as they are more likely to stick with it. A welcoming gym environment, good beginner/youth program, and convenient location and schedule is far more important than applicability to MMA or street fighting, or how many wins the coaches have. TAKE THE TRIAL CLASSES.

• For many newbies a traditional East Asian martial art (karate, taekwondo, etc.) is a great choice. Many people want the conditioning and discipline of martial arts but don’t want to be sparring all the time. A program that is primarily forms/kata with some sparring focused on self-defense is ideal. Muay Thai is not for everyone.

• For others, a boxing/kickboxing/MT gym and JUST doing conditioning classes meets their fitness goals.

My perspective is a 57yo male who started martial arts at 41yo with two young kids. We started together at a family friendly taekwondo dojang and all got our black belts. I continued on, earning my third dan from a different dojang, and eventually moving to an MMA gym where I train kickboxing under a former UFC fighter and compete in BJJ tournaments. So I have trained with MMA competitors, and trained with families with kids/less athletic adults, and there are a lot more of the latter.

End of rant. :-)