Give it up to the elderly!!!!!

[hskwarrior]

Here is a CLF spar form from Guangzhou..two old guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZESF2bY9CKs

[yutyeesam]

Awesome! I love seeing stuff like this and videos of my Si Tai Gung Poon Seng at 86 rockin some CLF.

These guys have no quit in them.

[SIFU RON]

Thank you,

for putting this on the forum , these sifu's are enjoying themselves, pleasure to see this. Be nice to see more video of the older m/a folks and to have them talk on the forum.

My best to u

ron

[David Jamieson]

nice to see vitality in older people.
It keeps us mindful of teh value of continued practice. :)

[esox]

well I hope that I get to that age and retain that degree of energy, tell me, as someone who has no knowledge of that system is the main aim to attack each others fists

[David Jamieson]

well I hope that I get to that age and retain that degree of energy, tell me, as someone who has no knowledge of that system is the main aim to attack each others fists

lol. they are doing a choreographed set and are not trying to hit each other while at the same time expressing the movement of the style.

having said that, I have several different ways to attack the limbs as drawn from the cmas I have been taught

[mickey]

Greetings,

I like, very much.


mickey

[GeneChing]

Still busting tornado kicks in their 80's. AWESOME!

[Yum Cha]

Gotta love this kind of stuff, he could whip my Dad's ass...

[GeneChing]

This is a harsh story, but you got to give it up for kungfu grannies living in hell.

Kenya's kungfu grannies combat attacks with fists (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/12/AR2010051202684.html)
By TOM ODULA
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 12, 2010; 11:53 AM

NAIROBI, Kenya -- A two-finger poke to the eyes, a punch to the solar plexus, a kick to the groin, then turn and run, the instructor barks.

But this is not your typical self-defense class. The trainer is an elderly Kenyan woman who is teaching her peers how to combat a spate of rape attacks targeting elderly women in the slums. One Nairobi hospital treated 437 rape victims older than 60 last year.

In the sludge-covered alleyways of the Korogocho slum, 50 women, many of them grandmothers, have enrolled in twice-a-week self-defense classes at a run-down community center. The women say they must rely on themselves because the police rarely patrol the dark paths that wind through the maze of iron-roofed shanties. When suspected rapists are reported to the police, they often bribe their way to freedom, the women say.

At the Korogocho community hall, elderly women clad in headscarves, long skirts and petticoats pound punching bags with the heels of their bare feet.

"No, no, no!" screams 70-year-old Mary Wangui as she pounds the heavy hitting pad. Her open-palm blows force a 20-something instructor, Sheila Kariuki, to fall backward. A group of around 30 women between the ages of 50 and 80 cheer on Wangui as they wait their turn.
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"When we hit the pad with an open palm we are training to target the nose, the solar plexus or the groin to hurt an attacker so that it can give you a chance to escape. Shouting 'no' repetitively is meant to draw the attention of people so that they can assist you," said Wangui, who has been training for almost two years.

"Don't feel any mercy. Was he coming to read the Bible with you?" Kariuki asks the women.

One of the causes of elderly rape is a belief by criminals that intercourse with an elderly women can cure them of AIDS. Others think that raping an elderly woman will cleanse their sins after committing crimes, Kariuki said.

Ten elderly women have been raped and killed the last two years in Korogocho, but no suspects have been arrested, Kariuki said. Many other rapes are believed to have taken place but not reported.

Elizabeth Olwenya is a grandmother to four children under the age of 5 who were orphaned after two of Olwenya's daughters died of AIDS. The 55-year-old Olwenya was one of the first to take the self-defense classes three years ago, and said the skills she learned help protect her grandchildren.

"The life here is not good. People here can rape you and even your child," said Olwenya, a widow.

Dr. Jake Sinclair, a founding member of Ujamaa, a non-governmental organization that helps rape victims and holds the self-defense classes, said many class members are grandmothers motivated by the fact that they are raising their children's children. The classes can provide protection for both generations, he said.

For the orphans to have a chance of success in life, the grandmothers must be given skills and capital to start small businesses, Sinclair said. High crime rates threaten income-generating activities.

"If they lose that they have nothing," he said. "In most cases the mothers and the fathers have died of HIV and if the grandmother cannot support them or protect them the kids will end up on the streets or the Kenya youth authority, which is like prison. If they end up on the streets it is prostitution or thuggery."

Through a grandmother's care, the children have a chance to finish their education and break past the barrier of poverty, he said.

The Gender Recovery Center at the Nairobi Women's Hospital treated 2,357 victims of rape last year. Of the 1,118 adults who were victims of the crime, 223 women over the age of 60 - almost 20 percent of the victims, said the center's monitoring and evaluation officer, Lillian Kasina. National crime statistics are lower than the hospital's numbers, because of the stigma of reporting rape.

"Many of the reporting desks at police stations are manned by men who see rape as a crime of pleasure rather than seeing it as a crime that violates women's dignity," said Harun Ndubi, a human rights official with the group Haki Focus.

A national police spokesman, Charles Owino, said that reports of rape in general rose in 2008 and 2009, although he would not release statistics. He said the increase is because of more awareness of the crime and the introduction of stronger laws against sexual offenders.

Owino said the allegation that police do not act on reported cases could be true, and that if a police officer ignores a complaint, the victim or her family should talk to someone higher up the chain of command. "You can go all the way up and talk to the police commissioner," Owino said.

Julia Karinge, who is in her 80s and gets assistance from Ujamaa, said she has been raped twice.

"I did not resist either time because I did not want to die. They killed a friend of mine and dumped her body outside my house," said Karinge, who is not taking the defense classes.

No arrests were made, though she reported the crime to police and could identify her attacker.

"You need to pay them to get them to do anything," she said.

[PM]

Here is a CLF spar form from Guangzhou..two old guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZESF2bY9CKs

i know these 2 gentlemen, i have met them at demo in Fatsaan, Naamhoi :-) i thought it was Hap ga/baak hok/lama paai

[SIFU RON]

:mad: Really sad to read this Gene, God bless them.

[GeneChing]

Stop, or face the chop: The karate expert lollipop lady grandmother who is ready to mete out tough justice (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1292066/Ena-Mallett-Karate-expert-lollipop-lady-grandmother-gets-7th-dan-black-belt.html)
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:47 AM on 5th July 2010

Motorists beware! A karate expert lollipop lady is ready to deal with inconsiderate drivers after getting an historic martial arts award at the age of 77.

Grandmother Ena Mallett is the first woman ever to get a 7th dan black belt in Spirit Combat International ju-jitsu.

The widowed mother-of-two teaches weekly classes in the sport for children and adults at the village hall near her home in South Walsham, Norfolk.

Historic honour: 77-year-old lollipop lady Ena Mallett has become the first woman to earn a 7th dan black belt in Spirit Combat karate

She also helps out out twice a day as a lollipop lady helping children cross outside the village school.

Mrs Mallett started learning karate to keep fit in 1979 and became a Spirit Combat International instructor in 1987.

Karate expert: Mrs Mallett started learning karate in 1979 and has been an instructor since 1987

Despite being only 5 ft 4 ins tall, she can throw around much larger opponents using self-defence techniques.

She said: 'I might be getting on a bit - but I still get stuck in myself during lessons. I don't just teach from the sidelines.

'I can still deal with any big bloke who comes along. I am not treated any different to anyone else.

'The children at the school all know about my ju-jitsu skills and they think it is brilliant. A lot of them come to my classes.'

Mrs Mallett has only used her martial arts skills once in a real-life situation, when she out a 14-year-old boy in a wrist lock around seven-years-ago. She grabbed hold of the teenager to stop him stealing a packet of Polo mints while she was working part-time in a local shop.

She said: 'It gave him the shock of his life and he quickly dropped the mints. I let him go and he ran away.

'Spirit combat is all about using self control - but you have to be prepared for violence to defend yourself. I love teaching it and I certainly have no plans to give it up. I don't see why I should put my feet up.'

She also teaches more sedate ladies' keep fit classes and relaxes by dog walking and gardening.
Lollipop lady. What a quaint term.

[hskwarrior]

hahahah very cool gene

[SIFU RON]

Awesome ;)

[Dale Dugas]

better eat your peas or grandma will chicken wing you and make you eat em!!!

[GeneChing]

Hey, I got a great way you can get your school in the local papers. Give your eldest student her black belt. ;)

Seriously, congrats to Dingle. That's just plain awesome.


Great-grandmother no pushover at Tampa martial arts school (http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jul/12/great-grandmother-no-pushover-tampa-martial-arts-s/news-breaking/)
by GEORGE WILKENS | The Tampa Tribune
Published: July 12, 2010

SOUTH TAMPA - At Martial Arts Advantage, where students as young as 3 years old learn tae kwon do, Alice Dingle is a standout in more ways than one. The South Tampa resident who last week earned a black belt is a 72-year-old great-grandmother.

Long devoted to physical exercise, from aerobics and Pilates to free weights and golf, she was introduced to tae kwon do two years ago by one of her four sons.

"I did not know what it was all about, I did not have clue," she said of the Korean martial art similar to karate, but also employing a wide range of kicking moves.

Mark Dingle, 47, a tae kwon do black belt student at South Tampa's Martial Arts Advantage, knew it well. And he knew the workout was well suited for his active mother.

"Mom has more energy than all of us combined," Mark Dingle said recently after a tae kwon do class that included his three children, younger brother, Jimmy, and, of course, his mother.

Owner-instructor Anthony Kuntz, a sixth-degree black belt, said the martial arts school provides a family-based program. "It's more than self defense and fitness training; it's about family bonding," he said before leading the 45-minute workout for three generations of the Dingle family, and two dozen other students.

"Alice is 72 year young, our oldest student right now," Kuntz said. "She took our complimentary self-defense class and found she loved it," subsequently enrolling in women's cardio kickboxing and other classes focusing on calisthenics and improving strength and reflexes, said Kuntz, a Carrollwood resident.

"Receiving her black belt is a big deal. Receiving her black belt at age 72 is extraordinary," said Kuntz, who opened Martial Arts Advantage in 1998 at 234 E. Bearss Ave., and three years ago added the South Tampa location, 3801 S. Manhattan Ave.

