hemi
Purple Belt
Well I may be asking too much of myself, or maybe I am just crazy. I am 32 about six foot tall and around 170lbs. In my younger years 16-19 I took some TKD classes. A lot of the time I would forgo the normal class and show up for sparring. The instructor required sparring when he was testing the students for advancement and I fought just about everyone that was testing.
I was never great but I had good form and my kicks were fast and accurate. I was at an acceptable level to me. Now at 32, I just started going to an American kenpo school. I will skip the why I picked kenpo and try and stay more on topic with my question. But I do want to add that after a month, I love this style and hope to stay with it 100%.
In class when we practice our kicks I think mine are about as good as anyone else in the class. I am in phase one of the training so the highest belts in the class are advanced orange. But I seem to compare myself to how I was back at age 16-19. My kicks had a lot more snap and the form was to me much cleaner.
I hate that I can kick out fine but on bringing my leg back and getting into a neutral bow I am slow and sloppy.
Sometimes I feel like maybe I missed the boat starting over at 32. When I do something like delayed sword, or captured twigs I can do the moves but I am sloppy and unrefined looking. Then when I watch the instructor do the same moves it looks smooth as glass. I know that with 18 years teaching and no telling how many years training to reach the level of 5th Dan some of that can be expected. And maybe I am too hard on myself but am I crazy to think I will ever get back to at least the level I was at ages 16-19?
Have or do any of you that are my age or older feel this way? Did I wait to long to get back into martial arts? I want to reach the level of black belt, but only if I can reach the level of perfection that I associate with that level of rank. Case and point, I donÂ’t want to wear the belt if I look like a joke on the mat.
Any idea how I can work to improve my speed, form, and accuracy? I do have a wave master to work with. I stretch everyday for at least 20 min.
Anyway thanks to all who read and respond to this. I may be just over thinking my situation and putting to much into improving to quickly. Any advise from those that are going or have gone through this would be very appreciated and respected.
Phil
I was never great but I had good form and my kicks were fast and accurate. I was at an acceptable level to me. Now at 32, I just started going to an American kenpo school. I will skip the why I picked kenpo and try and stay more on topic with my question. But I do want to add that after a month, I love this style and hope to stay with it 100%.
In class when we practice our kicks I think mine are about as good as anyone else in the class. I am in phase one of the training so the highest belts in the class are advanced orange. But I seem to compare myself to how I was back at age 16-19. My kicks had a lot more snap and the form was to me much cleaner.
I hate that I can kick out fine but on bringing my leg back and getting into a neutral bow I am slow and sloppy.
Sometimes I feel like maybe I missed the boat starting over at 32. When I do something like delayed sword, or captured twigs I can do the moves but I am sloppy and unrefined looking. Then when I watch the instructor do the same moves it looks smooth as glass. I know that with 18 years teaching and no telling how many years training to reach the level of 5th Dan some of that can be expected. And maybe I am too hard on myself but am I crazy to think I will ever get back to at least the level I was at ages 16-19?
Have or do any of you that are my age or older feel this way? Did I wait to long to get back into martial arts? I want to reach the level of black belt, but only if I can reach the level of perfection that I associate with that level of rank. Case and point, I donÂ’t want to wear the belt if I look like a joke on the mat.
Any idea how I can work to improve my speed, form, and accuracy? I do have a wave master to work with. I stretch everyday for at least 20 min.
Anyway thanks to all who read and respond to this. I may be just over thinking my situation and putting to much into improving to quickly. Any advise from those that are going or have gone through this would be very appreciated and respected.
Phil
