Choosing a sport after 60 on Nuns’ Island: the questions to ask

01The short answer

02The questions to ask any activity

At what time, and is it fixed? With whom — a group, and which one? Who corrects? Where do you go in, and by what? What is measured — a clock, a score, or what you can do? And can you say no to part of the session? These questions hold for a pool, a gym, a walking club or a dojo. What follows is what the dojo answers.

03What the dojo answers

The hour and the group. Five days a week, at fixed hours, in adult groups from age 14 — the schedule gives the slots. There is no published seniors’ group: an adult of 60 trains in an adult group, and that is something to see for yourself at the trial class, not to guess here.

Who corrects. An instructor, for the whole hour, in the line — What training in Kyokushin is like describes an ordinary hour from start to finish.

Where you go in. The dojo is at 550 chemin du Golf, suite 010, on the lower level; access is by stairs. This page says nothing more about accessibility, because nothing more is documented: if the stairs are a question, call before coming.

What is measured. Neither clock nor score. Ten kyu to the black belt, each with its stances, techniques and kata, presented at an examination — Kyokushin karate belts gives the order. You progress against yourself, and nobody is ranked.

What you can decline. Kumite is practised with the instructor’s permission and not otherwise — What is Kyokushin kumite? says how it is introduced. The rest — kihon, kata, conditioning, flexibility — is worked in the line, each at their own pace.

04The complete programme, and the figure not quoted

In the WKO Shinkyokushinkai first-year textbook, an examination covers kihon, ido geiko, kata, conditioning (knuckle push-ups, jumping squats), flexibility and kumite. That is what makes karate complete, and it is also what calls for a conversation first: knuckle push-ups and jumping squats are part of the examination, and nobody here will tell you what they become after 60, because nothing is published on that. Ask the instructor, and your doctor.

The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities gives each described activity a MET value — a multiple of the energy spent at rest. It stops at 59: its MET values — 10.3 for karate at a moderate pace, 5.3 for a beginner’s slower practice — do not describe an adult of 65, and this page does not apply them to one.

05What this page does not promise

No falls prevented, no memory, no joints, no “rejuvenation”. No study is cited here because none was read for this page, and a health claim is checked with a doctor, not with a dojo. What the dojo can promise fits in a few words: a fixed hour, a group, an instructor who corrects, a progression that is not timed, and an honest answer on the phone. The guide Starting Kyokushin after 40 talks about recovery and old injuries; it holds ten or twenty years later. If you come, come and watch: that is what the trial class is for.

06On Nuns’ Island, in practice

The dojo is at 550 chemin du Golf, suite 010, on Nuns’ Island (Verdun), and also serves LaSalle, Pointe-Saint-Charles and the Sud-Ouest. Children train from age 4 to 13, adults from 14, five days a week: the schedule gives the groups and times, the pricing page the monthly rates.

The first class is a free trial, and there is nothing to buy beforehand: comfortable clothes and a bottle of water are enough — what to bring to your first class has the list.