Jimmy Dingle, the latest family member to get on board with tae kwon do, is on target to earn his black belt in four more months. "They talked me into it," the 38-year-old said of his mother, older brother and three nieces and nephews, Hannah, 13, Nik, 9, and Abby 7, all of whom earned black belts at the school.

"We have a really good time here," Alice Dingle said. "It's a great experience. To be with family, I think that's the key. And it's good exercise."

She is at Martial Arts Advantage five days a week. "Now this is my workout all the time," she said, though she occasionally steals time for Pilates or playing golf at the Palma Ceia Country Club, behind the home she shares with her husband, Jerry.

"None of that could compare with this," she said of martial arts. "I haven't gotten tired of it yet. "As long as I have good health I plan to stay here."

[Brule]

Gene, give it up, you just posted that story just so you can type 'Dingle'.......

[GeneChing]

150 tai chi postures? :confused: Well, we won't dwell on that. Happy 100th Mr. Fisher!


Local man celebrates 100 years with 100 tai chi postures (http://www.doverpost.com/article/20130328/NEWS/130329770/-1/news#art-tit?refresh=true)
Nathan Fisher, a resident of Dover, turned 100 on Tuesday and to celebrate he attended his weekly tae chi class at Rigby's Karate in Dover, where he and the other members of the class did 100 of 150 tai chi postures, in honor of Fisher's centennial.

By Sarah Barban
sarah.barban@doverpost.com
Twitter: @SarahDoverPost
Mar. 28, 2013 3:13 pm

Zoom
http://www.doverpost.com/article/20130328/NEWS/130329770/-1/news#
Nathan Fisher smiles as Reese Rigby of Rigby's Karate reads a letter congratulating Fisher on this 100th birthday. Fisher celebrated his birthday by performing 100 tai chi postures in his weekly tai chi class on Tuesday.

Dover, Del. --

When Nathan Fisher was born, Woodrow Wilson was president, women could not vote and for the first time, prizes were being put in Cracker Jack boxes.

In 100 years, Fisher has lived to see a lot, but you would never know it.

"There are changes constantly, small changes," he said.

Fisher turned 100 on Tuesday and to celebrate he attended his weekly tae chi class at Rigby's Karate in Dover, where he and the other members of the class did 100 of 150 tai chi postures, in honor of Fisher's centennial.

Fisher has been doing tai chi for the past 20 years. He picked it up when he was out in Berkley, Calif. staying with his daughter. He practiced short-form tai chi, which is only 37 poses, on and off for months.

In 2000 Fisher, who is originally from Baltimore, moved to Smyrna with his wife, who he was married to for almost 60 years prior to her death in 2002, and his grandson. Several years after the move he enrolled in tai chi classes at Rigby's, where he learned long form tai chi, which is 150 postures, all of which are memorized.

According to Rigby's Karate owners Reese and Judy Rigby, Fisher is an inspiration to others in the class.

"I think he's made us think that getting to that age won't be so bad," said Reese.

"He teaches everyone to keep going, to keep active," added Judy.

According to the Rigbys, Fisher does things that would be impressive for a man 20 years his junior, everything from kicks to standing on one leg. Fisher said one of the reasons that he enjoys tai chi is because it helps with his arthritis.

"It just feels so good when you do it," Fisher said.

Fisher said that tai chi has also helped his mind, and the Rigbys chalk that up to the focus that is required to do tae chi.

Fisher spent his career as a civil engineer and, but despite the discipline required to practice tai chi, he makes no bones about enjoying his retirement.

"I guess it's all leisure now," he said with a smile "I do a lot of reading."

But the Reese said Fisher still does his share of hard work. He told a story about how, at 94, Fisher came into class late and apologized for his tardiness by explaining that he had to shovel the snow from his driveway in order to make it to class.

Fisher has a very down-to-earth attitude when it comes to celebrating the century mark.

"I don't think about it too much," he said. "It's just another day."

But that humbleness didn't stop Fisher from celebrating in style, arriving at Tuesday's class in a limo. Inside, he was presented with a shirt that said "I'm 100, see what tai chi can do." After they performed their 100 postures, Reese presented Fisher with letters of congratulations from Sen. Tom Carper, Gov. Jack Markell and from the karate studio itself. Dover City Councilman James Hutchison was on hand to wish Fisher a happy birthday.

After all the presentations Fisher blew out the candles on a birthday cake that read "1913: A very good year."

Fisher then planned to travel to his native Baltimore to celebrate the milestone with his family, some of whom are coming from as far away as Arizona.

[lkfmdc]

"Give it up for the elderly"??

Is that Gene's new pick up line?? :eek:

[GeneChing]

You've taken way too many blows to the noggin, lkfmdc, for your mind to go that direction with this. :rolleyes:

[lkfmdc]

You've taken way too many blows to the noggin, lkfmdc, for your mind to go that direction with this. :rolleyes:

maybe I'm just bored, this place is dead on Good Friday

It needs a good resurrection.....

(see what I did there?)

:p

[GeneChing]

Not bad.

But I still think you've had too many blows to the noggin.

I categorize martial artists into two groups: Too many blows to the noggin & not enough blows to the noggin.

[YouKnowWho]

Here is a CLF spar form from Guangzhou..two old guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZESF2bY9CKs

I'll not call that "spar" but 2 men form. Sorry, if I don't point this out, someone will. :D

Even if it's sparring, someone will say, "It's not full contact". :(

[David Jamieson]

I've got 138 postures for sale!
the other dozen come free!

[SPJ]

37 postures of Tai chi

that is about right.

the rest are repeats.

we may also include more kicks.

lots of stamping feet and kicks were dropped by Yang lu chan in late 1920s.

if you learn from chen old frames, and yes there are many and many long forms

if you place 2 forms together, then easily more than 100 or 150 postures.

Wondering what karate dojo teaching ?

:confused:

[SPJ]

come to think of it

both tkd and kara te have tai chi forms

but they are different from chen village

just have the same name


---

[YouKnowWho]

come to think of it

both tkd and kara te have tai chi forms

but they are different from chen village

just have the same name


---

I have seen a ShaolinDo Taiji form. It's 1, and 2, and 3, and 4, and 1, and 2, and 3, and 4, ... If ShaolinDo guys design a car, their wheel will be square so the tires can rotate as 1, and 2, and 3, and 4, and 1, and 2, and 3, and 4, ...

[SIFU RON]

I really enjoy reading on this froum. It's a riot ( funny ) at times and serious at other times . Old folks don't post much on here and that is sad.

Regarding old folks and Martail Arts, older folks enjoy doing what they can do to improve their health , it and makes em feel good, it also makes em feel younger and healthier.

Times are changing too , the old tradional Tai Chi forms are still around as are newer versions of Kung Fu for heath . As we age we can't do the kicks, jumps, scoops, body drops etc. but we can still perform Kung Fu froms with some modification and it feels good.

And some of don't need Viagara :eek:

[Kellen Bassette]

I have seen a ShaolinDo Taiji form. It's 1, and 2, and 3, and 4, and 1, and 2, and 3, and 4, ... If ShaolinDo guys design a car, their wheel will be square so the tires can rotate as 1, and 2, and 3, and 4, and 1, and 2, and 3, and 4, ...

Completely misses the linking of movements that creates the flow of TCMA.

[PalmStriker]

maybe I'm just bored, this place is dead on Good Friday

It needs a good resurrection.....

(see what I did there?)

:p
Not Dead, asleep at the wheel maybe, this should bring some wake up for the Holidays! :D:):D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q9ZPT3psEA

[GeneChing]

Kung Fu Grandpa in the Food Lion parking lot! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYvw68IneV4)

Over 5 million hits in 2 days.

[GeneChing]

Black Country wrestler Saleh Ghaleb still fighting fit at 83 years old (http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/black-country-wrestler-saleh-ghaleb-1766818)
21 Mar 2013 09:47

West Bromwich pensioner, known as The Amazing Kung Fu, is Britain's oldest martial arts fighter

http://i4.birminghammail.co.uk/incoming/article1766816.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/saleh-1766816.jpg
King Fu pensioner Saleh Ghaleb, from West Bromwich

Grappling grandad Saleh Ghaleb is known as the ‘Amazing Kung Fu’ for a reason.

At 83, the wrinkly wrestler is the ring’s oldest pro.

The pensioner, who made his debut in 1970, is still prowling the mat at an age when most settle for a gentle tai chi session to stay in shape.

And next Friday the silver body slammer once again dons his famed kung fu mask for a show at Kings Norton Ex-Services Club in Cotteridge.

Saleh, Yemen-born, but a West Midlands resident since 1955, promises an awesome display of OAP power.

He may be only eight stone, but push in front of the judo black belt at the post office queue and you’re asking for trouble.

He’s also a kung fu, karate and jiu jitsu expert.

“If the young wrestlers get nasty, I kick their ass,” growled Saleh, who runs three times a week and works out in the gym.

“I’m very fit – I wouldn’t step into the ring if I wasn’t. Be fit and you live longer.”

The former foundry worker, now living in West Bromwich, made his wrestling bow when the sport enjoyed heavy TV coverage, though none of his contests, which run into thousands, have been screened.

He made his debut under the guise of the Bengal Tiger, then changed his name to the Arabian Gentleman.

His career stalled for three years in 1984 when he returned to the Yemen to train the national Olympic judo team. Since returning to the ring two years ago, divorced Saleh claims to have lost only one bout.

Paul Jenks, promoter of the Cotteridge bill, said: “You have to see him to believe it. He is truly amazing.

"When Saleh first walked into the gym and said he wanted to make a comeback we laughed. Then we saw him working out, doing backdrops...

“He says he wants to continue until he’s 101. I wouldn’t put it past him.”

http://i1.birminghammail.co.uk/incoming/article1766815.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/wrestler%20(1)-1766815.jpg
Saleh Ghaleb, aka The Amazing Kung Fu, from West Bromwich Saleh Ghaleb is still getting his kicks from kung fu

They may have to use a chairlift to get him over the ropes or even splash out on the world’s first walk-in ring.

An opponent for this month’s bout has yet to be found, but that doesn’t bother Saleh.

“He’ll probably be younger,” said the grandfather, still breathless after completing his road work around Sandwell Valley Park.

