If you cannot train for a lifetime, then why bother in the first place?

[phantom]

I have heard with some of the more demanding styles, like My Jhong Law Horn and the acrobatic wushu, you will eventually get to a point where your body will not be able to do such styles anymore. Also, with judo, once you are above forty, I have heard that most people either limit doing randori to two or three times a week due to the high injury risk, or they give up judo alltogether and do more aikido. Now, I can understand that there may be certain moves in a style that you may either not be able to do as well when you get older, or even have to stop doing alltogether. But, if you have to give up training in an entire style once you get older, then why bother wasting time, effort, and money learning that style in the first place? Thanks in advance.

[SevenStar]

Don't believe what you heard about judo. the head coach at my club is in his 70's. he knows the throws, and can execute them perfectly. We don't throw him, but we do roll with him, and NOBODY In the class can remotely come close to him on the ground. his ground grappling is awesome. Judo is definitely something you can do for a lifetime. It's not that you can't do it - you just move in different directions, like teaching instead of competing, or doing alot of matwork instead of doing randori.

Also, you have to remember, not everyone wants to do martial arts for the rest of their life. Do you have a job? if so, do you want to do that exact same job for the rest of your life? If you don't want to do it for the rest of your life, then why do it 8hrs a day?

that job is something you do because you have to pay the bills (if ou are one of the ones that doesn't want to do the same job forever). To some, martial arts is just something for them to do while they can.

[rogue]

In the sparring group I belonged to the Judoka was 61 years old. Tapped me out many times.

[Sho]

Hey there's always the Older People Style in contemporary wushu!

[Ford Prefect]

Ummmm... because people enjoy them.

[David Jamieson]

You can train martial arts throughout your entire life.

Some things like hard basic training will not be required on a regular basis as you advance. But they should be revisited now and again to keep them fresh should you need to pass them along.

I don't buy the whole "I'm too old to train" argument. Your never to old to do some form of training, and hey the rule is, you're born, you grow up, you age, your body deteriorates, then you die.

This is everybodies lot, so some things need more focus than others and it is dependent on the energy you have in store moreso than your age.

I'm near 40 and I still train the hard stuff as well as the soft stuff.

peace

[apoweyn]

because it's experience. do i want to be taking and dishing out thai-style shin kicks when i'm in my 70s? no, probably not. do i want to have the experience of them? yes. absolutely. it makes me wiser concerning those things. that experience gives me a good launching point for the adaptations i might need to make as i grow older.

i think it's a mistake to get hung up on style the way this question suggests. you haven't wasted your time with a style. you've absorbed a body of knowledge. that knowledge will be used to make later decisions, adaptations, etc. personally, permanent injuries aside, i don't see the downside. (unless you're suggesting that if we'd just spent that time learning taiji or something, we'd be that much better at taiji now. there's some logic to that argument, but i don't think it can be proven that you'd be quantitatively better off having not studied those other styles.)


stuart b.

[HuangKaiVun]

No, I do agree with the original post.

I don't train in anything that I know my body can't handle down the line.

Every minute I would be spending trying to master acrobatics and postures that I eventually will discard is a minute I would be turning toward a technique that I intend to keep.

It's not for me to dictate what others do. I just know that I'm one of those guys who spends his time "learning taiji or something, we'd be that much better at taiji now."

In my case, that's TRUE.

[joedoe]

Originally posted by phantom
I have heard with some of the more demanding styles, like My Jhong Law Horn and the acrobatic wushu, you will eventually get to a point where your body will not be able to do such styles anymore. Also, with judo, once you are above forty, I have heard that most people either limit doing randori to two or three times a week due to the high injury risk, or they give up judo alltogether and do more aikido. Now, I can understand that there may be certain moves in a style that you may either not be able to do as well when you get older, or even have to stop doing alltogether. But, if you have to give up training in an entire style once you get older, then why bother wasting time, effort, and money learning that style in the first place? Thanks in advance.

If you took that attitude with everything in life, you would never achieve anything. You would never improve or learn, you would simply give up before you started.

There doesn't always have to be a reason for doing things :).

[apoweyn]

huangkaivun,


Originally posted by HuangKaiVun
No, I do agree with the original post.

I don't train in anything that I know my body can't handle down the line.

Every minute I would be spending trying to master acrobatics and postures that I eventually will discard is a minute I would be turning toward a technique that I intend to keep.

It's not for me to dictate what others do. I just know that I'm one of those guys who spends his time "learning taiji or something, we'd be that much better at taiji now."

In my case, that's TRUE.

i hope my post made it clear that i see no fault with this viewpoint. it makes sense, as i said. clearly, if you spend ten years on something, you're likely to have insights that a person wouldn't have after five years.

on the flip side, i think past experiences are going to yield insights that go beyond simple questions of whether or not you're still able to perform a certain move. or even a certain style.

take the full-contact stickfighting i used to do. i look at videos of that and think, 'good god, i'm glad i'm not doing that anymore.' (i know, i know, the dog brothers are hanging their head in shame at my wussiness.) but does that mean that it was a waste of my time? absolutely not. the insights gained from that experience still shape what i do now. that's all.


stuart b.

[Budokan]

"If you cannot train for a lifetime, then why bother in the first place?"

Well, it's either that or stay at home and play with yourself for a lifetime. Which do you prefer?

[ewallace]

i know, i know, the dog brothers are hanging their head in shame at my wussiness
Me too.

[apoweyn]

Well, it's either that or stay at home and play with yourself for a lifetime. Which do you prefer?


[still thinking... ]

[apoweyn]

Originally posted by ewallace

Me too.

you're hanging your head in shame at my wussiness?

or they're hanging their heads in shame at your wussiness?

:)

[ewallace]

Yes.

[apoweyn]

Originally posted by ewallace
Yes.

excellent. carry on then.

i'll just get back to my quiche.



stuart b.

[SevenStar]

hop gar grandmaster ku chi wai is 61, and you don't want to mess with him.

[JusticeZero]

A number of techniques and exercises that you can only do when you're in your teens and 20's will give you a solid foundation for the movements that you will want to do well in your 70's and 80's.