age a bad thing

[Manny]

It seems to me as I get older my body refuses to do certain things as tkd high kicks, my hand techs, my stances, my one steps, my ho si sul are fine, my trouble is with high kicks and the poomsae that have high kicks.

Last class I concentrate only in kicks combos and I had a bad time performing dollyo chagui and bakat chagui aimed to the head, my legs felt cumbersome my two students (the same age as I do) also had the same trouble however one is a yellow belt and the other is a white belt and they have not reach certain point of elesticity/flexibility because of the minimal time and training they had inside tkd.

Don't know if a little yoga can be benefical.

Manny

 

[granfire]

Well, hopefully with age comes wisdom. Consider that height is relative. A good midlevel kick is plenty good to kick a short person in the head.

As we progress in life we need to adjust or declining physical abilities and throw in our increasing mental capabilities.

 

[Kacey]

Manny, I'm right there with you. But at the same time, I also recognize that I'm much better off than I'd be if I'd never started TKD. Do I kick as high as I did at 20? Lord no... but I also know how much worse off I'd be if I hadn't been involved and active for the last 20+ years. TKD is the only form of exercise I've ever liked enough to stick with, and that's a definite benefit to my health.

Yoga - or any other form of stretching - certainly won't hurt, and could easily help, but sadly, no matter how active one is, some things just get worse with age.

 

[IcemanSK]

Gettin' old stinks. Yep, I can't kick like I did when I was 17, either. But when I talk to other guys I went to high school with &/or are my age (43) & they say "you're still doing Taekwondo?!" I know I'm in better shape than a lot of guys my age. I might not be as good as a number of folks on this board or be able to do some things I used to do. But I'm still here & I'm still training. Many people that I've trained with over the years have stopped training.

I can't stop aging (darn it!) but I can keep showing & train. That is the thing I can do.

 

[Steve]

I'm in better shape now than I was at 20, but more importantly, I'm a lot smarter than I was then.

 

[dancingalone]

I'm nearing the big 40 and I'm the fittest I've ever been cardio-vascularly. I'm still very close to my peak strength-wise too. I move more efficiently and I'm a much smarter tactician, whereas in my youth I relied on raw speed and strength.

We can't do anything about aging. The tendons, bones, and muscles just seem to become more 'brittle', but we can still do a great deal to help retard the effects of aging. This means committing to exercising regularly (and smartly) and watching what we eat if needed.

There's no reason we can't stay active well into our seventies, and given the longer life spans people live these days, it's better to keep our bodies performing well rather than being trapped in burdensome shells as we become older.

 

[puunui]

I'm nearing the big 40 and I'm the fittest I've ever been cardio-vascularly. I'm still very close to my peak strength-wise too. I move more efficiently and I'm a much smarter tactician, whereas in my youth I relied on raw speed and strength.

My theory is that for every year past 30, you lose 1% of your ability, IF you work out hard. If you don't work out hard and maintain or try to improve, you lose 2% or more per year. Average people lose about 2% I would say, if they moderately exercise. At 40, you lose about 10%, which depending on what you were at at age 30, might not be noticeable yet.

 

[puunui]

Do I kick as high as I did at 20? Lord no...

Flexibility is one area that tends to remain constant. There is no reason why you should not be able to do the splits into your advanced years. I can still do the front and side splits completely, but I notice that it does take longer to get there. So if you do the same stretching routine that you always have, and devote the same time to stretching that you always have, then you will get stiffer over time, past age 40. One of the biggest things I notice about today's students is their incredible lack of flexibility. When I was growing up, we all could do the splits, and if you couldn't, it was shameful. Today, no one cares about that, and if you can do the splits, people look at you like you are a freak or something.

 

[puunui]

It seems to me as I get older my body refuses to do certain things as tkd high kicks, my hand techs, my stances, my one steps, my ho si sul are fine, my trouble is with high kicks and the poomsae that have high kicks.

Do you think that the above is one of the reasons why you find yourself emphasizing or focusing on self defense, at this stage of the journey for you?

 

[Manny]

Flexibility is one area that tends to remain constant. There is no reason why you should not be able to do the splits into your advanced years. I can still do the front and side splits completely, but I notice that it does take longer to get there. So if you do the same stretching routine that you always have, and devote the same time to stretching that you always have, then you will get stiffer over time, past age 40. One of the biggest things I notice about today's students is their incredible lack of flexibility. When I was growing up, we all could do the splits, and if you couldn't, it was shameful. Today, no one cares about that, and if you can do the splits, people look at you like you are a freak or something.

