Learning to dance at 50 years old

Turning 50 can be a big thing for many, but it doesn't have to be a negative one. The decline in ability, health and well-being only becomes a problem if you allow it to be.

Today is my 50th birthday, and I'm more capable, fit and healthy than I was in my 20s and 30s, with 50 years of wisdom to boot. But this was a choice I made five months ago.

I was losing my breath taking the bins out to the street, remembering how fit I was training Shaolin Kung Fu five days a week less than ten years ago. So what happened? How did I become like this, and how did I flip that around in such a short period of time?

The WHY?

I spent the last two years working towards creative entrepreneurship... again... as many of us neurodivergent creatives find ourselves doing.

It's not going well!

However, that's not due to a lack of effort. I've been working the equivalent of multiple full-time jobs for near-zero pay, spending hours at home sitting at a desk drawing, painting, video editing, live streaming... you get the idea.

It's a very different lifestyle from getting up early, commuting to work, having an active job, walking to lunch, then maybe heading to the gym or Kung Fu in the evening. What I mean is, it's much harder to stay active when you work from home, where leaving the house isn't part of your daily routine.

In February 2026, I took my daughter to try out a new dance school, Paradox Dance over at Woolloongabba. It didn't work out for her as the travel was simply too much, but I was inspired by the environment, the music, the vibe, the energy... and talking with Suzi and Yasim was genuinely inspiring.

My wife even said, "Do they do adult classes? Maybe you could try that."

They do.

But I brushed it off at the time.

Being in that environment made me realise just how unfit I'd become. I felt FAT.

I remembered what it felt like to be fit. To wake up every day feeling like Superman, capable of doing anything I wanted. Although we never went back to Paradox, that experience stuck with me.

Then one day, after losing my breath just taking the bins out, I thought,

"I'm almost 50... is this the beginning of the end?"

So I typed exactly that into Google, hoping for... anything. Maybe an article. But since AI has taken over everything, I got one of those responses scraped together from across the internet.

The answer wasn't exactly comforting.

Yes, things decline. Bone density. Muscle mass. Even your mind.

But they don't have to.

These things only become the end if you allow them to, and there are steps you can take to slow, stop, or even reverse much of that decline.

Thus began the rabbit hole.

The biggest takeaway I found was this:

You need a reason.

Not "I want to be fit."

Not "I want to reverse ageing."

Those aren't strong enough to keep you motivated long term.

I thought back to my Kung Fu days, and even to the brief time I'd returned to it only a year earlier before life got in the way... yet again.

Looking back over my life, I'd done this cycle so many times.

Every few years it was January. Full of motivation.

I'd get back into Kung Fu or mountain biking, lose a heap of weight, get fit... and then by June (winter in Australia) I'd quietly drop off.

That would be it until the following January... or maybe the one after that... by which time I'd put all the weight back on after six to eighteen months of barely moving.

I even had spreadsheets tracking all my progress.

Every one of them showed the same thing.

January to June...

...then the notes stopped.

There was definitely a pattern.

So what did I need to do to keep it going after January?

Not just for six months.

Forever.

I needed a reason.

That was the problem.

I didn't actually know what I wanted to do.

I could go back to Kung Fu, which I absolutely loved, but without a car, and with the constant train line upgrades making public transport unreliable, getting there was becoming almost impossible.

I just knew one thing.

I wanted to do something.

So I started with a very simple goal.

Get capable.

If I was going to return to Kung Fu, or try something else, it would be extremely hard in my current condition. Maybe I'd even injure myself. So I needed to get capable.

Lucky for me, I have an extensive background in understanding my body from all my previous training, note-taking and years of keeping logs. So I devised a simple plan: daily walking and three light weight training sessions a week.

Easy.

I know how to walk, and I have a small amount of gym equipment at home. Combine that with eating well and removing useless or disruptive things like beer. 🙁

I started with the basics of weight training, hitting all the large muscle groups with a simple push/pull routine using light weights. Just 9kg dumbbells and 10lb Clubbells, not the heavy ones I used to train with. Alongside that, I started walking 2km a day.

Honestly, it didn't take long before that became 4km... then 5km... then 6km a day.

Those 9kg dumbbells became 10kg... then 11kg... then 12kg.

By March, I finally felt capable enough to start something.

My weight was dropping, I felt healthier, and I was no longer getting out of breath doing basic everyday things.

All from short weight training sessions and walking for a few weeks consistently <– write that down!

So now what?

Increase the weight training? Start running?

I hate running. It's boring as bat shit. (Although, bat shit is far more interesting than running, TBH.)

And weight training by itself isn't sustainable for me.

My original goal was "get capable."

Capable to return to Kung Fu...

...or something else?

Skills Based Fitness.

Kung Fu and mountain biking are both forms of skills-based fitness. This is really what I was working towards when I said "get capable."

The thing about martial arts is that, when you're doing it, you're less likely to think, "This is fitness. Just one more rep." You're focused on learning skills and becoming even more capable.

Your heart is pumping at its maximum and your chest is burning, but that's not your focus. You're more interested in flying gracefully through the air than slogging it out on a treadmill.