“My children support me. They’ve told me to just carry on.”

“I’ve got all my own teeth,” he boasted. “I haven’t lost one.”

That’s vitally important. When not wrestling, Saleh raises cash by using them ... to lift children off the ground. Sounds like quite a character.

[GeneChing]

See the post two posts up. There's a vid if you follow the link below. Bell has the right attitude. I'd rock one of those shirts. Get your nunchucks here (http://www.martialartsmart.com/weapons-nunchakus.html). :cool:

HOLMBERG: ‘Kung Fu Grandpa’ message packs more than a punch (http://wtvr.com/2013/04/03/kung-fu-grandpa/)
Posted on: 12:39 am, April 3, 2013, by Mark Holmberg, updated on: 12:48am, April 3, 2013

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR)–Tom Bell of Richmond has only been the “Kung Fu Grandpa” for a few days, but he’s already known by that nickname by well over 7 million people around the world, and counting.

And yes, the 52-year-old salesman took some karate classes as a youngster, but he’s only been swinging his now-famous nunchucks for a little more than a year.

“My mom passed away and we were going through some of the stuff and I found an old wooden pair (of nunchucks),” Bell recalled. “I started playing with them. First thing you know, I had knots all over me. So my fiancée bought me foam ones.”

He’s the star of the viral Youtube video titled “Kung FU Grandpa in the Food Lion parking lot!” that showcases one of his high-flying workouts, filmed by a local pastor who provided humorous and spontaneous commentary that has helped the video soar through cyber space.

The pastor, Rev. Aamon Miller of Swansboro Baptist Church, formally met the man he dubbed “Kung Fu Grandpa” Tuesday afternoon in the Food Lion parking lot.

http://localtvwtvr.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/chuckshirt.jpg?w=660&h=371

And he brought a T-shirt he has made in honor of the message he sees in the runaway clip, which has been also been made into a music video.

“If you drop one chuck, pick it back up, and keep chuckin –Kung Fu Grandpa,” the shirt reads. Rev. Miller said the shirts will soon be available online.

“That’s what I do a lot,” Bell said of dropping his chucks.

He can be seen chucking in parks and parking lots all around town. It keeps him in great shape. Local filmmaker Lucas Krost recently made a polished video starring Bell – shot in Richmond – for a Super Bowl commercial contest by Doritos. It didn’t win, but many believe it’s worthy of airing.

But late last week, it was the Rev. Miller’s first look at the silver-haired martial artist.

“When I came out of the store, he’s chucking by my car,” Miller recalled, laughing. “And I’m nervous. I’m like, ‘Oh, man, is this the repo man? Do I owe him money? What’s going on?’”

He said he got in his car, moved it around so he could get some over-the-dash-video with his cell phone, kind of ducking down in case the man with the nunchucks didn’t like being filmed.

But as he watched, he felt there was more to the story.

And like any good preacher, he found a mighty message in the unusual and funny video he shot.

“His mom passed away,” he said, watching the Kung Fu Grandpa have another workout on the Food Lion parking lot. “He was down. So he needed something to pick himself up. And he found it in this activity. And the whole thing of dropping the chuck . . . In life, we’re going to drop all kinds of things. But the key is not to stay down with the thing that you dropped. Pick it up and get back to what you are doing.”

The Kung Fu Grandpa approved of that message, happily accepting the T-shirt, his new name and fame and the idea that his healthful pastime has given so many so much pleasure.

[GeneChing]

Sheer awesomeness. And I love those axes.

Ninety-year-old wins martial arts championship (http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/10/11/2003574255)
UPHOLDING TRADITION:The retired physician said he has practiced martial arts for more than 70 years after his father advised him to learn the traditional Chinese sport
By Hsieh Wen-hua and Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter, with staff writer

http://www.taipeitimes.com/images/2013/10/11/thumbs/P02-131011-2A.jpg
Ninety-year-old Ho Kuo-chao displays his martial arts skills in Taipei at a competition on Sunday organized by Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

Ninety-year-old Ho Kuo-chao (何國昭) has proved that being old does not always mean acting old by wowing a panel of judges at a talent competition on Sunday with his sophisticated martial art skills, bagging the championship.

Leading a group of younger martial artists, Ho confidently brandished traditional weapons while doing five consecutive splits before performing drunken boxing. His performance also included several forward rolls and an ending pose of a left split, drawing a round of applause from audiences and judges and outperforming 11 other groups of elderly finalists.

The contest was organized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Taiwan Catholic Foundation of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia.

Veteran actor Chin Shih-chieh (金士傑), who served as a judge for the competition, said jokingly that watching someone as old as Ho doing consecutive splits was a “horrifying” experience.

The skills staged by the younger performers also captured the essence of classic martial art movements and were equally fascinating, Chin said.

Taipei Jen-Chi Relief Institution director Tai Tung-yuan (戴東原), who joined the competition as a guest, said for a 74-year-old man who even had difficulty standing up from a tatami mat when visiting Japan, Ho’s flexibility was rather impressive.

As the founder of Chien Hsing Martial Club in Greater Tainan, Ho said he has practiced martial arts for more than 70 years after his father advised him to learn the traditional Chinese sport to help boost his immune system.

After retiring as a physician several years ago, Ho followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, both of whom were doctors, and started teaching martial arts and Song-Jiang Jhen Battle Array (宋江陣) — a form of performing arts that combines elements of kung fu, dance and drumming — at local schools and temples.

According to one of Ho’s students, winning the competition is a bittersweet moment for the 90-year-old, who had thought about retiring from the martial art circle after his wife of 63 years passed away about six months ago.

“It is the words of encouragement from my students that have reminded me of my mission to reinvigorate and pass down the national sport,” Ho said.

Ho said he has decided to donate half of his NT$100,000 prize money to the Alzheimer’s foundation, in a bid to help more elderly people who have also lost their “better halves” to walk away from the grief.

[Alex Córdoba]

Awesome axes from World of Warcraft.. He's level 90 warrior

[GeneChing]

I've met Grandmaster Bautista. I had no idea he was 75. He moves like a much younger man.


A GRANDMASTER’S JOURNEY (http://napavalleyregister.com/eagle/news/local/year-old-martial-arts-expert-credits-students-for-his-success/article_0cd524fa-3c10-11e3-8965-001a4bcf887a.html)
75-year-old martial arts expert credits students for his success
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/napavalleyregister.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/0c/20c851f4-39fd-11e3-8353-001a4bcf887a/5264991e52180.preview-620.jpg
Martial Arts Grandmaster Emil Bautista
Lisa James/Register

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2013 - VALLEJO, CA - Martial arts Grandmaster Emil Bautista, a 9th degree black belt and long time American Canyon resident, has operated his school, Kajukenbo Martial Arts in Vallejo, for 45 years. Bautista, who just turned 75, still provides hands-on instruction to students of all levels. Lisa James/Register

October 23, 2013 11:50 am • MICHAEL WATERSON

AMERICAN CANYON — At first glance Emil Bautista might not look like a formidable opponent in a street fight, but would-be muggers better look again.

The 75-year-old longtime American Canyon resident is a martial arts expert, a senior grandmaster, and has taught at his school, Kajukenbo Self-Defense Institute of Vallejo, for 45 years.

Bautista, who looks much younger than his age, said his journey in martial arts began at age 23 when he started attending karate classes at Travis Air Force base. Bautista said he worked on the base as a civilian physical education instructor.

After several years of training, the East Bay native gravitated to instructor Antonio Ramos, one of the early masters of Kajukenbo, a hybrid martial arts form developed in the late 1940s in Hawaii that combines karate, judo, kenpo and boxing.

Before acquiring the building on Benicia Road in 1968, Bautista trained in a single-car garage, at private residences and other places.

“We used to train anywhere and everywhere,” said Bautista.

Like a dance studio, his school has a full-length mirror running along one wall for training purposes. Above the mirror are the words: “Yes, sir, No, sir” and “Yes, ma’am, No, ma’am.”

“Students have to learn diplomacy and courtesy,” Bautista said.

His students come from all walks of life and a wide variety of occupations, among them law enforcement, technology, even public school teachers. One of his former students is the principal of Vallejo High School, Clarence Isadore, he said.

Bautista credits his students with his success, noting that several have gone on to open their own martial arts schools.

“It wasn’t me, it was these guys that did it,” Bautista said, indicating the half-dozen instructors and students of varying ages in combative stances around the room.

Nowadays Bautista mostly lets other instructors in his school do the teaching while he critiques.

The school has never been his sole support, Bautista said. Over the years, he worked for a vending machine company, a furniture store and as a bartender while teaching self-defense in his off-hours.

“I don’t call this a business,” Bautista said.

While his calling may be violent, Bautista’s home life is stable and peaceful. He and his wife, Betty, have two adult sons and have lived in American Canyon since 1974.

“I’m very blessed,” said Bautista.

[GeneChing]

APR 08
Bad a** grandpa: Ohio man, 74, earns Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt (http://msn.foxsports.com/ufc/haymaker/bad-a-grandpa-ohio-man-74-earns-brazilian-jiu-jitsu-black-belt-040814)
12:22p ET
Posted by Marc Raimondi

http://msn.foxsports.com/content/dam/fsdigital/fscom/UFC/images/2014/04/07/040714-UFC-old-dude-ahn-PI.vadapt.955.medium.31.jpg
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is one of the most physical forms of martial arts. And it's a sport that James Terlecki has spent many years perfecting, no matter how late in life.

Eddie Bravo and Royler Gracie aren't the only old dudes making news in Brazilian jiu-jitsu these days.

A 74-year-old Ohio man recently earned his black belt, according to a report by WKBN. James Terlecki has been training in BJJ for 13 years and just earned the prestigious honor.

"I still feel very strong," he said. "I feel as strong as I did when I was 20 years old. My bones don't break or nothing. I roll around and everything. They're strong. This keeps your bones strong."

Terlecki, who trains at his son's gym Next Level Martial Arts in Austintown, isn't a novice. He's been training in martial arts for 30 years. Terlecki might have gotten a late start -- in his 40s -- but he's no slouch.

"At first I thought you had to be gentle with Mr. T, but that lasted about one minute until I was unconscious I think," training partner Rob Sullivan said. "And then I started going after him. I tell you, you can't ease up one bit."

