old tiger vs young tiger

Manny

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Forgive me if I love to post about my tkd life, but as you may know tkd is a big part of my me. Tonight went to dojang to train, sambonim made two squads, he wanted to put on to some kind of test, I was the captain of the red team, my team cosited of one mom, a mature guy (me) and 4 teens. The fisrt part was a 3 point kyorugi, I face a young tiger, here you have the stats:

Manny: 44 years old, 1.85 m tall, 110 kilograms.
Gabe: 15-16 years old, 1.85 m tall, around 90 kilograms.

Equipment: hogu and head gear nothing more.

We engage with prudence at first, I try to nail the head to get the 3 points fast, it was dificult, my footwork was crap, at the end don't know who won, we were tie, two points each one, sambonim stoped the fight but don't call a winner, I went to the line and led the next fighter of my squad go to fight. This was the fisrt test.

Second part of the test was SYRUM WRESTLING, nothing but wrestling on the floor (on the mat) backs touching each other and when the whistle sound I engage with Gabe in kneeling position, the test was to nail the other on his back for 3 seconds both shoulders againts the mat. I nail Gabe the first time, I think I was quicker and surprise him. The second round I fight like a tiger but Gabe beat me. Third round again I did my best the fight went old but at the end Gabe beat me. I did my best, the wresting was harsh and certanly it was not easy for Gabe too.
I ended liying on the mat very tired, I use all my stamina wrestling with this young man, I got a gatorade and went for the last part of the test.

Third part of the test hokey, yes a kind of hokey using kicking padles (palchaguis) and small ball, my team lost the game, I was to tired, but even that I went chasing the youngsters and did some good plays.

At the end of the test/games I aproached sambonim and excused me for my poor performance, he told me I did it fine, that I put Gabe in some troubles and it was not easy for him to overcome me, but in general my sambonim saw me never retreat or surrender and he liked that.

At the end of the class sambonim told us it does not matter who wins and who won't, he wanted us to work as a team challengin the other (team) and the best part of this drill was to create character and team work.

I learnt some things: a) I need to improve a lot my footwork, the spirit was there but I don't do kyorugy very ofthen so I am too static,heavy and I need to quiker. Second I need to use more my brains, I am 44 yo man that if need to fight a better built or younger man will need to focus on strategy and see the weak spots in the other fighter.

Right now I feel very tired, very heavyy and my shins and forearms are beatean, my arms and chest is swell but I feel very happy, I did an exelent work out, fight the best I could and yes the young tiger won over the old Manny.

Any coments?

Manny
 
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Earl Weiss

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Age , experience and treachery will beat youth and skill. Learn how to cheat, or at least bend the rules.
 

clfsean

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Age , experience and treachery will beat youth and skill. Learn how to cheat, or at least bend the rules.

One of my old instructors is a former NFL player. His coach used to say "if you're not cheating, you're not trying"...
 

igillman

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As we age we lose a bit of speed and mobility. Your task is to recognise that and then make up the difference with experience. We have to adjust to what our bodies can and cannot do and accept the fact that we are not getting any younger. Always fight in a way that brings out your strengths. You can no longer bounce around like a rabbit so do not do that any more. You can stay more static, dominate the centre of the mat and make them come to you. Every time they bounce in range let loose a kick. You are bigger than them so you can absorb the impact of one of their kicks much better than they can absorb the impact of one of your kicks. Even if they are too quick to be hit every time it will distract them. Imagine if they bounce in range, kick and then get out of the way just in time. You may not hit them but they can feel the breeze from your foot whipping past them. The next time they might be a little more nervous and hesitate just that bit too long and then you will make contact. Every once in a while when they bounce out of range charge at them, they will get so scared they will run away. Do not follow them, you no longer have the energy for that, just be satisfied with putting them off their stride. You are reaching the stage when you can intimidate your opponent so use it to your best advantage.
 

oaktree

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Should have used the "hey look at that cute girl over there."
gets teenagers every time.

I remember boxing a younger Guy in the gym our speed was
About same but he had more endurance however I had technique
So in a short encounter I had the advantage but if we went a lot longer
I would have gassed out.
 

oftheherd1

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Well, sure you had heart Manny. Good on you for that. Also for going to your teacher to apologize, and seeking advice on improvement.

But yeah, you probably need to work on sparring technique, not the speed anymore, but the technique.

Thanks for sharing your experience.
 
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Manny

Manny

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As we age we lose a bit of speed and mobility. Your task is to recognise that and then make up the difference with experience. We have to adjust to what our bodies can and cannot do and accept the fact that we are not getting any younger. Always fight in a way that brings out your strengths. You can no longer bounce around like a rabbit so do not do that any more. You can stay more static, dominate the centre of the mat and make them come to you. Every time they bounce in range let loose a kick. You are bigger than them so you can absorb the impact of one of their kicks much better than they can absorb the impact of one of your kicks. Even if they are too quick to be hit every time it will distract them. Imagine if they bounce in range, kick and then get out of the way just in time. You may not hit them but they can feel the breeze from your foot whipping past them. The next time they might be a little more nervous and hesitate just that bit too long and then you will make contact. Every once in a while when they bounce out of range charge at them, they will get so scared they will run away. Do not follow them, you no longer have the energy for that, just be satisfied with putting them off their stride. You are reaching the stage when you can intimidate your opponent so use it to your best advantage.

