u/negativefeed

Sorry for yet another "am i too old for this" thread but I would be interested in hearing what kind of things I should expect from the sport at a slightly older age. I have pretty minimal martial arts experience as in I did BJJ for around 6 months before calling it quits and around the same amount of muay thai before I quit that as well. I am definitely lacking in the coordination/athleticism department and it's one of the greatest personal weaknesses that I want to address. I do think that martial arts have a positive effect on my mental state even though I am definitely not naturally gifted. Out of all the martial arts that i've researched there's something in judo that speaks to me.

What worries me the most, though, is the injury rate as I do have a genetic predisposition to arthritis and would like to have functioning joints when i'm older. If I take it chill and refuse to partake in the competition scene would i likely be okay or is long-term joint damage pretty much a given at this age?

I was pretty much always the last pick in gym class. Never could hit the ball with a bat, was terrible at catching/throwing and always lagged behind my peers in any athletic pursuits. I only really learned to ride a bicycle when i was closer to being 10 years old. Having really crap vision never helped either. I've reflected upon this lately and I think that it's still a deep set insecurity of mine that i've been thinking about working on. I'm getting slightly older now and still don't feel like i'm in tune with my body. Does anyone have a similar backstory and have martial arts benefited you?

Recently i've been trying to make some more vegetarian food due to health reasons and actually learning to cook since i'm lacking in that department. My order of doing things is usually the following:

fry onions in oil until they start to yellow a bit -> dump in spices such as 1 tbsp curry powder, cumin, turmeric, garlic powder -> let the spice and onion mix fry a bit in the oil -> mix in chopped tomatoes -> throw in salt and pepper -> let it simmer until tomatoes have softened -> add chickpeas/lentils -> add coconut milk -> let it simmer

In terms of taste i get this kind of fruity taste and the curry tastes fairly bland without resembling a curry at all. I think i'm missing something fundamental here so advice is warmly welcomed.

I'm at an age where I have lower tolerance for bullshit so I completely cut off ties with some of the friends that I used to have. Just don't have the patience to deal with inconsiderate, passive aggressive and disingenuous folk. Down to about 2 people that I would consider as friends which I don't even really talk to on a regular basis. How many friends do you guys have?

People sometimes get offended when I don’t remember things like their birthdays, dates, or specific life events. They take it personally as it being an indication of me not caring. "How could you not remember that i'm going to travel next week?". But at the same time, when I share my own thoughts, theories, or ideas about things, a lot of them don’t really engage or seem interested. It often feels like the conversation only matters when it’s about their personal life, not when it’s about what I’m thinking. This is one of the biggest mismatches I see between myself and people that are deemed "normal".