Just the opposite, says Terlecki. People in BJJ class don't want to get tapped by a septuagenarian.

"It's almost like, 'Oh I'm not going to let that old man beat me,'" Terlecki said. "So they roll harder with you than they would normally with their buddy."

Terlecki's son, James Jr., has a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under the highly regarded Marcello Monteiro and has trained kickboxing with well-known coach Duke Roufus. The 38-year-old is thrilled to have the ability to hang out with his dad on the mats.

"How awesome is that?" James Jr. said. "How many people get to do that with your dad?"

That's a guy who probably grew up saying "my dad can beat up your dad." Now he might be able to say: "My dad can beat up your son."

"I'm not bragging or anything, but my wife never felt like she was afraid to go anywhere with me," Terlecki said. "She always felt like she was protected."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYuuhGzu1og
Still rolling with them young'ens. Impressive.

[GeneChing]

14 pix in this gallery. I'm only posting #1. You can follow the link if you want to see the rest.



Photo gallery: 80-year-old martial arts instructor (http://www.kansascity.com/living/article16123094.html)
Helen Dugan, 80, is a great-grandmother and a martial arts instructor. She holds a third-degree black belt.

http://www.kansascity.com/living/ib19c3/picture16123013/ALTERNATES/FREE_960/Karate%20FYI%20al%20030915%200064f.JPG
1 of 14
Helen Dugan, owner of karate school Champs Achievers in Lenexa, quiets the class as 3-year-old Aiden Degnan tries to get Dugan's attention on Monday, March 9, 2015. The 80-year-old grandmother is a third-degree black belt and teaches karate classes exclusively to people with special needs.
ALLISON LONG The Kansas City Star

[GeneChing]

Very impressive! What a treasure. RESPECT!


Defying age with a sword: Meenakshi Gurrukkal, Kerala’s grand old Kalaripayattu dame (http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/defying-age-sword-meenakshi-gurrukkal-kerala%E2%80%99s-grand-old-kalaripayattu-dame-38620)
At 74, she is possibly the oldest woman exponent of Kalaripayattu, the ancient martial arts from Kerala.
Saturday, February 6, 2016 - 14:19

http://www.thenewsminute.com/sites/default/files/kalari%20meenakshi%20main.jpg

By Supriya Unni Nair

Meenakshi Gurukkal crouched low, sword poised; her eyes unblinking as she faced her opponent in the mud-paved 'kalari' or arena. From the tree tops, a mynah's call resonated in the silence. In a flash she moved to attack, twirling her sword; metal clashing loudly as it made contact with a shield.

At 74, she is possibly the oldest woman exponent of Kalaripayattu, the ancient martial arts from Kerala. She has been practising Kalaripayattu for no less than sixty-eight years - training and teaching.

Around 150 students learn Kalaripayattu in her school Kadathanadan Kalari Sangam, in a tiny hamlet in Vadakara, near Calicut, Kerala. From June to September every year, classes are held thrice a day teaching the Northern style of Kalaripayattu, including "uzhichil" or massages for aches and pains. Techniques have been passed down through generations, written in a palm ‘booklet’, grey and delicate with age. When school term is over, Meenakshi takes part in performances. “Nowadays, apart from teaching, I practise only when I have a show,” she says nonchalantly. This, from someone who on an average performs in 60 shows a year.

More than a third of the students are girls, aged between six and twenty six. Meenakshi’s school welcomes children from all walks of life. "Gender and community are totally irrelevant. What matters is age. The earlier you start, the more proficient you are," she explains.

The school runs on a 'no fees' principle. At the end of each year, students give her whatever guru dakshina they chose to. Today, some of her students are now Gurukkals or masters themselves.

The kalari walls display weapons - fist daggers, shields, spears, thick wooden rods, tusk-shaped 'ottas' and 'urumis' - long flexible blades used in combat. Among them is a shield, polished, but old with use - one that Meenakshi herself had trained with as a young girl.

She started learning Kalaripayattu at the age of six, when her father had taken her and her sister to a local kalari. "There were only a handful of girls in our class. But my father wasn't bothered. He was determined we learn Kalaripayattu," she says.

Meenakshi turned out to be naturally gifted, and her father encouraged her to continue training even past puberty, when girls normally stopped.

http://www.thenewsminute.com/sites/default/files/kalari%20meenakshi%202_0.jpg

It was then that she met and married Raghavan Master, a school teacher with a passion for Kalaripayattu. Shunned from joining a local kalari because he was from the backward Thiyya/Ezhava community, Raghavan Master had built his own Kalaripayattu training school in defiance. Kadathanadan Kalari Sangam was set up in 1949; a place where anyone and everyone who had a passion for the martial art could join. "His goal was to make Kalaripayattu accessible to everyone. Today we have done that," explained Meenakshi, who started teaching Kalaripayattu at his training school at age 17.

Oral folklore in north Kerala, known as Vadakkan Pattu or Northern Ballads, is rich with tales of Kalaripayattu champions. Among them are the Thiyya/Ezhava warriors of Puthooram tharavad in North Malabar- heroes and heroines such as Aromal Chekavar, an expert in 'ankam' (duelling) and Unniarcha, a women skilled in 'urumi' combat who singlehandedly took on vagabonds to ensure safe passage for women in that area. Ironically, Raghavan Master, from the same Thiyya/Ezhava community, had to fight discrimination in the late 1940s and set up a separate kalari to train and teach.

Historians stress that Kalaripayattu was popular in medieval Kerala.

"Each 'desam' or locality had a kalari or gymnasium with a guru at its head and both boys and girls received physical training in it," noted historian Prof A Sreedhara Menon in his work 'A Survey of Kerala History'.

Portuguese traveller Duarte Barbosa, wrote of how he saw Kalaripayattu students in North Kerala in the early 1500s, who "...Learn twice a day as long as they are children... and they become so loose jointed and supple that they make them turn their bodies contrary to nature.." (exerpt from The Book of Duarte Barbosa, Volume II, Duarte Barbosa)

Mythology credits Parasurama being the father of Kalaripayattu having learnt in from Shiva himself. Historically, it finds mention in early Sangam literature. Kerala historian, Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai, in his book Studies in Kerala History, opined that the northern form Kalaripayattu practised today came into existence in 11 th century, in the wake of the strife between the Tamil Kingdoms of Cheras and Cholas.

http://www.thenewsminute.com/sites/default/files/kalari%20meenakshi%201.jpg

Later, colonial rulers were quick to ensure that locals did not pose a threat to them, and strongly discouraged Kalaripayattu. Their prudish sensibilities also prevented women from learning such skills. Prof Menon noted that after the 17 th century, interest in Kalaripayattu declined.

Restrictions on carrying arms ensured that most Kalaripayattu weapons were kept in cold storage.

Kalaripayattu was revived in the 1920s, but practitioners had to ask authorities for special licences to use weapons.

“It was well past Independence that things really picked up. Now it's a way of life for us," says Meenakshi. Her children, two sons and two daughters, also started training in Kalaripayattu at six, and today her son Sajeev is a Gurukkal. "I will practise Kalaripayattu for as long as I physically can," she adds.

This grand dame of Kalaripayattu is determined to prove the cliché that age is just a number.

[SIFU RON]

very impressive! What a treasure. Respect!

awesome thank you gene

[GeneChing]

http://images.askmen.com/1080x540/2016/02/17-104011-britain_s_oldest_personal_trainer.jpg
© Getty

Britain's Oldest Personal Trainer (http://uk.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding/britain-s-oldest-personal-trainer.html)
Fitness Tips From Britain's Oldest PT That (Literally) Stand The Test Of Time
Matt Chappell

Meet Edward Diget. He's 71 and he's Britain's oldest personal trainer. He's a former Royal Navy man, represented his country in the 1962 Commonwealth Games, is a two-time British natural bodybuilding champion, was awarded 'Master' status by the Shaolin Warrior Monks of Mainland China and recognised as a Kung Fu Master by the World Martial Arts Organisation. Eddy has achieved a lot throughout his life. He's been weight training for 35 years and martial arts training for 55 years. His clients include a British heavyweight cage fighter, South african rugby player, British gymnasts... man, we need to meet this guy.

http://images.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding/_1455723162.jpg

And, well, that's just what we did. The guy was bodybuilding at the age of 58. He's got some stories to tell, right? Rather some advice to give, we thought, because – with many years of fitness under his belt – Ed is bound to have some fitness tips worth paying attention to. Fitness tips that have stood the test of time (literally). So here he is...

I have been working out for over 60 years now. My father was a very aggressive man towards my mother and I, so to keep out his way I became interested in various sports. The first time I won a trophy was when at Primary School and the PT Teacher said, “The the first individual to swim one width under water (back then the length of the pool was 33 yards long by 10 yards wide at Balham Swimming Pool) will win six pence.” I won it!

What's your secret? How are you still so fit?

I think that I have been genetically blessed with the aptitude of being able to train in many sporting disciplines over many years. This diversity of sporting interests has never let me down physically, and kept my mind always open to learn more. Being competitive too, I have always challenged my abilities and competed, normally training my peers on more than one occasion in that discipline.

Currently, I’m so fit due to the number of clients I have trained – 11 a day last three years as a Master Trainer, until recently when I came back from holidays in August last year, when I cut this figure down to seven a day. I have not trained myself really other than to maintain.

What are the main training principles you've lived your life by?

I compete with myself! I will be stimulated by something I read or see and say to myself, “I would like to do that,” and do it. If I fail, then at least I have tried and learned something new! I educate my muscles, and get to do what I am doing correctly, either by asking guidance, or by 'feel' and progress slowly, thus understanding why I am doing this and what effect correct technique is bringing to my chosen environment. This is true to any client or member I work with. One of my Chinese Masters said to me once, “For every three people that walk past you, one or all three could be your teacher, regardless of race, colour, religion or age" – you have to be able to learn from that person or all three. I do! I am not fazed by saying, “I do not know, will you help me!”

The other point to be made is on weight training. With my clients, I don’t want to see how much weight they can lift, I want to see how they do it. It’s the exercise [movement] that’s important. The key is to make people think about their training – there’s no point in simply adding more weights to your workout if your form and technique aren’t right.

http://images.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding/_1455723179.jpg

Nutritionally, what do you eat? Again, what principals have you lived your life by?