Thank you very much!!! I spar the way you wrote above, I counter more than leading because as you notice I am heavier and then slower than the young tigers LOL!!! But this time maybe I was anxiuos, I haven't sparr in a long time and this 3 point kyorugi will be against the clock, the firsth one who got three points was the winner and then he must leave the mat quickly for the next fighter.

Yess I can absorve better the kicks and punches because my size and becaus I am not so fast I use my forearms and shins to block (this must hurt to the other guy too), even so yesterday I used a couple of spining hoo kicks that mised by two inches the target.

Something I saw last night is Robert a nice young fighter inside the dojang has troubles trying to fight a lighter partner, Robert is about 75 kilograms and the other guy was around 60 kilograms, Robert kicked viciusly but he was too slow and the other skiny guy just jumped around and when the kick of Robert passed away thius fellow kicked Roberto wining the point.

Heavier guys kick with more power but ligther ones are quiker.

Manny
 

Tony Dismukes

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Welcome to every day of my BJJ training. My training partners are typically in their mid-twenties and a high-percentage of them are very athletic (weightlifters, former wrestlers, current amateur and professional fighters). I'm 48 and I was never a great athlete even when I was younger. I have to be patient, sneaky, and lazy ... er, I mean efficient in my technique to compensate for the advantage in speed and power that most of them have. I imagine that it's possible to take the same approach in TKD.
 

bluewaveschool

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Grab the kid when he moves in by the sleeve, then punch him. It's always fun watching students reaction the first time you catch their kick instead of moving or blocking. :ultracool
 
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Manny

Manny

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Welcome to every day of my BJJ training. My training partners are typically in their mid-twenties and a high-percentage of them are very athletic (weightlifters, former wrestlers, current amateur and professional fighters). I'm 48 and I was never a great athlete even when I was younger. I have to be patient, sneaky, and lazy ... er, I mean efficient in my technique to compensate for the advantage in speed and power that most of them have. I imagine that it's possible to take the same approach in TKD.

I must admit that wrestling is very challengin AND demands a lot of stamina, one must be in great shape to fight that way.

Manny
 

RobinTKD

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I must admit that wrestling is very challengin AND demands a lot of stamina, one must be in great shape to fight that way.

Manny

It gets easier as you learn more techniques. My ground game has become the strongest part of my Judo fighting now, it compliments my Taekwondo well!
 
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Manny

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Why old tiger vs new tiger?Well, some years back I saw a documentary about tigers in India or someplace with a heavy dense jungle, the documentary was about the percentaje of tigers that does exist and thta maybe in very few years tigers will become extintc but the ones who live in the zoos.

In this documentary an old tiger was living in an old deshabitated castle/sanctuary in the jungle, something like a ghost castle only a monk lived near by, this tiger lived there for almost 30 years, he was thr king of the place, many desendence come from him, howevere some day a young and powerful tiger came and reclamed the castle, there was a fight where the old tiger was beaten and hurt and had to leave his castle.

For many months (the camera man) followed the odl tiger and also keep an eye in the new king of the castle, in one point the new tiger died, maybe because of another fight or because he got an infection or ill. Then ne old tigger went back to his castle and peacefully lived there for some more months and died (because of age) in his kingdom.

The old tiger and the monk developed some kind of respectfully relationship, the monk buried the old king with honors.

Manny
 

Balrog

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Age , experience and treachery will beat youth and skill. Learn how to cheat, or at least bend the rules.
Definition of a fair fight: I win. :)

We cross-train in BJJ. I'm not all that good at it (heck, I'm 63 and I don't want to roll on the ground). However, I want to know more about it to make myself a well-rounded martial artist. One of the things that I find amusing is that we practice drills about fighting from the guard or the mount and the very first thing I do when I'm on the ground is go for pressure points. A good pressure point will break up a lot of groundfighting, and it will do it quickly. And then I get fussed at for using pressure points.

I just snicker to myself and say, "Yes, sir" and force myself to not go for the pressure point on the next drill.
 

Tony Dismukes

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Definition of a fair fight: I win. :)

We cross-train in BJJ. I'm not all that good at it (heck, I'm 63 and I don't want to roll on the ground). However, I want to know more about it to make myself a well-rounded martial artist. One of the things that I find amusing is that we practice drills about fighting from the guard or the mount and the very first thing I do when I'm on the ground is go for pressure points. A good pressure point will break up a lot of groundfighting, and it will do it quickly. And then I get fussed at for using pressure points.

I just snicker to myself and say, "Yes, sir" and force myself to not go for the pressure point on the next drill.

I like your definition of a fair fight! :)

The thing about pressure points is, they can be effective against beginners in the gym doing drills, but they are unreliable when adrenaline comes into play and they won't do more than annoy experienced practitioners. Your teacher probably wants you to focus on developing sound fundamentals. Once you have those, you can control the position and make your opponent suffer with your pressure points as long as you like.
 

eliteguardian

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I'm fifteen years old and I know that my older black belt friends (much older then me) kick my butt every single time. Although you may lose your stamina over time you will never lose those techniques you learned over years of hard work and dedication.
 

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