What hapens when tkd is not what it used to be

[Manny]

I want to talk here about age, yes you know it, when you can not perform flying, twirling, flashing, flamboyant kicks? When yor TKD is not as dinamic as it once was? When your body aches for everithing afther a TKD training session? When you ask yourself What I am doing here? Beaten with sore feet and pain in your lower part of your body? Would you quit? would you keep going? What would you change?

A friend of mine a 4th degree black belt in TKD and 1st Dan in HKD told me he wanted to do something else not so harsh, maybe a little aikido or some other martial art that not put so much effort on the leg joints.

What hapens when you a tae kwond do man can't perform on it as well as you did or want?

Manny

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

When you are

- young, you train because you want to develop something.
- old, you train because you don't want to lose anything.

The day that you stop your training will be the day that you start to lose it. How to "maintain" your ability can be more important than how to "develop" it.

 

[K-man]

I want to talk here about age, yes you know it, when you can not perform flying, twirling, flashing, flamboyant kicks? When yor TKD is not as dinamic as it once was? When your body aches for everithing afther a TKD training session? When you ask yourself What I am doing here? Beaten with sore feet and pain in your lower part of your body? Would you quit? would you keep going? What would you change?

A friend of mine a 4th degree black belt in TKD and 1st Dan in HKD told me he wanted to do something else not so harsh, maybe a little aikido or some other martial art that not put so much effort on the leg joints.

What hapens when you a tae kwond do man can't perform on it as well as you did or want?

Manny

Manny, I could never have done those kicks. Perhaps that's why TKD was never top of my mind Aikido doesn't stress the leg joints but it does stress your elbows and shoulders and a double leg takedown some months back has left me with residual knee trouble. I doubt there is any martial art that doesn't cause some degree of physical distress to the body.

Can I suggest, if it is available, Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate may well be an alternative. We don't have any 'flying, twirling, flashing, flamboyant kicks' and we don't have the constant rolling and falling of Aikido.
:asian:

 

[oftheherd1]

My Hapkido GM used to tell me that many TKD masters and grand masters would move to Hapkido as it was easier on their bodies. Maybe that is an option if it available. I would think Aikido would be too.

 

[Jaeimseu]

How is your overall level of fitness? I don't mean for this to sound mean, but if your fitness isn't good, maybe taekwondo isn't the problem.

 

[MAist25]

Taekwondo doesn't have to be about flashy kicks. Sure, its fun when you're young to challenge yourself and learn some of them, but it is the basic kicks like the front kick, side kick, roundhouse kick, and back kick that are at the core of Taekwondo. Notice how these are the kicks that you have been practicing since white and yellow belt? It is because they are the most important kicks you can have in your arsenal and also the simplest. Remember, in combat simplicity is effective.

You need to listen to what your body is telling you. Pain is okay, being hurt is not. If you are hurting, stop and rest. As an experienced martial artist you know by now the difference between good pain and bad pain. Taekwondo should not be detrimental to your health, in fact it should be something you do to stay healthy. Look at all of the old grandmasters who are still very active and training. If they can do it, so can you. But I'm sure you wont see them doing crazy, fancy kicks. And I'm sure every one of them listens to what their body is telling them and does what they can. There has to come a time when you realize you aren't a kid anymore, but that just means you need to alter the way you train, not stop. Its all part of the journey my friend.

 

[RTKDCMB]

I can't speak for sport TKD, but for self defence, doing lots of fancy flying kicks is good if you can do them but they are only a small part of TKD as a whole and not the most important parts. There are plenty of other techniques in TKD that still make it worthwhile if you are not in peak physical shape. Fancy flying kicks are some of the least most likely techniques you will use in self defence, there are plenty of kicking, striking and grappling techniques that are far more useful that do not require the agility of an elite athlete.

 

[drop bear]

Does he do rehab sessions at all? Massage,water sessions, ice baths supliments, that kind of thing. Or is it turn up throw flashy kicks go home and wonder why he is feeling a little beaten up.

How many time a week does he train? If it is one day a week that becomes a serious shock to the body.

 

[Gnarlie]

Poomsae is at the core of Taekwondo, and I would have to be pretty out of sorts before I stopped practicing them.

 

[Buka]

Manny, I can hear you, brother. I can't kick like I used to, so I rarely kick at all. That may be fine for some, but I was a kicker. So, what I do now is still study kicking, actually more than I used to, but strictly in a defensive sense. At one time, I ran a school that was heavy in kicking. I used to school the students who weren't athletic, and could never in a million years throw a jump 360, to study kicking more than the kickers. Both through drilling (even if they were falling down trying) and breaking down the weak points of every kick on a constant basis. Then adapt what you do best to defeat every kick and stick it up the kickers ---. I tell the same thing to guys who aren't great punchers.