When I was young, about 12, (wow that seems ages ago now!) I ate hamburgers, fish and chips, whatever Mum would put on the table. But, as I was young and very active, I was always a whippet! However, when I began to get more into sport my eating habits did change, so for protein I ate steaks, chicken, fish, cheese, drank a bottle of milk. For carbs it was potatoes, pasta etc. Just good old basic foods. Food nutritionists and food science was not around then, you ate cleanly and trained hard! You never saw, as you do today, shoppers and gym users picking up products and looking at the balance displayed of this and that on the label. I eat pure foods, proteins for repair and growth, carbs for fuel, fats to help burn fat! Also, I still love fish and chips!

This might sound strange, but there’s no need to get technical with food. I hear a lot of sport scientists telling people to eat so many milligrams of this and so many milligrams of that. I say, unless you’re going to compete, keep it simple.

My rule of thumb is the days you train, eat approximately 70% protein and 30% carbohydrates. You need the building blocks to repair the work you’ve done [through protein]. The day prior to your workout, you reverse it (70% carbs/30% protein), as you need the fuel to get you through your training. It’s fine to get more sport-specific as you prepare to compete. Also, remember that people like [former middle-distance runner] Roger Bannister never had fad, high-protein foods and they were world champions.

How has exercise changed for you over the years? What are you doing now that you weren't doing then (and maybe should have)?

Over nearly 60 years I have trained in one format or the other, always trying to diversify what I do so I can learn more about the human body, if you like. Over this period of time I have added bits and pieces to my, and [my clients] repertoires to give a wide as possible 'explanation' of training to suit the individual. I still use the basics for training in the various sports I do, as these are what have helped me, and others, reach their goals. It is great using the new training techniques that have come into vogue these last 12 years or so, but, in most cases, the same exercises are being used throughout the UK that we did back in the '60/'70s, under different names.

I’ve also noticed that we’re becoming isolationists, which is a worrying trend. Many workout programmes are designed to concentrate on certain muscle groups. We’re focusing too heavily on very specific parts of our bodies, and it’s too restrictive. Because some workouts are so prohibiting, people run the risk of injury. Free weights, however, allow for a full range of movement, which means you’re working various muscles at the same time.

So what are you doing now?

I am still watching my peers do exercise and learning from them, and adapting sometimes what I see for my clients. Still studying anatomical charts, learning about a syndrome or ailments of a new client before I begin to train them and asking questions of them. I learn how to train my clients through [these] questions; seeing movement and understanding their past experiences, it gives me a very good basic understanding on how I will train them. I don’t have a set routine as everyone is different in training, no matter what level they are at! My 'sporting life' if you will has given me the tools to be successful to have this amazing career in the fitness industry. Every day is different in so many ways – I have a career by default, whereby, without being precious I can give something back to those I work with at 71 years of age!

How important is mobility?

Paramount! You have no idea what having either a limitation of movement or lack of mobility is like until you lose it! For me, having such a dilemma would kill me off quicker than if I was in hospital having been hit by a car! Having always been active, my sincere heartfelt feelings go out to those soldiers who are highly trained, fit and ready to do their duty, and come back with a loss of limb or sight. Their world is shattered, and it takes a very strong individual to get up from this situation as they do. In athletics, an International Gymnast recently hurt her neck/back in a TV show [The Jump], and she has withdrawn from the Olympics because of it. For three years plus she has trained for such an event and now can only watch – how do you think she feels with her lack of mobility?

And recovery?

I have been privileged in my career as a Master Trainer, to cry with clients and member(s) when I have relieved pain or [helped them to realise] real change in a painful situation they have endured for months or years. I have never experienced such a humble feeling as when this occurs – it's very hard to put into words.

Does working on these things stand you in good stead for your later years?

In my chosen career I shall retire when my body tells me it’s time to stop, until then I shall be with my clients until I’m no longer employable or/and I am training them with my walking frame or a guide dog by my side!

What fitness tips have been the constant throughout your 50 or so years in fitness/keeping fit?

Look forward to training. While you may hate doing it, you leave with a feeling of achievement and a smile on your face.

That's a pretty bad ass build for 58. Looks like I got a few more years...;)

[GeneChing]

There's video if you follow the link.


Doing the splits at 87! Woman who took up Kung Fu to recover from debilitating stroke stretches out in impressive video (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3500115/87-year-old-woman-took-Kung-Fu-recover-debilitating-stroke-stretches-impressive-video.html?ITO=applenews)

Liu Xiuying from China completes the splits on the floor of her home
She stretches out against a pole near Wuhan in the Hubei Province
After taking up Kung Fu to recover she is now remarkably flexible

By FRANCIS SCOTT FOR MAILONLINE VIDEO
PUBLISHED: 07:31 EST, 19 March 2016 | UPDATED: 08:38 EST, 19 March 2016

A remarkable video shows an 87-year-old woman completing the splits with ease after she took up Kung Fu to recover from a stroke.
Liu Xiuying from China raises her leg well above her head as she stretches against a pole near her home in Wuhan, in the Hubei Province.
She is then seen holding out her hands which she confidently kicks before completing the splits on the floor of her home.
Elderly woman does splits and Kung Fu after suffering stroke

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/03/19/12/325BFFCE00000578-0-image-a-48_1458389891731.jpg
Stretching out at 87: 87-year-old Liu Xiuying from China completes the splits on the floor of her home

Her eyes are also still clearly in great condition as Liu shows she can still get the thread through the eye of the needle without wearing glasses.
She also practices boxing, planting vegetables on her roof garden, and cooks all by herself.
This is all the more remarkably as a while ago Liu suffered from a stroke leaving her bed-ridden and completely dependent on her husband.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/03/19/12/325BFFE600000578-0-image-a-49_1458389903169.jpg
Astonishingly flexible: She stretches out up against a large green pole near Wuhan in the Hubei Province

But after taking up Kung Fu she made a quick recovery and is now amazingly flexible.
The term Kung Fu refers to the martial arts of China.
According to legend the practice emerged around 4000 years ago in a semi-mythical dynasty under the Yellow Emperor.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/03/19/12/325BFFD200000578-0-image-a-50_1458389912352.jpg
Going for the high kick: The woman is then seen holding out her hands which she confidently kicks

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/03/19/12/325BFFAC00000578-0-image-a-51_1458389918075.jpg
That's one way to recover from a stroke: Liu took up Kung Fu in order to recovery from a debilitating stroke

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/03/19/12/325BFFC200000578-0-image-a-52_1458389922534.jpg
The eyes are in good shape too: In the video the woman can still thread a needle without the need for glasses

[Jimbo]

That's awesome. It doesn't say how old she was when she suffered her stroke, so I wonder how many years she's been practicing. Anyway, very inspirational.

BTW, that link sucks. All that kept coming up for me was commercial after commercial.

[mickey]

Greetings,

Since she is 87, wushu was a part of her physical education when she was a child. That she was able to fall back upon the training to rehab herself stresses the importance of training in physical health modalities from an early age. I have met some people who are completely out of touch with their bodies as a result of not having such training at a young age. It is awfully sad to see them grapple at exercise and wellness after health related events take place in their lives.

mickey

[Jimbo]

They're saying she took up kung fu to recover from a stroke. So I take that to mean she hadn't practiced it prior to her stroke. Even at her age, MA were not necessarily a part of her childhood education. Perhaps she simply had an innate, previously hidden potential for flexibility/kung fu already within her.

[mickey]

Hi Jimbo,

I do understand that. But given the demands in China under Mao, I do not think there was any way that she could avoid any exercise during that time. She had to do something, even if it just basics (jibengong(. And that is what she is displaying. Still, I am happy for her. That is how you fight. They are presenting the story as if she never did anything along those lines in her life. In China? Under Mao? I don't think so.

mickey

[GeneChing]

90-Yr-Old Grandma Keeps Healthy by Practicing Kung Fu (http://www.womenofchina.cn/womenofchina/html1/news/newsmakers/1605/2747-1.htm)
May 30, 2016
By Ying Lei Editor: Rong Chen

http://www.womenofchina.cn/res/womenofchina/1605/16052745.jpg
Zhang Hexian (front) has daily Kung fu practices with locals in Ninghai, east China's Zhejiang Province. [chinanews.com]

Zhang Hexian, 93, a renowned Kung fu master who started training at the age of three, keeps physically fit and rarely need to visit doctors, was recently the focus of a report in Qianjiang Evening News.

Zhang lives a disciplinary and peaceful life in Ninghai, east China's Zhejiang Province. Often, she gets up at 4 a.m. and practices Kung fu for about two hours. Afterward, she cooks herself breakfast.

Zhang usually helps in the fields late in the morning and walks a distance of three kilometers to the market in another adjacent town, shopping for food, and then walks back home in the afternoon.

Diseases or illness are seldom bothering Zhang. Even if she catches a cold sometimes, Zhang usually has a quick recovery after a good and sound sleep.

Zhang has a healthy appetite for food, especially seafood, as she can eat up a whole plate of eight crabs by herself in summer. She refuses to take healthcare products. Ordinary food, she insists, is enough for her body.

Zhang's 53-year-old son Feng Chuanyin says his mom always crosses her legs while sitting up straight, which is a habit Zhang has kept for many years.

There are several appliances in her yard for daily Kung fu practice. She always gives tips to locals on Kung fu during her morning trainings.

Zhang says she was born into a family of Kung fu, in which her ancestors founded a faction of bearing their family name Zhang in the area.

It is alleged that the faction of Zhang Kung fu is inclusive no matter what the gender, age or name of the person, even strangers can join the daily practice.

Zhang believes that the aim of practicing Kung fu is to build a strong body and fight against evil. It is not a tool for abuse or for attacking others. In addition, Zhang is always willing to help people in need, gaining a respectful reputation in town.

Right now, this grandma is delighted to see the birth of her family's fifth generation, which is considered to be her biggest happiness at the moment.

(Source: Qianjiang Evening News / Translated and edited by Women of China)

This is one badass Grandma

[SteveLau]

Salute to the elderly in the first video clip shown. Forget their KF level at the time. At least we are sure they do not walk with the aid of a stick.



