And now I am "old."

[gyoja]

No matter what you do, you will get sick and then die. You can maintain all you like, stuff breaks with age.

You can still coach students though. The wisdom that you possess is priceless to those young students.

 

[Gyakuto]

No matter what you do, you will get sick and then die. You can maintain all you like, stuff breaks with age.

Indeed, in fact, our cells are programmed to self-destruct (apoptosis).

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

No matter what you do, you will get sick and then die. You can maintain all you like, stuff breaks with age.

Yesterday is the past. Tomorrow hasn't come yet. Today is the day we have. As long as we are happy at the end of today, that's all we should care about.

My long fist teacher is 97 years old and still live strong. We all still have a long way to go.

I believe "single leg balance" is important during old age. The following are my MUST training routine - repeat each drill 20 times.

1. inside crescent kick.
2. outside crescent kick.
3. swing leg above head.
4. swing leg back up with head down.
5. front toes kick.
6. front heel kick.
7. roundhouse kick.
8. side kick.

The following are my additional training routine - repeat each drill 20 times.

1. foot sweep.
2. front cut.
3. sickle hook.
4. inner hook.
5. outer hook.
6. leg spring.
7. leg twist.
8. let block.

When I walk 4 miles on the beach daily, I can finish all those training.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Yesterday is the past. Tomorrow hasn't come yet. Today is the day we have. As long as we are happy at the end of today, that's all we should care about.

My long fist teacher is 97 years old and still live strong. We all still have a long way to go.

I believe "single leg balance" is important during old age. The following are my MUST training routine - repeat each drill 20 times.

1. inside crescent kick.
2. outside crescent kick.
3. swing leg above head.
4. swing leg back up with head down.
5. front toes kick.
6. front heel kick.
7. roundhouse kick.
8. side kick.

The following are my additional training routine - repeat each drill 20 times.

1. foot sweep.
2. front cut.
3. sickle hook.
4. inner hook.
5. outer hook.
6. leg spring.
7. leg twist.
8. let block.

When I walk 4 miles on the beach daily, I can finish all those training.

As I have said before, you do not know me, nor do you know my physical condition.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

You can still coach students though. The wisdom that you possess is priceless to those young students.

Absolutely, and I am doing all I can. My point is that one cannot simply, through exercise or other means, continue indefinitely. Time breaks us all. No exceptions. It comes to some sooner than others.

 

[Gyakuto]

As I have said before, you do not know me, nor do you know my physical condition.

I have to admit to standing on one leg a few times a day, but that’s because I identify as a flamingo 🦩

 

[isshinryuronin]

Absolutely, and I am doing all I can. My point is that one cannot simply, through exercise or other means, continue indefinitely. Time breaks us all. No exceptions. It comes to some sooner than others.

If you can't keep up on the highway, turn off onto a side street. As long as you're heading in the right direction you can have a successful journey. The body can easily break, not so for the spirit.

 

[gyoja]

Absolutely, and I am doing all I can. My point is that one cannot simply, through exercise or other means, continue indefinitely. Time breaks us all. No exceptions. It comes to some sooner than others.

I understand. I’m still recovering from my injuries and some are permanent. I completely changed how I train to work around the problems. Hopefully, when I can’t work around them anymore, I will have a student who can step in.

 

[Hyoho]

One of my instructors referred to this as "old man tricks." Very advanced!

I think they say, "Sen no sen," for the ability to move simultaneously with the opponent, anticipating his movement and "countering" even an instant before or as the opponent attacks. A completely different level of understanding.

Just Sen. The ability to attack and win when the opponent has physically committed. We do this in Hyoho Niten Ichiryu. "Only this". Zero predetermined attacks. I did just the once attack my Soke a split second before he moved. He bit my head off. Never saw him so angry. He said there must be movement seen even if it's a fraction of an inch. Doing Kendo there is a lot more leeway and I tend to smile and play around with what appears to be mosquito.

The main thing that bothers me about aging is that I have watched my mentors decline when for some reason they could not practice or have been ill. As you get older if you stop there is no going back. If I die in the dojo I will be happy.

 

[Hyoho]

I cannot get up from my knees without using my arms to push up, which isn't how some of our katas work.

Fortunately the only time I have to get on my knees is to do etiquette.

 

[isshinryuronin]

As you get older if you stop there is no going back.

I believe this as well. The younger you are the easier it is to bounce back from a layoff (for any reason). Inertia is not much of a concern as your momentum is constantly renewed as a function of youth. I have of late asked myself, "Why not just stop working out?" It takes a lot of effort for old guys to jump around kickin' an' a punchin' an' a choppin' or pushing some plates on a barbell, straining your gut. Why not stop and relax? As Bob Dylan sort of wrote, "you better (keep) swimming or you'll sink like a stone."

There's only so many times you can restart a motor until the battery goes dead. Best to keep the old engine running. This is the answer to that question I ask myself every few weeks. It's a pain to motivate yourself to work out but it's better than the alternative. I'll get all the rest I want when I'm dead. In the meantime, I'll continue my kickin' and punchin' and pushing my body enough to keep the momentum going and go as long as I can.

