a question for the experienced martial artists here
Matthew Hawk
For those of you in your forties:
If you have been practicing since your teens, what motivates you to
continue?
How is your body different from when you were in your twenties?
Given that even professional athletes lose a step or two after forty,
is there anything we can generalize about practicing after the age of
39?
Don Wagner
>For those of you in your forties:
I've got 2 months to go.
>If you have been practicing since your teens, what motivates you to
>continue?
It's what I do. I like to learn new things and teach what I know to
others. I like to see my students teach others and learnfrom
different teachers. I like to hit others with sticks and stab them
with knives.
>How is your body different from when you were in your twenties?
I get injured in the same places more and more. I don't heal as fast.
It really sucks to do a lot of ground work with guys in their 20's.
>Given that even professional athletes lose a step or two after forty,
>is there anything we can generalize about practicing after the age of
>39?
Getting old sucks ass.
--Don--
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
Matthew Hawk
wrote:
>Matthew Hawk <mh...@dev.null> wrote:
>>For those of you in your forties:
>
>I've got 2 months to go.
>
>>If you have been practicing since your teens, what motivates you to
>>continue?
>
>It's what I do. I like to learn new things and teach what I know to
>others. I like to see my students teach others and learnfrom
>different teachers. I like to hit others with sticks and stab them
>with knives.
>
LOL!!! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one!
>>How is your body different from when you were in your twenties?
>
>I get injured in the same places more and more. I don't heal as fast.
>It really sucks to do a lot of ground work with guys in their 20's.
Physical coordination not there? Or is it stamina?
One reason I ask is I have a MMA match with a guy who is 21 and while
I have more experience, I just don't have the same desire I had when I
was 20.
At 20, there was nothing more in the world that I wanted to do. Right
now, hmm, I could think of other things to do than roll around on the
ground with a guy.
weirdwolf
@news-server.optonline.net:
> Matthew Hawk <mh...@dev.null> wrote:
>>For those of you in your forties:
>
> I've got 2 months to go.
>
>>If you have been practicing since your teens, what motivates you to
>>continue?
>>Given that even professional athletes lose a step or two after forty,
>>is there anything we can generalize about practicing after the age of
>>39?
>
> Getting old sucks ass.
Well I used to think that it sure as hell beats the alternative but
nowerdays I'm not so certain.
Ted
--
Evil is such a negative term........
I prefer differently moraled.
\ /
0 0
°
~
Y
Steve Gombosi
Matthew Hawk <mh...@dev.null> wrote:
>
>
>For those of you in your forties:
>
>If you have been practicing since your teens, what motivates you to
>continue?
Sometimes I think it's sheer masochism.
>How is your body different from when you were in your twenties?
Well, I'm 48. I've been training since I was 16.
I don't heal as quickly as I used to, but I'm in better shape than most of the
25 year-olds I know.
I appear to have blown out the cartilage in both hips, so I figure I'm
in for a few months of downtime after a hip resurfacing (may it come
speedily).
>Given that even professional athletes lose a step or two after forty,
>is there anything we can generalize about practicing after the age of
>39?
Pick your cliche':
"The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong"
"Youth and speed are no match for age and guile"
Some of the most dangerous people I've ever met have been in their 60s.
Look at it this way: there's only one way to avoid hitting 40, and
it precludes any activity whatsoever. Absent that, you don't have any
choice about being 40 - your only choice is about what sort of 40 year-old
you're going to be. I'm not interested in being an idle one.
Steve
hcannon18
"Matthew Hawk" <mh...@dev.null> wrote in message
news:ckl810dkup9ffa6v3...@4ax.com...
>
>
> For those of you in your forties:
Forties? Bunch of kids.
>
> If you have been practicing since your teens, what motivates you to
> continue?
Rote.
> How is your body different from when you were in your twenties?
It is all fucked up.
> Given that even professional athletes lose a step or two after forty,
> is there anything we can generalize about practicing after the age of
> 39?
Yeah you gotta adapt. Move without hesitation. Fighting aint fun anymore so
end things quickly and rely more on deadly weapons too. That's what makes
the old so dangerous.
RTWdesigns
>If you have been practicing since your teens, what motivates you to continue?
>How is your body different from when you were in your twenties?
certain edge due to our level of experience. I've noticed that it takes a lot
shorter span of time to 'lose it' and a greater span of time to 'regain it/get
back in shape.'
>Given that even professional athletes lose a step or two after forty, is there
anything we can generalize about practicing after the age of 39?
like cross-training in volleyball, getting stomped on foot by a draft horse,
etc. I now try to be very mindful of everything, not just taking special care
during my MA's. Oh, and yes, it just sucks, this whole process of aging. At our
kwoon's Chinese New Yr dinner celebration this past wkend, one of my sr.
classmates brought his 15 yr old son, who kept calling me "ma'm" and I had to
go home to check mirror for how many gray hairs that brought on! >:-0
Geeze.....I feel old now!
RTW in NC
"v" here]downing@charter.net Mark Downing
news:ckl810dkup9ffa6v3...@4ax.com...
>
>
See my post on "Bruising and why you train?"...
I guess, after some self evaluation, I still like mixing it up. The
challenge. Whatever you call it. Personal enrichment, etc... To quote
another of my posts:
"Yeah... It makes a lot of sense. Even when I set aside the Martial Arts
for 3 years to play golf, golf became a huge part of my life. I would be
out there playing in the cold and playing in the rain, etc... If I'm gonna'
do something, I'm gonna' try my best to be damn good at it. I keep coming
back to the martial arts though, I guess because of the one on one challenge
of it all. And because of the love for the martial arts that was instilled
in me as a young boy by Sensei Shihan Oyama.