Regards,

KC
Hong Kong

[GeneChing]

Follow the link for a short vid of Zhang in action.



Published time: 1 Jun, 2016 11:43
Kung Fu grandma: Chinese woman shows martial arts skills (https://www.rt.com/in-motion/345044-kung-fu-grandma-china/)

https://cdn.rt.com/files/2016.06/thumbnail/574ebe3bc3618897118b45a3.jpg

A 93-year-old Chinese woman, Zhang Hexian, can overwhelm most people in Kung Fu despite her age. The Kung Fu master showed off her skills in the village of Dongyuan on Tuesday, demonstrating great physical shape in martial arts. Her son, Feng Chuanyin, also a practitioner of Kung Fu, assisted her in the ‘fight’ on sticks.

[GeneChing]

No Kung Fu...Pork!


Is this the oldest woman in the world? Great-great grandmother from China celebrates 119th birthday (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/peoplesdaily/article-3752922/Chinese-woman-celebrates-119th-birthday.html)

Fu Suqing, from China's Taiping town, turned 119 on August 21
The long-living woman was born in 1897, as her ID card shows
Fu's family members said her secret to longevity is to eat pork
In Guinness World Records, the world's oldest living woman is 116

By TRACY YOU FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 09:44 EST, 22 August 2016 | UPDATED: 09:58 EST, 22 August 2016

A great-great-grandmother from China celebrated her 119th birthday yesterday.

According to her identification card, the elderly woman, named Fu Suqing, was born in 1897 - the same year the UK's Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee.

Although Chinese media claim Fu to be the oldest living female in the world, an Argentinean pensioner named Celina del Carmen Olea reportedly turned 119 on February 15 this year, making her six months older than Fu.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/22/14/377C7B7D00000578-3752922-image-m-12_1471871955135.jpg
Famous: Fu Suqing is seen during her birthday feast as she turned 119 years old yesterday

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/22/14/377C7B6400000578-3752922-image-a-15_1471871998526.jpg
A big birthday party! The pensioner celebrated the occassion with more than 200 guests

Fu Suqing was born on the 19th day of the seventh month on Chinese lunar calendar, as her identification card shows.

Her birthday fell on August 21 on the Gregorian calendar this year.

The pensioner celebrated the occasion with more than 200 guests at her home in the Taiping town of Chengdu city, south-west China, reported the People's Daily Online.

More than 20 large round tables were set up by Fu's family to accommodate large groups of guests.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/22/14/377C7B7800000578-3752922-image-a-16_1471872006570.jpg
Party food: A traditional local feast, called 'Nine Large Bowls', were prepared for each table

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/22/14/377C7B7400000578-3752922-image-a-22_1471872081385.jpg
Happy Birthday! The long-living woman, from China, has six children and 68 offsprings

One of Fu's great-granddaughters, Leng Ting, told a local reporter: 'Most of the guests are family members and friends. They occupy more than 10 tables.'

A traditional local feast, called 'Nine Large Bowls', were prepared for each table. The feast included nine steamed meat dishes, such as pork ribs, beef and turtles.

Fu's family members revealed that the secret to her longevity is to eat meat, especially a local dish called twice-cooked pork, which is Fu's favourite.

The birthday star, who wore a navy blue coat, attended the feast accompanied by her second eldest daughter, 83-year-old Xu Shuhua.

Fu reportedly ate a small chuck of carrot and two pieces of ham on her birthday feast.

The long-living woman has six children and 68 offsprings. Her oldest great-great grandchild is 23 years old.

Fu's great-granddaughter, Leng, said they almost lost count of how many children Fu has now.

Leng said Fu has got five new great-grandchildren in the past two years, the youngest of whom, a boy, had been born four days before Fu's birthday.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/22/14/377C7B6C00000578-3752922-image-a-18_1471872022084.jpg
Now that's old! According to Fu's ID card, she was born in 1897 during China's Qing Dynasty

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/22/14/377C7B6800000578-3752922-image-a-24_1471872092844.jpg
What a big family! Fu was pictured holding one of her great-great-grandchildren in 2015

Fu's daily life is taken care of by her second eldest daughter, Xu Shuhua.

Xu said her mother enjoyed eating twice-cooked pork and used to eat it in every meal.

But in the recent six months, her mother's appetite decreased, which worries her.

She said: '[My mother] has stopped eating meat and the portion of her meals becomes really small. Sometimes, she only drinks soup.'

Xu also said her mother eats mostly mushy pea and steamed pumpkins nowadays and sleeps most of the day every day.

However, she has not been able to find out what causes these sudden changes.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/22/14/377D15EE00000578-3752922-image-a-32_1471872533166.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/22/14/377D15BF00000578-3752922-image-m-31_1471872526663.jpg
Although Chinese media claim Fu to be the oldest living female in the world, an Argentinean pensioner named Celina del Carmen Olea (pictured) reportedly also turned 119 this year

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/22/14/377D15D700000578-3752922-image-a-33_1471872547303.jpg
Celina Del Carmen Olea (pictured with her family), from Buenos Aires, claims she was born on February 15, making her six months older than Fu

According to Guinness World Records, the world’s oldest living person is a 116-year-old woman named Emma Martina Luigia Morano.

She was born on 29 November 1899 and lives in Vercelli, Italy.

Ms Morano has followed the same diet for around 90 years, said Guinness World Records.

She eats three eggs per day - two raw and one cooked - along with fresh Italian pasta and a dish of raw meat.

Jakki Lewis, a spokesman from Guinness World Records, told MailOnline: 'We have many applications from people who claim to be the oldest male or female – this category is split into gender.

'However, we ask for a great deal of paperwork and proof to substantiate claims and to satisfy our official guidelines.'

The spokesman added: 'We also have a number of expert gerontologists and consultants investigating for us to ensure our facts are correct.'

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/22/15/377DD19800000578-3752922-image-m-39_1471875901865.jpg
The world’s oldest living woman is 116-year-old Emma Martina Luigia Morano (pictured) from Italy, according to Guinness World Records

Robert Young, a senior consultant for gerontology at Guinness World Records, said in order to validate a person's longevity claim, a set of paperwork is required.

They include the original proof of birth, a recent identification card with the date of birth and photo as well as mid-life documents such as a marriage record.

Mr Young added: 'For a claim to the age of 119, we would like a family tree that helps to show how the person fits in.

'Additionally, we would need information on parents, siblings, and children, as well as places of birth, residence and death.'

[GeneChing]

HBD Genevieve Byars!


Tai Chi helping woman reach 100th birthday (http://www.13newsnow.com/news/local/tai-chi-helping-woman-reach-100-birthday/311818102)
100-year-old dancer practices Tai Chi to stay mobile. (August 30, 2016)

John Bartell, KXTV 8:08 PM. EST August 30, 2016

http://www.13newsnow.com/img/resize/content.abc10.com/photo/2016/08/30/100%20year%20old_1472604099375_5885358_ver1.0.jpg? preset=534-401

An ancient form of martial arts could be the key to a long life.

Its working for a Sacramento woman who is turning 100 years old next week. She contributes her new found mobility to Tai Chi.

"I feel great! It makes me feel young and I am good at it," said Genevieve Byars.

Byars lost her mobility more than a decade ago.

"I used to be a real good dancer," Byars recalled.

In the 1950's she was a regular dancing audience member on the Lawrence Welk Show.

"I met a lot of boyfriends then, but they dint treat me right," Byars said. "Some got fresh!"

Byars' son Donny McCollum got her started on Tai Chi 4 years ago. Now she takes regular walks around the house. McCollum says his mom is getting so good at Tai Chi that he set up a punching bag for her.

Her birthday is on Monday. The goal is to celebrate by going dancing.

[GeneChing]

When someone passes at 119, can you really say it was unexpected? :confused:


The world’s ‘oldest’ woman dies unexpectedly at 119
By Yang Meiping | September 5, 2016, Monday

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/newsimage/2016/09/04/020160904231836.jpg

A 119-year-old woman who was identified by social media as the oldest person in the world died yesterday, Chengdu Economic Daily reported yesterday.

Leng Ting, Fu Suqing’s great granddaughter, said: “It happened very suddenly… we did not expect her to pass away so quickly.” Born in 1897 in Jianyang County in Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Fu turned 119 on August 21.

She had six children, spawning 68 family members over 5 generations.

Fu, who spent her entire life in Chengdu, lived rather frugally, wearing a simple headscarf and casual clothes made of coarse cloth.

She was robustly healthy well into her twilight years, effortlessly picking navel oranges in her yard, according to neighbors.

So what was the secret to her longevity?

Strange as it may seem, she said it was eating lots of pork, and the fattier the better.

She did, however, shift to a more vegetable-based diet later in life.

“She no longer ate pork so much and turned to well-stewed beans, pumpkin and sweet potatoes,” said Leng.

“She spent most her time sleeping. Even when she was sitting in the living room, her eyes were closed.”

Long added: “But her death is still surprising to us, as her physical condition significantly improved several days ago.

“She ate two pieces of pork on Friday night.”

[David Jamieson]

When someone passes at 119, can you really say it was unexpected? :confused:

If you covered the bet at 120, yeah... :D

[GeneChing]

There are slideshows and a vid if you follow the link.



REUTERS THE WIDER IMAGE

https://photos.wi.gcs.trstatic.net/Q_R5ChVKlRml3tKGh9ARAIPnRteJ8qGNPetF0AnGBRETrPhmLG OxVwVX5YtHs5nma6TiREnMfFkh36BxrdpcU245rBXwrtPLmksp f9bFKj4YCr121m0HKVNdI1OWNVLZ

China's Kung Fu masters (https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/chinas-kung-fu-masters)
Beijing, China Kim Kyung-Hoon
Added today

For 50 years, kung fu master Li Liangui has been contorting his body into eye-watering positions while practising one of the more unusual and less popular Chinese martial art forms.

