I would like to talk about how the martial arts can be a fountain of youth, and how with the martial arts, people only get better with age. Part of why I want to start this discussion here is because it started in the forum about guns in MartialTalk. There was a discussion of how guns might be necessary for older martial artists who are past their prime. It got a bit silly with stuff such as who would win in a fight between Rickson Gracie and Kristen Stewart. That was me, though who was being silly, I was the one who brought it up about Rickson Gracie vs Kristen Stewart. Anyway, I want to talk about how the martial arts can be a fountain of youth and certain advantages in the martial arts that can come with age. The fact of the matter is, we all die. Ten out of ten people die. Its the one inevitable thing about life that it will come to an end sometime or another. Not even taxes are inevitable, there are people who get out of that, but death is inevitable for nobody. However, I believe in being in the best of shape to the very end. I plan in taking all my strength, speed, and abilities to the grave, whenever that might be.
Fountain of youth
- Thread starter PhotonGuy
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Recently I attended a school reunion with a group of schoolmates from 50 years ago. Surpisingly, very few were obese and some were quite fit. Many of them had knee replacements, hip replacements etc. I would like to think I was amongst the fittest and healthiest of the group. I'm not sure I can attribute that to martial arts training alone but certainly the dedication to regular training must help. Any form of cardio workout will aid your overall level of health but what MA training does is keep the reflexes sharp.
Is it the fountain of youth? May be. Is it the elixir of youth? I'll drink to that!
:asian:
Is it the fountain of youth? May be. Is it the elixir of youth? I'll drink to that!
:asian:
lklawson
Grandmaster
To be honest, I just don't see it. We'll just skip the "young guys" and stick with "old guys still practicing after years in the arts" for the next sweeping generalizations.
Tae Kwon Do guys seem to end up with a disproportionate number of borked knees from kicking.
Judo guys seem to end up with high rates of borked knees and shoulders from throws gone bad.
Karate guys seem to end up with unusually high rates of arthritis in hands and feet due to makiwara usages (misuse?) on top of the ones who also have borked knees.
Modern boxers often have repetitive concussion injuries and often times disfigured & arthritic hands from punching in the modern method without gloves & wraps.
Wrestlers seem to have a lot of torqued joints with torn/strained/permanently-munged tendons & ligaments and cauliflower ears.
Seems like martial arts training tends to be hard on the human body. Heck, even Iaido guys seem like they end up with a lot of carpal tunnel, repetitive stress injuries, and a nice scar in a certain place on a certain hand (you know which one, guys). I train under a certain 7th Dan Judoka who's specifically modified Judo to what he believes Kano intended for it anyway, as an exercise, strength, flexibility, and health system so that older Judoka could continue to train past 30 without being so crippled up that they can't move.
Maybe Tai Chi fairs better than the rest of us but, then again, I know a LOT of people who don't consider Tai Chi all that particularly martial as far as martial arts go.
Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
frank raud
Master of Arts
I agree with Kirk. When I go to martial art conventions, you can often figure out what martial art the older guys do by how they are walking.
Zero
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As much as I would like to disagree, I gotta agree to all that. Most of my old senseis or coaches in the hard arts (karate, kickboxing) have some form of damage to their legs/hips/knees. Judo is a bugger for knees due to the impact and is well known for that, wrestlers often have joint or ligament niggles or damage they need to work around or be wary of. And the older you get the slower you recover (and the more damage can occur) from injuries when you stick with those arts on a competitive or physical level. I had an mma tournament two weeks back and I never felt any leg attacks but now I got something up with my knee (maybe an old kyokoshin injury has flared up), off to physio today...hope like cr'p nothing bad, I always had good knees and knees scare me...anyways, I digress.
My old wing chun sifu seems fine, and without injuries, but while the training can be relatively intense there is not the same level of tournaments or full contact events in that art so maybe the likleihood of getting hurt over the years is less.
Zero
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But wouldn't it be more fun to expend all of that along the way?
simplicity
Green Belt
Qi Gong works well for me... Been into it for over 25 yrs now.... I still been teaching contact martial arts as in Karate Do, Boxing, Kickboxing and Jeet Kune Do.... I glove up in ever one of them and I'll be 50 yrs young this Feb. 2014 ... As i like this saying; "Age is a mind over matter, if you don't mind, it don't matter"... (o_0)
Google Peter Ragnar.
Congratulations on being able to attend a 50 year school reunion. How many people were there?
Thank you. We had about 60 out of the 100 odd that were in my year. Of those not attending, about 10 were dead, mostly car accidents. Interesting to see what people have done with their lives. We even had one guy who flew over from Vancouver. That was pretty special.
Last year I also had junior high school reunion in Las Vegas after 50 years. Among a group over 100, I was the only one dressed with sport clothes and running shoes.
To me, the fountain of youth is
- running,
- stretching,
- single leg balance, and
- weight lifting.
During the day that I don't run, I'll repeat a set of MA drills 100 times each. If I just pick up 20 drills, I'll do 2,000 rep total. I train 5 days a week (rest on Saturday and Sunday) and 3 hours daily.
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My first introduction into Karate (Tuite-jitsu and Kyusho-jitsu) came from the teachings of Taika Seiyu Oyata who passed away last year. I was blessed with the opportunity to meet him about 10 years ago and he was an incredible martial artist even in his golden years.
I think a lot of it comes down to how you train. At 49, I'm still going strong, but I've seen people younger than I am who have managed to wreck their bodies pretty well. I think it helps to let go of competitiveness and focus on how to train in a way that puts the least stress on your body. I wrote a blog post on the subject a little while ago: http://bjjcontemplations.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/surviving-the-marathon/
lklawson
Grandmaster
- Thread Starter
- #16
49 is still young. Some people are amazed with individuals such as Herschel Walker who at the age of 51 knocks out people half his age. Personally, I do believe Herschel is an amazing person, but aside from that, fifties isn't old.
Mate I'm trying to believe 65 is still young and that 70s aren't old either!
I have always believed that to stay around young people is important. This guy is a famous writer and president candidate in Taiwan.Mate I'm trying to believe 65 is still young and that 70s aren't old either!
https://www.google.com/search?q=Li+...c%2F2005-09%2F26%2Fcontent_480954.htm;300;389
He is over 75 years old now. When he was 72 years old, he said to the public that any girl who is over 18 is too old for him. He had so many girlfriends in his life. One of his wifes was a movie star.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...AF1AD22DC7D958A60393DB2DFAE19&selectedIndex=0
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...B086BDE5069A192E083D005CC96E5&selectedIndex=0
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...0BF07EC82A86870DD72073AA73BB4&selectedIndex=2
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- Thread Starter
- #19
Mate I'm trying to believe 65 is still young and that 70s aren't old either!
By today's standards, and from some points of view, 70s are young.
zDom
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Genesis 5:21-24 (New Living Translation)
When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters. Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.
2 Kings 2:11 (New Living Translation)
As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven.
YWHW seems rather fond of the number 3, so I figure there is at least a slim chance I don't have to die