Many of my students are really good kickers. I still spar with them (sometimes) and focus on not letting them kick. It's good for both of us. Although I haven't done TKD in almost thirty years, I was a 4th and know what you're feeling. Hang in there, bro. Tear them young kickers apart with street smarts and craftiness. And smile while you're doing it.

 

[punisher73]

How about adapting your art to what your body can do now.

why do a front kick to the head, when you can target the knee? Look at the low kicks of okinawan karate and see where they would fit in for use.

There is a reason why the okinawan arts kick the way they do. It is because it works WITH how your body is supposed to move and will not harm it in the long run. The body can move in ways that are not beneficial to it in the long run and the motions of many kicks put unneccessary harm on the hips/knees over long term.

 

[Balrog]

I want to talk here about age, yes you know it, when you can not perform flying, twirling, flashing, flamboyant kicks? When yor TKD is not as dinamic as it once was? When your body aches for everithing afther a TKD training session? When you ask yourself What I am doing here? Beaten with sore feet and pain in your lower part of your body? Would you quit? would you keep going? What would you change?

Well, since I'm an old fart, I guess I'm qualified to answer this. :boing2:

I'm 65 and I have arthritis. Jumping kicks are few and far between for me these days. But I don't care. I work on keeping quality in my basic techniques and I can still teach the flashy kicks to the young bucks and let them have fun with them.

I'll do TKD until I can't any more, then I'll probably switch to Tai Chi. The day I stop doing martial arts is the day I start to die.

 

[Manny]

Taekwondo doesn't have to be about flashy kicks. Sure, its fun when you're young to challenge yourself and learn some of them, but it is the basic kicks like the front kick, side kick, roundhouse kick, and back kick that are at the core of Taekwondo. Notice how these are the kicks that you have been practicing since white and yellow belt? It is because they are the most important kicks you can have in your arsenal and also the simplest. Remember, in combat simplicity is effective.



Manny
You need to listen to what your body is telling you. Pain is okay, being hurt is not. If you are hurting, stop and rest. As an experienced martial artist you know by now the difference between good pain and bad pain. Taekwondo should not be detrimental to your health, in fact it should be something you do to stay healthy. Look at all of the old grandmasters who are still very active and training. If they can do it, so can you. But I'm sure you wont see them doing crazy, fancy kicks. And I'm sure every one of them listens to what their body is telling them and does what they can. There has to come a time when you realize you aren't a kid anymore, but that just means you need to alter the way you train, not stop. Its all part of the journey my friend.

Thank you you sir, I really aprecite your coment.

 

[Manny]

Does he do rehab sessions at all? Massage,water sessions, ice baths supliments, that kind of thing. Or is it turn up throw flashy kicks go home and wonder why he is feeling a little beaten up.

How many time a week does he train? If it is one day a week that becomes a serious shock to the body.

My friend Jhosep is not training at the moment he has a hip condition, the head of the femur is something like little pay for the years of doing TKD so he is a little fat, he wants to do train in something not to bad for his joints and began to loose some weigth.

Manny

 

[Manny]

How about adapting your art to what your body can do now.

why do a front kick to the head, when you can target the knee? Look at the low kicks of okinawan karate and see where they would fit in for use.

There is a reason why the okinawan arts kick the way they do. It is because it works WITH how your body is supposed to move and will not harm it in the long run. The body can move in ways that are not beneficial to it in the long run and the motions of many kicks put unneccessary harm on the hips/knees over long term.

Talking about me I can tell you all my kicks are the basic ones and aimed to the torso and below, yes I can kick to head level but I am not so good at this because of age, physical condition,etc. for example I can perform an-chaguis and bakat-chaguis even chiko-chaguis to the mitts but trying to do these kicks at head level doing kyorugi it's very dificult because it takes me so much effort to do them. However, my low kicks and torso kicks are pretty good and when performing self defense techs my low kicks are so good thet my partners get amazed.

Pardon me for these but my TKD resembles in some cases karate because I use hand techs equalliy than kicks and my kicks are not the high ones.

Manny

 

[terryl965]

Embraces to changes but keep to what works best for you at the same time.

 

[Metal]

At my club the oldest active members are over 70. For sure they can't perform jumping kicks anymore and have trouble with kicks in general, but there's much more in Taekwondo that they can still do. They're one of the biggest motivations for me to continue to train and show me that there's a long future in front of me.

 

[drop bear]

Kick boxing?

Which gives you the opportunity to kick lower?

 

[terryl965]

or just bring in some tiny people so the head is easier to kick

 

[evelbug]

The master instructor in my club is an older gentleman. He told us that one of the original purposes of a jump kick was to dismount a man from a horse, and for him now, it's more like a midget from a pony.