The 70-year-old is an expert in suogugong, or body shrinking kung fu, where practitioners dislocate their bones to help them achieve unlikely positions and feats.

https://photos.wi.gcs.trstatic.net/e9hyHkaRFZdDV_jLZuTS6lBO82EO-DVfaoFxe2nzVmMJMa4r1rCif_xJf-EfjUtWR0abakE0g1mAAOrBe6cxFA
The svelte Li, who has a long, wispy white beard, has travelled the world promoting the brand of kung fu, performing for members of the royal family in the United Arab Emirates and appearing on television at home.

https://photos.wi.gcs.trstatic.net/e9hyHkaRFZdDV_jLZuTS6nvl90t9grF0eCkrgsRGTqb4aFPnRg Xq3Jg0u1V-wvla2NtTJlfssSAC9sAMOwxP4g
But his promotional efforts have not proved as successful as he would have liked. "As soon as I'm gone, this thing will be gone completely. There won't be anyone else practising it. This is a really, really great regret, it's really a loss," Li told Reuters.

"We've carried it on, we've promoted it abroad, but while the flowers have blossomed within the wall, the fragrance is only smelt outside," he said, using an expression to mean it is only appreciated abroad.

There are hundreds of differing fight styles that are classed as kung fu, which soared in popularity globally following a series of films featuring U.S.-born and Hong Kong-raised actor Bruce Lee, who died in 1973.

Another form, wushu, is recognised by the International Olympic Committee but failed last year in its bid to be included in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Li, though, felt suogugong was best despite his concerns about participation numbers, which are unknown.

https://photos.wi.gcs.trstatic.net/e9hyHkaRFZdDV_jLZuTS6vzs7Sz6-j6ZIi4BsO-IZw5MzNlc03PTWESqWiG6bi_T8v0GrN4Gm9hSFjJqv8wS4w

"Suogugong includes almost everything, it's the most comprehensive form of classic Chinese martial art that boosts health," he said.

"It includes throwing, hitting, kicking and grappling. It's very complete. If it could be passed on (to future generations), that would be the best, but where can you pass it on to?"

For Li, kung fu is a way of life. For many others it is a form of self defence or a way to keep fit.

Xing Xi, a shaolin kung fu master who spent 10 years studying before opening his own martial arts academy on the outskirts of Beijing, felt young people lacked the commitment of previous generations.

"There are many, many young people who have potential with kung fu," he told Reuters.

https://photos.wi.gcs.trstatic.net/e9hyHkaRFZdDV_jLZuTS6om_33E0NtuvOXGaZm29dBpwg67i55 zknUa1atMS4pTYgK58ocgVpJzNIaMKPjsp2w

"But what we need more are those who can settle in, so it goes from a hobby to being so deeply into it that kung fu becomes a part of our body and part of our life."

[GeneChing]

https://broadly-images.vice.com/images/articles/meta/2017/01/20/manhattans-92-year-old-kung-fu-master-is-simply-the-best-1484945474.jpg?crop=1xw:0.26666666666666666xh;0xw, 0.17425227568270482xh&resize=2000:*&output-quality=70

Manhattan's 92-Year-Old Kung Fu Master Is Simply the Best (https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/manhattans-92-year-old-kung-fu-master-is-simply-the-best)
by Anna Furman
JAN 20 2017

When LES-based artist Laura Nova met Poa Shen, a woman who practices and teaches her form of kung fu in Nova's neighborhood, the pair became instant collaborators.

Across the country, women and female-identifying artists are organizing art protests to raise money for organizations like Planned Parenthood and plant the seeds of resistance against Trump's anti-women agenda. After New York-based artist Laura Nova caught wind of the Nasty Woman exhibition in Queens, she enthusiastically pitched a performance piece featuring her 92-year-old neighbor and collaborator, the kung fu master Poa Shen, or Boyee, who practices and teaches on the Lower East Side, Nova's neighborhood. The pair met while Nova was conducting her "Moving Stories" project, an interactive walking tour for senior citizens that integrates storytelling, exercise, and memory.

Because of the overwhelming number of performance proposals for the show, organizers asked Nova to instead consider donating a two-dimensional work. So she picked a photograph of Poa wearing a powder blue tracksuit and demonstrating one of the 36 postures in her practice. It was so striking I had to know more. I spoke with Nova about her friendship with Poa, collective memory, and about the threats facing the vibrant Lower East Side community both she and Poa call home.

https://broadly-images.vice.com/images/2017/01/20/manhattans-92-year-old-kung-fu-master-is-simply-the-best-body-image-1484944608.jpg?output-quality=70

BROADLY: Can you share some background on the "Moving Stories" project and how it came about?

Laura Nova: I've lived on the LES for the last 13 years and have been working in my community for much of that time, doing projects like "Feed Me A Story," a video cookbook centered on my neighbors' personal stories.

In 2015, I noticed that there were all these tour guides coming through our neighborhood, supposedly the experts in food, architecture, and Jewish history. I kept thinking, Who are these people? They don't live here. So I sat down with a neighbor of mine and told him I wanted to do location-based stories with fitness tied in. Since seniors are the true experts [on the neighborhood], I wanted to work with them.

Creating community-based public work that is intergenerational is important to me. The community actually is the expert, and the people that use the work become not just users but active makers themselves.

How did you first meet Poa?

I was leading a walking group, and Poa stumbled upon us and joined in. She speaks Cantonese and Mandarin so she didn't participate in the storytelling workshops that I coordinated with The Moth, but later, I found a translator, met with Poa individually, and developed a relationship. Now we train together and go for dim sum sometimes.

After "Moving Stories," I approached her with an idea to make a short documentary video about Luk Tung Kuen, the form of kung fu that she practices, and educational exercise posters showing the moves.

https://broadly-images.vice.com/images/2017/01/20/manhattans-92-year-old-kung-fu-master-is-simply-the-best-body-image-1484944650.jpg?output-quality=70

I'm so curious about her classes. Where does she teach and how do workshops normally run?

She teaches groups of seniors at Little Flower Park on the LES and in Chinatown near Chatham Square. She won't work for money, but if it's part of an organized workshop, she'll ask for donations to be given to the Educational Alliance (EA). (She lives in senior housing that's attached to the EA on East Broadway.) Luk Tung Kuen translates to "six circulation fists," so there are 36 postures in total. It's not a fighting practice; the philosophy is to promote a health and well-being practice that helps with the circulation system.

Poa's so passionate about teaching her art form; it strikes me that there's this powerful woman whose strength and drive to teach defy her age. I wanted to capture her forceful and indomitable spirit. She's such a small person with amazing flexibility. I think that the photos speak without words; her language is expressed through each physical movement.

What kinds of visual references—fine art, comics, etc.—did you have in mind when you photographed her?

I mean, she is Wonder Woman. She's 92 and can touch her toes, kick up, and balance. I was thinking of superheroes that are very poppy in color. What I recall from the Linda Evans series, which was way before my time, is that it was as much about her physical strength as it was about her mental fortitude.

https://broadly-images.vice.com/images/2017/01/20/manhattans-92-year-old-kung-fu-master-is-simply-the-best-body-image-1484944846.jpg?output-quality=70

She's wearing an amazing powder blue tracksuit in the photo. Is that her own, or did you her?

She was wearing a pink jumpsuit that day, but I asked her to change, because I thought blue would pop against the really reduced, white background in my backlit studio. I wanted to emphasize her super human-ness and capture her like a superhero action figure.

She always dresses, by the way, beautifully—very tailored, with jewelry, everything. So in the documentary video, she dressed up, in a sense, for the video.

How did she react to these photos?

She doesn't always like the photos, and she didn't like the one [in the Nasty Woman show] because her mouth is open. She was counting in Chinese and calling out the names of the poses. I'm excited to revisit the photographs with Poa and the translator to see what she has to say, philosophy-wise, about each movement. I might add text to the photos to note her feelings and the meanings behind the postures.

Why did you pick this photo, specifically, for the Nasty Woman show?

I thought it was well suited for the mission of the exhibition, because, you know, is she a "nasty woman"? I thought she repesented some of the double meanings of "nasty woman," since she's a wise elder but also fierce and physically active. Initially I proposed to have Poa actually perform, teach, and do a routine at the opening, but the organizers had too many performances lined up already.

I know that predatory real estate developers are always a concern for historic neighborhoods, especially ones with significant immigrant communities like the LES and Chinatown. What are the biggest issues that Poa and her neighbors face?
There's a lot of major development going on in the neighborhood, which is why I got involved with storytelling and community-based work. The seniors are either dying or are actually going to be pushed out. There's a big housing complex going up on Delancey Street and three mega-tower luxury buildings going up on South Street and East Broadway. There's a real shift in this area; the infrastructure is going to change, and the influx of immigrants living here is going to change with it.

https://broadly-images.vice.com/images/2017/01/20/manhattans-92-year-old-kung-fu-master-is-simply-the-best-body-image-1484945440.jpg?output-quality=70

There's a nursing home nearby that was landmarked and then it was sold to developers. Because of zoning laws, they can erect buildings on both sides of it, but they need to buy the air rights to build them even higher. These mega-towers are going up right in front of housing buildings, so that people who've lived in the neighborhood for 30, 40, 50 years will not just have their views obstructed, but will have reduced access to natural light and clean air. It's really sad.

Sustaining the neighborhood has always been part of these story-based projects I've been doing, to give people a voice that wouldn't necessarily have one otherwise. Poa, like many of her neighbors, has an active community board, but her voice isn't necessarily heard. I'm trying to amplify those voices.

Interesting that this is shown as 'art'. We do shoots like this all the time here. Maybe we should re-frame our work.

[GeneChing]

'Kung Fu Granny' has been honing her martial arts skills for the last 90 years (http://shanghaiist.com/2017/02/13/kung-fu-granny.php)
BY ALEX LINDER IN NEWS ON FEB 13, 2017 10:00 PM

http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/alexlinder/kung_fu_grannyfront2.jpg

Meet Zhang Hexian. She started to learn kung fu when she was just four years old. Now, 90 years later, she's better known as "Kung Fu Granny."

http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/alexlinder/kung_fu_granny2.jpg

Even at 94 years old, Zhang still maintains a daily training regimen of practicing her martial arts moves, sometimes even showing off her skill with a staff for fellow villagers in Liyang town in eastern Zhejiang province.

http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/alexlinder/kung_fu_granny3.jpg

Zhang is also credited with being the town's defender, keeping it safe from various scoundrels and bullies.

http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/alexlinder/kung_fu_granny4.jpg

Best to watch your step when visiting this granny's village.

http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/alexlinder/kung_fu_granny5.jpg

Or anywhere in China, really. Never can tell who is actually a kung fu master.

