An MMA / Sambo place opened up like 5 minutes from my place. Did a free class and it was fun.
The thing is I'm not that old but I have bad knees. Started acting up a year ago, went to doc and found the cartilege is fairly degenerated (osteoarthritis, think Kimbo)
Tried lots of glucosamine but I guess studies say it's BS now. Got the book Treat Your Own Knees and that worked really well (basically stretch and do quad exercises).
So now I don't know whether I should pound on these knees by traneing.
Anyone else in the same boat?
I worked with a guy who was a contractor pretty much his entire life and at the age of 55 had such bad knees that he could barely walk up the stairs. He's about what you would imagine a mid 50's contractor would be like and totally against fufu new age medicine and what not. He did he get talked into trying acupuncture as he had surgery and tired everything else and his livelihood was slowly slipping by. After the acupuncture treatments for about 3 months he was back to working and said his knees felt that he was 20 again. He was completely blown away and said he would have never believed it if it wasn't for him experiencing it first hand. After hearing his story I would say give acupuncture a try.
Also its never too late to start training. One of my blackbelt judo coaches started training judo at 48, he's 63 now. Just remember that if you're older you're probably not going to beat allot of younger guys with pure strength, use technique and your mind to gain an advantage and roll at your own pace. Even when you lose just keep your focus on getting better, you are not competing with everyone else as much as you are competing with yourself. Good luck! 
I played football and wrestled through college, then picked up jits at 32. Been doing it about 8 years. Picked up mma about a year and a half ago. I have problems here and there. Mostly back and knees, but I back off some or just train what I can without pain. I'd give it a try. See what you can do. It might make you happy; it might be too much. Don't know til you try it again. See if you can go month to month with no annual contract.
I look at it this way- probably going to have issues in the future wether I train or not, so might as well train while you can. If it seems like it makes your joints worse, you can stop then. You don't want to be wishing in 5-10 years that you trained when you were younger
SC MMA MD - I look at it this way- probably going to have issues in the future wether I train or not, so might as well train while you can. If it seems like it makes your joints worse, you can stop then. You don't want to be wishing in 5-10 years that you trained when you were youngerI'm with u on that reasoning and I love every second out there on the mats or in the cage. My sons have started training wrestling and bjj.
bradical - I worked with a guy who was a contractor pretty much his entire life and at the age of 55 had such bad knees that he could barely walk up the stairs. He's about what you would imagine a mid 50's contractor would be like and totally against fufu new age medicine and what not. He did he get talked into trying acupuncture as he had surgery and tired everything else and his livelihood was slowly slipping by. After the acupuncture treatments for about 3 months he was back to working and said his knees felt that he was 20 again. He was completely blown away and said he would have never believed it if it wasn't for him experiencing it first hand. After hearing his story I would say give acupuncture a try.
Also its never too late to start training. One of my blackbelt judo coaches started training judo at 48, he's 63 now. Just remember that if you're older you're probably not going to beat allot of younger guys with pure strength, use technique and your mind to gain an advantage and roll at your own pace. Even when you lose just keep your focus on getting better, you are not competing with everyone else as much as you are competing with yourself. Good luck!
Thanks man.. that's interesting. I actually have fairly little pain or reduced mobility since following the plan in the book I mentioned. But am worried about aggravating them knees further.
If it doesn't work out.. maybe I'll just do BJJ? I guess that's pretty low intensity compared to MMA (much more wrestling, kickboxing, heavy bags, calisthenics)
BJJ isn't especially gentle on knees, and I can't imagine sambo is any better with all the leg locks. Boxing is probably the most low impact.
Whatever you choose take it slowly and don't be a hero. Tap if you're in trouble and if something pops GET OFF THE MAT and ice it. I sparred for half an hour with a torn medial ligament once, and I spent the next two months not able to walk properly let alone train.
What part of bjj is especially hard on the knees? You spend half the time on your back :)
I'd say it's less impactful than tennis or jogging, never mind combative stuff
Unless you're training for a serious comp and actually have to get athletic, I guess 
Naughty Gorilla - What part of bjj is especially hard on the knees? You spend half the time on your back :)Less chronic injuries, way more acute ones. Playing weird guards, getting passed, putting pressure on the ligaments from pulling in triangles and omoplatas, leg locks, takedowns etc. I know enough people who've wrecked their knees in BJJ.
I'd say it's less impactful than tennis or jogging, never mind combative stuff
Unless you're training for a serious comp and actually have to get athletic, I guess
bad knees? look into stem cell therapy
Try hyaluronic acid. I work for a company that sells a brand and the customer feedback is incredible. It doesn't work for everyone though. But it does for a lot.
Try traneing bellator, ufc is so last year
i say trane and figure out a way to minimize the stress on your knees
the guy running the gym should be able to tell you how
i've got plain old arthritis in my elbow, neck and knees.
been training since 1982 and have no plans to quit.
Go for it man, if you dont you'll always wonder what might have happened.. you can always get your knees fixed , but you cant fill your memory when you're sittin on the porch at 80 lookin at a porn mag wonderin what might have been... ya know?
Absolutely.
Just train to within your body's tolerance.
If you find your condition getting worse, slow down a bit, recoup and restart.
Depends on the person. I tried some BJJ at 36 and found I was getting little injuries all the time -- probably due to my lack of flexibility. It was fun and I learned a lot that helped me enjoy the sport more, but didn't like being so broken and achey.
So I switched to 30 minute body weight-centric workouts and yoga. Leads to the good kid of sore. Was just a better fit in terms of improving my quality of life.
any age is a good age to start training.
I used to train in the afternoons with a 74 year old guy who used to ride his bicycle 20 miles to class, then he'd do stadium runs and ride 20 miles back home. I'm not shitting and he was pretty good too. he had some funny tricks up his sleeve, like pretending to have hip pains then hit you with a surprise ezekiel choke as you lay off. lol
Train man, Train!
Good luck to you, brother.