What if......

[Manny]

Sometime ago I met an aikido sensei who told me because of age had to change from karate shotokan to aikido. This sensei is a 3rd or 4th dan in shotokan karate he is about 68 years ( 3rd dan in aikido) old he is in good shape but he told me because of age his kicks (for example) were not high enough amoung other things and he discovered aikido fitted him very well, if I got the message he change a hard-linear martial art for a softh-round one.

Now there is the question, if you because of age or because your capacities (kicking for example) go down or because a disability will leave TKD to for another martial art molre suitable for your capacities?

Manny

 

[StudentCarl]

I don't see myself changing. Next time I see GM Park, Hae Man, I will ask him his thoughts. I don't know how active he still is, but he's the most active senior I know of.

 

[harlan]

There is going to be wear and tear and aging no matter the art. So, 'No'; I've found a school and style rich enough in substance that I can still practice with limitations as I grow older.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

There is going to be wear and tear and aging no matter the art. So, 'No'; I've found a school and style rich enough in substance that I can still practice with limitations as I grow older.

I've met enough tkdoin in their late sixties who can still perform very well that I really don't see age as a barrier.

 

[chrispillertkd]

I definitely don't see a reason to stop training in Taekwon-Do because of age if one keeps reasonable care of their body. This doesn't mean you can't engage in hard training, you just have to be smart about it.

I didn't see Gen. Choi in person until he was 74 and he was still pretty awesome. GM Lee, Yoo Sun is 70 or so and still very impressive from what I have seen. My own instructor is in his 60's and while he's started having some trouble with one of his knees is still phenomenal.

The secret is to listen to your body when you are training, and afterwards. Train hard, but train smart. If you get an injury allow your body to heal. Take time to warm up and cool down. Make sure you hydrate yourself properly. Spend time doing exercises out side of training such as stretching, strength building exercises, etc. that are going to help you be able to keep training as the years progress.

Also, remember that even if one aspect of your physical ability starts to diminish it doesn't mean you can't improve in other areas. I'm not as flexible as I was in my teens now that I'm in my 40's, but I can hit harder now than I could then because I've gotten better at mobilizing my entire body when kicking and striking. Of course, now I just have to spend more time working on my flexibilty, too

Pax,

Chris

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Fortunately, I am an Isshin-Ryu karateka. No high kicks, no fancy stuff. And we just get stronger as we age, which is a good thing in Isshin-Ryu. So I'm all set.

 

[GlassJaw]

Back in college (20-25 years ago), I had many friends who who regularly studied a martial art or two. They were almost always "hard" styles, including (TKD, Karate, Kendo, etc.). Not one of them stuck with MA past their twenties. (Okay, actually there was one fellow who switched from Karate to Aikido before graduation, and he still does it.) And every one of the ones who later in life tried to return to MA and still manage to continue studying one long-term are those who have settled into the "soft" styles of either Aikido and Tai Chi. Some of those friends also now include yoga classes in their weekly routines (ol' folks just can't stretch like the young'uns).

 

[dancingalone]

Assuming our bodies age and become more frail, all martial arts, even those regarded as 'soft' ones, require a degree of personal adaptation over time. Aikido has ukemi and shikko walking, both activities which can be jarring to the back and knees. Tai chi chuan often has deep stances which are just as difficult as those practiced in Shotokan karate to those with weak knee joints and ankles.

It's not about the art at all. It's knowing your body and practicing smartly. There are plenty of karate-ka and taekwondo-in in their seventies and yet are still practicing. I even saw a video a few weeks ago of a hundred year old man (who recently passed away) but he was still banging away doing his powerful hung ga kuen sets.

 

[Manny]

Myself, right now I have a hamstring or hampull,,,, well something hurt me in the back of my lefth thigh so basically my movility is good but my kicking ability at this time is not good, I can not kick with my left leg and even with this leg as a suporting one I can not kick high with the right. Don't know how many time I will be in this condition but it's a sahme cause I can not do kicks and TKD is a kicking art..... well.... most of it.

What I am doing now? well more basics like defenses, parries, blocks, stances, hand techs, knees, elbow, one steps, some ho shi sul and pommsae but without kicks.

Last night I had a chat with sambonim and saw an OUTSTANDING picture of him in his 30's performing an outstanding sissor kicks (gwai or kawi-chagui), my sambonim has this new pic hanging on his wall so it was a topic for chating.

My master told me he practiced alot to perform that kick but again he was 30 years old at that time, he was pretty skiny and today he has almost 60 and he has gained some pounds.

I've never seen my master doing such dificult kicks but I know he is a very good sambonim, maybe when he was young he was a super taekwondoing and today he is a super sambonim.

