according to this book I read https://www.amazon.com/Falling-Hard-Journey-into-World/dp/1590307151
he stated that Putin started Sambo at age 14 and judo around a year later. He won tournaments in Leningrad and took 3rd place at Russian Junior Nationals, and he also became senior champion later. He then joined the KGB where they had to continue some sort of combat training.
You might like this. 50 year old guy starts Judo, falls in love with it and writes an excellent book about its development and history.
There's a good book that covers the story of a guy starting Judo at the age of 50. It's a great read in itself and might cover some realities and what to expect.
Mark Law, Falling Hard: A Journey into the world of Judo (also published as the Pyjama Game)
> On his fiftieth birthday, British journalist and self-described “indolent sportsman” Mark Law decides to take up judo on a whim and ends up getting hooked on the sport. Falling Hard is Law’s love letter to judo—the culture, drama, history, and practice. With journalistic zeal, he delves deeply into the sport’s history and lore, and interweaves his own judo experiences with the development of judo in Japan, the life and vision of its founder Jigoro Kano, the export of judo to the West, the emergence of women in the sport, and detailed descriptions of competition on the world championship and Olympic levels.
> Law’s account is as much for the sports writing fan and armchair enthusiast as for the judo practitioner. With humor and skill, he describes grueling training sessions and matches (including his own), famous Olympic bouts, and legendary rivalries between judo players and national teams, and he speculates on the future of the sport.
Maybe checkout Falling Hard
It has a lot of stories throughout the history of Judo and the authors experience learning Judo, maybe has some stuff that would be fun to talk about.
I'm about 3/4 eat through it and find a fun read.
It's possible for sure! The reason judo is so great is that it's for everyone. My dad has been doing judo into his 60s and while he avoids doing randori with the hard-charging young bucks these days, he has a fun time just moving around on the mat and playing gently.
There will be some clubs that focus on the competition aspect of the sport, so I would try to do some research and find a good judo instructor that is dedicated to teaching judo and not winning judo competitions. A club that does a lot of kata training (these might be a little more rare) would definitely be a place I would recommend you try as you will have an outlet for learning judo in all its forms without the focal point being how hard and fast you throw someone.
Also I would recommend this book! https://www.amazon.com/Falling-Hard-Journey-into-World/dp/1590307151 It's "Falling Hard" by Mark Law. He's a British journalist who decides to pick up judo on his 50th birthday and he writes about his journey in the sport as a new judo enthusiast. My dad has been playing judo for decades, but he got a kick out of it as an older judoka. He recommends it to all of his judo friends. (I also had the random encounter of running into Mark Law at the Budokwai in London maybe in 2015. He was an incredibly nice guy and was still on the mat 6 years after he published this book!)