I was not flexible in the past, yes I could do certain things but my ligaments and tendons never allow me to full full splits, however been a slender and tall kid I could kick high. These day I try to compesate flexibility with power, that's why my board breaking is power breaking and not flying/jumping/spining kicks.

I drop TKD from 1992-93 till 2007. in those years I did not exercise that's why it's dificult to me achieve these days great things, my mid level kicis are very good but the high ones no.

Manny

 

[puunui]

I was not flexible in the past, yes I could do certain things but my ligaments and tendons never allow me to full full splits, however been a slender and tall kid I could kick high.

Can you do the butterfly stretch (soles of feet touching near your groin) and have your legs parallel to the ground? If so, then you can do the side splits. Everyone should be able to do the front splits.

 

[Manny]

Do you think that the above is one of the reasons why you find yourself emphasizing or focusing on self defense, at this stage of the journey for you?

Yes, the fact I can't kick high and do some nice and fancy kicks has make me emphasiing on self defense. Howevere since I was a teen I loved self defense, that's why I got enroled in TKD that was my thing, competing wasn't my thing, nowdays giving my lack of flexibility and power to do the nice high kicks I rely on the basic kicks at mid level high married with hand techs,takedows,sweeps,etc,etc.

Manny

 

[Manny]

Can you do the butterfly stretch (soles of feet touching near your groin) and have your legs parallel to the ground? If so, then you can do the side splits. Everyone should be able to do the front splits.

I can do butteflies stretchs and even touch the ground doing them, but doing the full splits ala Van Damme I just could not in the past and can't do these days.

Manny

 

[puunui]

I can do butteflies stretchs and even touch the ground doing them, but doing the full splits ala Van Damme I just could not in the past and can't do these days.

If you can do the butterfly stretches fully then you can do the side splits. So instead of the word "can't" I would substitute "not yet".

 

[StudentCarl]

Last weekend at the poomsae seminar in Indianapolis I met a 5th dan who, at 67 (IIRC), said he started at 40. I thanked him for being a role model. He said that he finds that we mature students can understand things about Taekwondo that the kids can't, though their bodies are more pliable. He said I was still young at 48, and that the key is to be both patient and persistent in the search for growth.

I think it's also good to remember that our change is sometimes like the rock in a river. The change isn't visible from day to day, or always in a year, but the river does shape the rock. Taekwondo is the river. You don't have to be in the fastest water to be shaped by it.

Age is just a number.

 

[Manny]

If you can do the butterfly stretches fully then you can do the side splits. So instead of the word "can't" I would substitute "not yet".

It could be, I can do the buttlerlies very well, not every one in dojang can I must say, and yes the splits I can do them till certain point or degree, I can't do full splits but half splits are achivable.

I will have to do a superwarmup and then a super stretching work to fell right and try to perform high kicks. That's why I think yoga can be benefical.

Manny

 

[Manny]

Maybe I am to worry about high kicks but truth to be told I would love to do nice and solid kicks to head level (like the spining/jumping hook kick), cause as some one said here before if you can hit the head you can hit anything. TKD is most kicks and sometimes I am frustated to not perfom them well. Seen the young people performing those kicks makes me feel useless and sometimes asking myself what am I doing in dojang?
When I was a teen things were easy to me, and how I wish to be that way.

Manny

 

[StudentCarl]

The kids are in a very different place than you, so it doesn't make any sense to compare yourself to them, Manny. That's why I like it when we go to some of the tournaments where there are many adults--the range of abilities in our age group is easier to see than in a school where there are many/mostly kids.

The reality is that our focus should be more about trying to get better at flexibility, coordination, focus, timing, balance, and speed...or at least not losing those. Some of that improvement is just getting smoother and more efficient in your technique, since that will help everything else. Your comparison should be to what you did yesterday, not what a 16 year old did.

 

[puunui]

Maybe I am to worry about high kicks but truth to be told I would love to do nice and solid kicks to head level (like the spining/jumping hook kick), cause as some one said here before if you can hit the head you can hit anything. TKD is most kicks and sometimes I am frustated to not perfom them well. Seen the young people performing those kicks makes me feel useless and sometimes asking myself what am I doing in dojang?

I would take the next three to six months and heavily concentrate on stretching. That is more than enough time to do the splits. And once you have it, it always stays with you.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Gettin' old stinks.
.

it's better than the alternative.