 

[Taiji Rebel]

There are plenty of older practitioners of the internal Chinese styles who are still in good health. Japanese arts tend to be harder and take their toll on the mind and body. One of my Kyokushin buddies is in his mid-50s with wrecked hips and mangled knuckles. A couple of the Aikido guys I used to train with are suffering from their harder approach to training. Yet there are taijiquan, qigong and other internal practitioners I know in their late 80s and 90s who are still moving with fluidity whilst staying in top health - the internal arts certainly suit the body better in the long run.

 

[Bujingodai]

Younger older guy here 53. I like it now that it is not memory of a technique or intention to do it right, that subtleties come more into effect now and the spontaneous response is more common. It's much less effort, but my balance and recovery time isn't the best.

Overall, I prefer it. I just have less patience for students that half *** things now.

 

[HighKick]

Oh…I’ll stop taking it as it clearly does little.

At my age and degree of worn-out joints, I will take all the help I can get.

 

[Taiji Rebel]

We have been inspired in part by a man named Bobby Taboada, a Filipino martial arts instructor. He can be seen on YouTube, moving with grace and skill. He is in his mid 70s. Does he hit as hard as a younger man? Probably not. Can he do all that his younger students can? Probably not. Can he play meaningfully within his martial arts style, and test his opponents? Undoubtedly. I think that more is possible at these middle and later ages than we give credit for. Let’s keep playing, let’s keep exploring and testing ourselves and our tai chi friends, for as long as possible - Nick Walser

 

[opr1945]

Yesterday, when I wore a younger man's GI....

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

the internal arts certainly suit the body better in the long run.

Float with the air - don't think about power. Let power come out of itself. Forget your arms and legs. Let your whole body do the work.

I always believe when you don't think about

- power, that's your true power.
- speed, that's your true speed.

When you are

- young, you want to throw a punch that can kill a cow.
- old, you want to throw a punch that your body can feel good.

 

[Hyoho]

There are plenty of older practitioners of the internal Chinese styles who are still in good health. Japanese arts tend to be harder and take their toll on the mind and body. One of my Kyokushin buddies is in his mid-50s with wrecked hips and mangled knuckles. A couple of the Aikido guys I used to train with are suffering from their harder approach to training. Yet there are taijiquan, qigong and other internal practitioners I know in their late 80s and 90s who are still moving with fluidity whilst staying in top health - the internal arts certainly suit the body better in the long run.

I think you find that this applies to things like karate and the more physical arts. Most of our most senior, experienced sword arts people are well over eighty. Still very dynamic in movement. My mentor Iwata Norikazu Sensei MJER passed on at 97. He once joked with me saying, "Ki is of the greatest importance in what we do. But these days maybe ki is all I have left"

 

[Hyoho]

We have been inspired in part by a man named Bobby Taboada, a Filipino martial arts instructor. He can be seen on YouTube, moving with grace and skill. He is in his mid 70s. Does he hit as hard as a younger man? Probably not. Can he do all that his younger students can? Probably not. Can he play meaningfully within his martial arts style, and test his opponents? Undoubtedly. I think that more is possible at these middle and later ages than we give credit for. Let’s keep playing, let’s keep exploring and testing ourselves and our tai chi friends, for as long as possible - Nick Walser

This man inspired me as I sat on his bench. He made things look so easy with little strength involved. SGM Canete passed on at 96.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I started practicing a traditional form of Japanese karate as an 18-year-old college freshmen in the 1980s in a club affiliated with my university. Karate was having a resurgence at that time, so there were a lot of young people getting involved. (Maybe 40 new students walking in for beginner's class each semester.)

We had instructors who were in their 40s. We did not consider these people "old" by any means. In fact, they seemed to be stronger, tougher and faster than we could ever hope to be.

I remember talking to another young white belt at the time about how fast one of these "older" guys was. Of course, I said something incredibly stupid:

"This must get easier as you get older."

After a few years of practice, I jokingly repeated this to one of the older black belts. He laughed and said, "No, it definitely gets harder as you get older." He was right of course.

Now, I'm 60 years old, with no illusions about being "young" or "strong." The floor seems much farther away than it was 20 years ago, and my old knees remind me of my age these days -- and also tell me when it's going to rain. I never thought I was a great fighter, but always had a sense that something good -- some new or better understanding -- was always ahead of me.

Now, I practice for strength and flexibility, and for the workout it gives me. And because I simply like it. And, every once in awhile, when I stretch well, and it's warm, and I do a kick or a punch that feels good, I'm reminded that I'm still that kid, trying to learn this art.

Any others here experience your practice changing as you get older?

Kung fu has always been difficult for me because once it got easy I began pushing myself more to be better. I'm still doing that now to the point where I have to make an effort to dial things back so I don't pay the price.

My biggest change is that it takes longer for my body to warm up. I feel like an old car that I have start up and let it run for 5 minutes before driving it.

The old part for me is that I'm 30 lbs overweight and my joints, muscles, and cardio just can't do it anymore.

I personally don't feel old until I get around younger people. So no my goal is to hang around younger people who are out of shape. I'll let you know how thst turns out lol.

Just from experience, old people pain may be due to muscular alignment and imbalance issues. While it it won't fix your age it may fix some of your pain.