For the most part we perform jobs now that have little direct relationship
to our survival. Jobs like computers, sales, etc... Unlike ancient man who
had to constantly pit himself against wild animals and other warriors just
to survive. There is something that is ingrained in our genetic make-up
that makes many of us still need to test our physical and mental prowess, be
it softball, golf, hunting, or MMA competition."
The positives, between my 20's and now (I'm 42) is that I'm more focused
now, I'm more mature, I think I'm tougher mentally and physically, I think I
have the potential to be stronger physically.
The drawbacks... There are times when I have less energy. I try to eat a
better diet to offset this. I don't seem to recover from exercise and
injuries quite as fast, so I have to be more careful with my workouts and
plan a little better and make sure to warm everything up better.
To summarize:
Eat better
Train smart (weights and cardio)
Warm up thoroughly
Stretch often
Listen to your body when it tells you... "You need to rest."
The old adage is really true... "You are only as old as you feel." A lot of
growing old is in your head. Keep a positive mental outlook. It works for
me.
Don Wagner
>Physical coordination not there? Or is it stamina?
Yes to both, but it's also not logical to believe that 20yrs doesn't
make a difference.
Bullying your way through a few rounds with a stronger, younger
fighting is OK for a little while, but it's skill that needs to take
up the slack.
>One reason I ask is I have a MMA match with a guy who is 21 and while
>I have more experience, I just don't have the same desire I had when I
>was 20.
Thats a slightly different problem. I still enjoy fighting as much as
I did when I was 18, but the injuries make it a tad problematic. This
is probably my last year of serious stickfighting. My shoulders are
shot.
Don Wagner
>"Youth and speed are no match for age and guile"
"Age and Treachery beat Youth and Skill"
;-)
Chas
> The old adage is really true... "You are only as old as you feel." A lot
of
> growing old is in your head. Keep a positive mental outlook. It works
for
> me.
I'm 60 in a couple of months- training since I was nine (1953).
Growing old is very, very real. Nothing you can wish for will change that.
I notice changes in my skin as a barometer for what's changing in the rest
of my body. I'm losing muscle tone even while I continue to work out. My
endurance is gone (for all practical purposes), my breath is shorter and
less 'renewable'.
Injuries hurt more and they last longer. My reaction time is longer and my
response is slower. I depend on my efficiency far more than my ability to
'muscle through it'. Injuries I thought were healed bother me every day.
That said, I see it as a natural evolution in my martial art as well as the
inevitable result of living for 60 years- you either get this old or you
die. I'm really enjoying it; there are benefits as well as debits.
I'm as refined as I've ever been- slicker than I've ever been. I no longer
roll at full speed and strength- the injuries/strains just last too long and
affect my 'real life' too much. I've had plenty of practice, and at this
point I simply direct practice, make corrections and demonstrate with a
willing demo partner.
My last few fights, say over the last five years or so, have been over very
quickly- I haven't even gotten touched during them, and my attackers have
been half my age, and a couple of times have been two of them. I've reacted
with hands, and not needed to resort to cutting them or anything. I've
beaten them by tricking them rather than pugging with them, and I trust my
training more and more all the time.
In all this time, if I've learned one thing, it's to do the solo form a lot.
Chas
Neil Gendzwill
>
> For those of you in your forties:
>
> If you have been practicing since your teens, what motivates you to
> continue?
It's what I do, I can't change it.
> How is your body different from when you were in your twenties?
I'm in better shape now than I've ever been, but I get hurt more easily
and recover slower.
> Given that even professional athletes lose a step or two after forty,
> is there anything we can generalize about practicing after the age of
> 39?
Yeah - you gotta be smart and listen to your body. Kendo is a lot
better for an old guy than judo, I'll tell you that much.
Neil
"v" here]downing@charter.net Mark Downing
news:m9GdnejSUP9...@comcast.com...
Chas,
I'm not trying to imply that you don't get old. Goodness knows that I'm
getting old. I can feel it. But you can still stay young at heart and
having that mindset helps. I remember reading a story, in, I think,
Newsweek, about octogenarians and the most common thread to all of them was
that they all had a positive mental outlook and most of them still held down
jobs! Some of the jobs were volunteering, but they still got out and had
some place to go every day.
Regarding the original poster, my point was to keep at it, and simply play
it a little wiser. That's all. That's my plan.
"v" here]downing@charter.net Mark Downing
news:bv1tpg$q97$1...@niwot.scd.ucar.edu...
Remember in "Fried Green Tomatoes" The 2 cute little gals in the VW whipped
in the parking spot in front of the Kathy Bates character. "We're young and
fast" Say the young gals. Right before she smashes their car... "I'm old
and I got good insurance."
Badger North
wrote:
>Given that even professional athletes lose a step or two after forty,
>is there anything we can generalize about practicing after the age of
>39?
Well, I'm only 37, but I'm a lot sneakier than I was in my 20's.
Steve Gombosi
Badger North <young_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Well, I'm only 37, but I'm a lot sneakier than I was in my 20's.
Marriage will do that to you.
Steve
Jim Clayman
said Chas. You are a good guy and even though we dont agree i respect
you.
Badger North
wrote:
>>Well, I'm only 37, but I'm a lot sneakier than I was in my 20's.
>
>Marriage will do that to you.
It's funny because it's true.