You're far more likely to get excited about learning a new skill or finally landing that aerial or flip-up than you are about another session on the treadmill.

But herein lies the problem.

I can't get there.

Three hours of travel each way simply isn't sustainable. <—Write that down too.

So I started looking for local alternatives.

There are Kung Fu schools closer to home, but they're not the same.

Northern Traditional Shaolin was what I loved. Hok San Lion Dance. The friends I'd made. My teacher, Ramesh Patel (legend).

Going somewhere else just didn't have the same pull.

Then I remembered Paradox Dance.

Hmm... maybe I could do hip hop classes or something? I already had a background in the hip hop and drum and bass scene back in the day.

I looked at Paradox's adult classes, then started searching for dance schools closer to home.

Unfortunately, children's dance schools far outnumber adult-specific ones.

I found a few, but the closest were VHub in Fortitude Valley and Mad Dance House in the city.

At that point, I kind of gave up.

But the thought never really left me.

I was still motivated to keep walking and weight training... but for how long?

I even started convincing myself that three hours of travel each way wasn't that bad.

It is.

It's not sustainable.

I kept watching dance videos on social media and started following heaps of dance teachers, hip hop dancers, breakers and people from the Brisbane street dance scene.

My daughter and I had been watching 1MILLION Dance Studio videos for years.

Honestly, though, I'd never thought about doing it myself.

I just loved watching the movement. The expression. There was something there that kept pulling me back.

Then I discovered that Mad Dance House was running several introductory courses for absolute beginners.

It was in the city, so it wasn't too bad to get to by train.

So I signed up to the Hip Hop Course.

Paid right there and then...

...before I could chicken out.

Now I had to do it.

There was no backing out.

Oh crap.

What have I done?

Dance

Well... holy shit.

Have I just found a new obsession?

The first lesson was super awkward. I was overly self-conscious. However, I quickly realised this was a safe environment with zero judgement, and the teacher, Loïc, was incredibly encouraging and amazing at breaking everything down into bite-sized, ultra-beginner chunks.

It only took two or three lessons before I started letting go of my ego and became okay with looking stupid.

This may sound a bit harsh, but honestly, I think this is what stops a lot of people from even starting.

Just be okay with looking foolish.

You've never moved like this before. It's going to feel difficult. It's going to be uncoordinated...

...at first.

By the time I finished the six-week course, I'd learned a handful of hip hop fundamentals, how to string them together, and was starting to understand musicality. More importantly, I was beginning to explore creative movement.

Once the course finished, I kept going with Hip Hop Foundations classes.

Then I took my first Absolute Beginner (Level 1) Choreography class with Jasmin Meakin.

This was on the same Friday night, followed by Hip Hop.

The vibe was insane.

A packed class, learning a 30-second routine in an hour.

It was difficult...

...but accessible.

I was literally on a high for days afterwards.

My body hurt.

But I wanted more.

Over the next couple of weeks, I kept doing Jasmin's Level 1 choreography class and Loïc's Hip Hop classes every Friday, while continuing my weight training and walking throughout the week.

The weight kept dropping too, as dance was burning somewhere around 500–600 calories an hour.

Then I stepped into a Level 2 choreography class.

Honestly...

It was well above my level.

But I had so much fun.

I learned an incredible amount because it was basically trial by fire.

By this point...

I'm hooked.

My whole week revolves around Friday, and it never comes around fast enough.

So I became a Mad Dance House member.

Unlimited classes for one weekly fee.

Now I had Level 1 and Level 2 choreography with Jasmin on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Four classes a week.

Then five.

Then six.

Eventually up to eight classes a week.

I started ballet.

Contemporary.

Jazz.

More hip hop choreography.

And I'm still looking at adding more styles and more classes as my body and brain adapt.

Every spare moment I can, I'm at Mad Dance House.

This has become an obsession.

A consistent...

Sustainable...

...obsession.

A Lifestyle

Dance has become part of my lifestyle.

Actually...

It is my lifestyle now.

Everything revolves around it.

The food I eat.

My sleeping habits.

I don't drink alcohol anymore because I don't want to compromise tomorrow's dance class.

My weight training has evolved from simply building bigger muscles to strengthening all the little ones. Stabilisers. Core. Strength through flexibility.

Everything now has a purpose.

Jumping for hours without fatiguing.

Being stable on the balls of my feet.

Balance.

Alignment.

Connective tissue.

Mobility.

Even my home gym has changed. It's no longer just weight training. It's become this strange mix of weights, Pilates and calisthenics.

Everything I do now is about becoming a better dancer.

Even the timing of my meals revolves around dance.

In just four months, I'd completed fifty dance classes.

Two days before I turned fifty.

I'd lost 9kg.

Ten centimetres off my beer gut.

I'm stronger and more capable than I was in my twenties and thirties.

I started with a reason.

Then I found my obsession.

Something that's consistent.

Something that's sustainable.

I turned it into a lifestyle.

And honestly...

I'm so motivated now that those three-hour trips to Kung Fu might even be back on the table.