Manny

 

[ralphmcpherson]

Myself, right now I have a hamstring or hampull,,,, well something hurt me in the back of my lefth thigh so basically my movility is good but my kicking ability at this time is not good, I can not kick with my left leg and even with this leg as a suporting one I can not kick high with the right. Don't know how many time I will be in this condition but it's a sahme cause I can not do kicks and TKD is a kicking art..... well.... most of it.

What I am doing now? well more basics like defenses, parries, blocks, stances, hand techs, knees, elbow, one steps, some ho shi sul and pommsae but without kicks.

Last night I had a chat with sambonim and saw an OUTSTANDING picture of him in his 30's performing an outstanding sissor kicks (gwai or kawi-chagui), my sambonim has this new pic hanging on his wall so it was a topic for chating.

My master told me he practiced alot to perform that kick but again he was 30 years old at that time, he was pretty skiny and today he has almost 60 and he has gained some pounds.

I've never seen my master doing such dificult kicks but I know he is a very good sambonim, maybe when he was young he was a super taekwondoing and today he is a super sambonim.

Manny

Just remember Manny, there is heaps more to tkd than just kicking. I trained with a guy who had a full knee reonstrucction and couldnt kick for almost a year, but he never missed a class. He just worked on the many other aspects of tkd until he could kick again. Kicking high and flashy has never interested me, but then those flashy things would make up a tiny percentage of tkd in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Grenadier]

A good Shotokan school will help you find ways to overcome limitations, and use what you have in the most practical way.

One of our instructors is 80 years old, and he's still training hard, easily making it through some of my most physically intensive classes. He can still hit pretty darn hard, and his timing is impeccable.

Can he kick someone in the head? Is he going to have the most nimble footwork? Can he do the advanced kata that have various demanding jumps in them? Will he be able to make a deep knee bend?

Of course not. However, such techniques can be modified for him. With a few modifications to the kata sequences, he did learn kata Unsu (one of the most demanding ones), where he simply wouldn't be dropping to the floor, or making a full jump + spin + double kick.

In addition to this, he worked on sharpening up his low kicks, and he has some truly nasty low kicks that he can now throw with ease.

As long as someone is willing to take the effort to optimize his own techniques to suit his own body type, there's no reason why he can't still keep doing Shotokan Karate.

 

[StudentCarl]

Manny, I hope you are healing. The more I learn, the more I see Taekwondo as big enough to fit anyone. There are techniques that fit youth and those that fit age, those that rely on speed or power, and those that do not, techniques that are linear or circular. Age and injuries are leading me deeper into Taekwondo, not away from it. I focus to improve on what my body will do instead of lamenting what it won't do right now. Good luck my friend.

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

if you because of age or because your capacities (kicking for example) go down or because a disability will leave TKD to for another martial art molre suitable for your capacities?

For me, yes. I've started jiujitsu as I wait for a toe injury to heal. I was going to leave TKD altogether for a few months, but figured I might as do light TKD and something less "bouncy" while I wait!

 

[Master Dan]

I am glad to see voices of reason here that show that there is no age limit to practicing TKD or for that matter any traditional martial art form. There are age appropriate exercises to be done and technique that should progress with each age. I start many people over 40,50,60 as beginers who improve health dramtically and thier ability to defend themselves. To many people think that its all high kicks and jumping around. TKD can be of service to anyone any age if taught properly. However after training with Dr. Jung Hwan Park THE WORLD TRADITIONAL HAPKIDO FEDERATION, a deciple of the late Grandmaster Yong-Sool Choi Founder of Modern Hapkido he mentioned in one training session his original background in TKD and dual train then mentioned that most men(Koreans when reaching 40 would transition to Hapkido for better self defense and mentioning that you no longer can jump around as younger people? Alot of perspective comes from when and were a person's training happend and stopped. It hurts me greatly to see alot of unqualified instructors forcing mature people to train like they were 18-26 because they know nothing else and alot of mature people over 35 and beyond giving up because of pain and injury and not being able to reconcile a self image of being 20 and not living up to that.

There is so much more to do and self healing from almost any pain or injury. People thinking they have lost it due to no longer doing blinding spining kicks to the head is rediculous. First for self defense no reason to kick above the waste and the head is a target when they are on the ground. On top of that lifting your legs high on the street is rediculous and if you are so over matching a person to do that then according to Richard Chun you are even being imoral by using more force than is necessary to control the person. I have personally watched Great Grand Master's like Bong Soo Han or Han Bong Soo if you prefer a personal friend of our departe GM come into our DoJang and put young men down in his very late years and others like him