Here's one for you older guys

[Windsinger]

You kids and your 'tornado' kicks. Why, when I was your age, we actually had to kick real tornados!

And what's with this wearing padding in a tournament! Why, if we were decapitated by a kick, we took it as a learning experience! You kids are too soft!

And don't get me started on breaking! Boards. Bricks. Pffft. When I was your age, we didn't bother with that. We broke each other! And we were happy to do it, because it made us better people! Well, the ones who lived, anyway.

And you call that pattern hard? It's only got 52 movements! When I was a kid, we had to do 294 movements for 18 hours. In snow 6' deep! Up hill! Both ways!

(I'll stop now... But if anyone wants to continue... )

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Not only that, when I was your age, we had to walk ten miles up hill through thick woods and had to use strong blocks to get the tree branches out of our way!

Daniel

 

[Kacey]

You kids and your 'tornado' kicks. Why, when I was your age, we actually had to kick real tornados!

And what's with this wearing padding in a tournament! Why, if we were decapitated by a kick, we took it as a learning experience! You kids are too soft!

And don't get me started on breaking! Boards. Bricks. Pffft. When I was your age, we didn't bother with that. We broke each other! And we were happy to do it, because it made us better people! Well, the ones who lived, anyway.

And you call that pattern hard? It's only got 52 movements! When I was a kid, we had to do 294 movements for 18 hours. In snow 6' deep! Up hill! Both ways!

(I'll stop now... But if anyone wants to continue... )

Not only that, when I was your age, we had to walk ten miles up hill through thick woods and had to use strong blocks to get the tree branches out of our way!

Daniel

:roflmao:

 

[kwaichang]

Hey, you guys must have trained at the same schools I did.
I don't know how we've missed each other all these years.:boing1:

 

[FearlessFreep]

As a man who started at 35 and just turned 39... thanks for the pics...very encouraging!!!

 

[Windsinger]

Bad eyesight?

Either that, or bad memory. They say the mind is the second thing to go. The first is... uh... hold on... I'll get back to you on that...

 

[GlassJaw]

I started TKD when I was 46 yrs old,could barely bend over and touch my shins with my finger tips.
. . .
I am now 52 yrs old, my cardio is better,I'm stronger, faster and more flexible than I was at 46 even at 40. Don't let age or anything stop you from doing what you want, if you desire it , you can have it if you are willing to dedicate yourself and work for it.

That's what I like to hear! (Except when I get aches and injuries and find myself feeling older than than people ten years my senior.)

Thanks for the inspiration.

I started three years ago and am turning 42. Just can't keep up with these kids. But, then, I'm not in quite the hurry that they are.

Dan

 

[KELLYG]

I tell younger students youth and speed never out weighs age and treachery.

 

[Kacey]

I tell younger students youth and speed never out weighs age and treachery.

Yeah, I tell them that too....

 

[KELLYG]

By the way the dude in the picture freaks me out too!

 

[Xue Sheng]

First of all let me say I'm NOT trying to toot my own horn, just wanting to encourage the older crowd or maybe someone who is thinking about starting TKD or another art. I started TKD when I was 46 yrs old,could barely bend over and touch my shins with my finger tips. I had never been flexible and had never stretched in my whole life. My instructors Chip and Glyn Ann Townsend tell their students that anyone can do it no matter the age, and that flexibility is something you have to really want. They never stop pushing and encouraging me.
I am now 52 yrs old, my cardio is better,I'm stronger, faster and more flexible than I was at 46 even at 40. Don't let age or anything stop you from doing what you want, if you desire it , you can have it if you are willing to dedicate yourself and work for it.
You'll never be old as long as you don't let your dreams turn into regrets.

I use to be able to do that... of course I was in my 20s... hadn't hurt my back yet and the tree had not fallen on me yet either.. but I could do it... honest.

Very impressive thank you for posting the pics

 

[kwaichang]

It helps to remember for older students, the journey is more important than the destination.:wink:

 

[joblo]

It helps to remember for older students, the journey is more important than the destination.:wink:

I couldn't agree with you more, I don't even have a destination, I take it one day at a time,and I do know that I have a long ways to go and much more to learn. We may be passed our prime for the UFC stuff, but that doesn't mean we can't excel in our own way. Just don't quit, never stop pushing yourself to improve, go at your own pace and never compare yourself to the younger students. I tell myself I'm not training to be a kid again, I'm training so I can be a better adult.

 

[Windsinger]

We may be passed our prime for the UFC stuff, but that doesn't mean we can't excel in our own way.

You never know. Ron "The Black Dragon" Van Clief fought in the UFC at the age of 51. Okay, sure, his opponent (Royce Gracie) mopped the floor with him, but...

 

[cbjr5]

Congratulations, I'm 42 and started TKD 4 mos ago, I only hope to become that flexible.

 

[FearlessFreep]

We may be passed our prime for the UFC stuff, but that doesn't mean we can't excel in our own way.

At 39, I'm actually hoping to enter an amateur MMA competition of some sort some time in the next year, depending on how my training goes.

 

[FearlessFreep]

joblo, what sorta stretching/conditioning regime or approach did you use?

 

[joblo]

I stretch daily, two or three times a week I will do hard PNF stretches. Squats, slow kicking, side and front leg raises with ankle weights. It's all the usual stuff you read about nothing special. I just never quit trying to go further, age is not a factor, injuries and arthiritis can hold you back but not age. My slowest progress has been the side split, I'm still about 6" from the floor but I will get there in the next year.

 

[kwaichang]

Well I'm 110 and I can,......oh look a chicken