[Images via NetEase]

Wonder what her style is...

[GeneChing]

Here's all her past posts:
1 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!&p=1293971#post1293971)
2 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!&p=1293984#post1293984)
3 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!&p=1300023#post1300023)


Across China: "Kung fu Granny" becomes Internet celebrity (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-02/17/c_136065111.htm)
Source: Xinhua 2017-02-17 21:00:38
NINGBO, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A stick in hand, 94-year-old kung fu granny Zhang Hexian fights local bullies and protect her fellow villagers.

The granny has long been well-known in her hometown, Ninghai County, eastern China's Zhejiang Province. Recently, she has become a celebrity on Chinese social media, with some netizens saying that they wanted to be her disciples.

Zhang started to learn martial arts from her father at the age of four. "My father would teach me kung fu skills even when in bed," she says.

Every day, she gets up at 5 a.m., practices kung fu moves, and has some porridge or noodles for breakfast. She grows vegetables, chops wood and cooks meals by herself, since her husband passed away several years ago.

Kung fu has brought her good health.

"My mom has never been to the hospital, and would recover from occasional colds after some sleep," said Feng Chuanyin, Zhang's son. "She never takes health products such as vitamins or supplements."

Video clips and pictures of her practising kung fu have went viral.

"My dear granny, You are so great!" read one post on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like service. The netizen wished she would live more than 100 years.

"Granny, do you still want to have disciples," asked another netizen. Some netizens even said they wanted their children to learn kung fu from her.

Kung fu has not only brought her a strong body, but also romance.

At 14, she met a man named Feng Yongkai, who was four years older than her. He was a kung fu student of Zhang's father.

They would practice kung fu together in the mountain, gradually falling in love before getting married.

Zhang's kung fu has even helped her deal with robbers. Once coming across three robbers on a mountain, she shouted "Dare you come and fight me?" and brought down two of them before they could even react. The third, realizing he had no chance, quickly ran off.

Kung fu has given her strong arms, making her able to do large-pot cooking. Considered the best cook in her village in the 1970s, she once cooked as many as 52 dishes for a single banquet. Now in her nineties, she is still able to thread a needle by herself.

Practicing kung fu is a tradition in her family. Zhang has taught her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren kung fu.

"We practice kung fu for health reasons and self-defense," said Feng Chuanyin. "My mom tells us that attacking others is absolutely unacceptable."

In good spirits, Zhang said that she wanted to teach kung fu to younger generations and pass it on.

Editor: Xiang Bo



Bild
Yesterday at 4:07am ·
Mit dieser Oma legst du dich besser nicht an! Die 94-Jährige Chinesin ist Kung-Fu-Meisterin.


https://www.facebook.com/bild/videos/419822501694017/
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[GeneChing]

Worthy of note - we knew about Zhang Hexian back in May '16 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!&p=1293971#post1293971).

I'm going to split this off into its own indie thread now. After 89 years of practice, Madam Zhang deserves her own thread here.


Kung fu granny, 93, becomes internet sensation in China (http://wqad.com/2017/02/21/kung-fu-granny-93-becomes-internet-sensation-in-china/)
POSTED 11:50 AM, FEBRUARY 21, 2017, BY WQAD DIGITAL TEAM

(CNN) — She may be petite, but Zhang Hexian can pack a punch.

It’s one of the many martial arts moves she’s mastered in her 89 years of practicing kung fu. The 93-year-old grandmother recently became a social media sensation in China after photos of her practicing kung fu went viral.

For Zhang, kung fu has been a part of her life for almost as long as she can remember.

“I started when I was four years old,” she tells CNN. “It’s my family tradition that has lasted more than 300 years.”

Zhang, who lives in China’s southeastern Zhejiang province, says all her family members have learned kung fu, which instills discipline and strength. She recalls how she’d wake up in the morning and start practicing in bed whilst the covers were still over her.

“I was born in 1924, at a time when China was at war with other countries,” Zhang says. “So (kung fu) was also a good way to learn self defense.”

The type of kung fu Zhang practices originates from Fujian province and encompasses 15 different styles.

Each style has about 36 moves. She says it takes about three years to fully learn one style. Zhang has mastered all of them — but recalls the hardest part was at the very beginning.

“Most difficult was learning to squat firmly, because it made my muscles so sore,” Zhang says. “I remember being so sore, I couldn’t even go to the bathroom. And we were a poor family, so after practicing I’d be starving and we’d have nothing to eat.”

Despite that, Zhang stuck with the practice every day, even well into her golden years — waking up every morning at 5 a.m. to exercise. Her favorite type of kung fu involves using bamboo sticks to fight an opponent.

She credits kung fu, plenty of sleep and a healthy diet of mainly vegetables and a little bit of meat for keeping her healthy, pointing out that she’s never had to go to the hospital.

“To have good body, you need to exercise and keep a positive attitude,” she says. “It’s also important to help others as often as you can.”

Many of Zhang’s family members have moved away over the years, so they don’t often get together to practice kung fu. Zhang filled the void by teaching her neighbors.

And of her new found internet fame, Zhang remains quite modest.

“I never thought about being famous,” she said. “If people love kung fu, my family can teach them. We have been teaching people around here — but I never imagined we’d get the attention of others around the world.”

[GeneChing]

Meena Raghavan = Meenakshi Gurukkal (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69806-Indian-Martial-Arts&p=1290637#post1290637) = Meenakshiamma (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69806-Indian-Martial-Arts&p=1294478#post1294478), yes or no? The 'amma' in Meenakshiamma means 'mother' if I'm not mistaken, but she looks different in the vid. Gurukkal means teacher, like Guru. Raghavan is an Indian surname. Pardon my Hindi.


Great Big Story

January 14 ·
..
At 74, Meena Raghavan is the oldest known practitioner of Kalaripayattu, an ancient martial art from southern India. Since she was 7 years old, Raghavan has trained with the best of them. Now, she runs a school where she proudly trains boys, girls, men and women alike.



https://www.facebook.com/greatbigstory/videos/1638738503095243/
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1.4M Views
7.3K Likes 301 Comments 6.1K Shares

[GeneChing]

Kendo (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?50231-Kendo) match: Enbu Taikai: Ota (Age: 102) and Takasaki (Age: 93).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbLpfxbHyJE

Give it up to the elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)

[GeneChing]

Hail and hearty, the elderly Chinese who defy their advancing years with range of stunning physical feats (http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2117489/hail-and-hearty-elderly-chinese-who-defy-their-advancing-years)
Men who can still do the splits in their seventies and beyond, an octogenarian push-up queen and an ageless boxer show off their prowess
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 29 October, 2017, 4:49pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 29 October, 2017, 4:49pm
Alice Yan

https://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2017/10/29/789d3032-bc7d-11e7-affb-32c8d8b6484e_1280x720_164949.JPG

Some of China’s fittest elderly people have been displaying their prowess with physical feats that would challenge many people half their age to mark the Chung Yeung festival on Saturday.
To mark the occasion, the website of People’s Daily published pictures and stories about senior citizens across the country who have remained fit and strong.
One of them was Liu Fuzhong, a 73-year-old Jinzhong resident in Shanxi province.
He was reported to spend about eight hours a day practising physical exercises in the park and often amazes his audience by doing the splits and high kicks.
Liu also hangs himself upside down from a tree in front of his house, for over 10 minutes every day.

https://cdn2.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2017/10/29/78d92d62-bc7d-11e7-affb-32c8d8b6484e_1320x770_164949.JPG
Liu Fuzhong is still able to do the splits at the age of 73. Photo: Handout

Liu was not the only one still able to do the splits. Zhang Chenglin, 96 and from Taiyuan in Shanxi, was also said to be well known in his town for doing this stunt.
One slightly younger fitness fanatic was 60-year-old Chen Ming from Changchun, Jilin province, who still takes part in regular bouts in the boxing ring. He said many people who encountered him thought he was in his Forties.
Joining this name list of gymnastic superman and superwoman was an unnamed 97-year-old man from Chongqing who can do a push-up with only three fingers from each hand and Li Guochuan, an 84-year-old woman from Fuzhou, in Fujian province, who is able to do 200 push-ups in 20 minutes.

https://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2017/10/29/791ec2c8-bc7d-11e7-affb-32c8d8b6484e_1320x770_164949.JPG
Li Guochuan, right, can do 200 press-ups in 20 minutes at the age of 84. Photo: Handout

China is one of the world’s fastest ageing countries. In 2015 there were more than 220 million people aged over 60 on the mainland, accounting for just over 16 per cent of the whole population.
Experts predict that China will have 500 million residents aged over 60 at the middle of this century.
Chung Yeung, or the Double Ninth, is a festival that falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month.
Traditionally it was a time for families to honour the spirits of their ancestors and it has also become an event to celebrate the elderly in mainland China.

Ultimately, this is where Kung Fu gets the last word in martial arts - longevity.

[GeneChing]

The Key to Longevity for the World's Oldest Person Alive? Sumo Wrestling and Hot Springs (http://time.com/5236018/masazo-nonaka-japan-oldest-person-alive/)
By ASSOCIATED PRESS Updated: April 11, 2018 8:27 AM ET

(TOKYO) — Masazo Nonaka has enjoyed soaking in northern Japan’s hot springs for many years — probably longer than most people.

The supercentenarian, whose family has run a hot springs inn for four generations, was certified Tuesday as the world’s oldest living man, at age 112 years, 259 days.

Nonaka received the certificate from Guinness World Records in a ceremony at his home in Ashoro, on Japan’s northern main island of Hokkaido, and celebrated with a big cake decorated with berries.

Born on July 25, 1905, Nonaka grew up in a large family and succeeded his parents running the inn. The 105-year-old inn is now run by his granddaughter Yuko. He regularly soaks in the springs and also enjoys eating sweets, especially cakes.

Nonaka, wearing a knit cap and a kimono-style jacket, flashed a smile and posed for a group photo with his family, making a victory sign with his right hand.

He dug into the cake with a spoon after it was cut, and said, “Delicious,” according to NHK public television.

“Thank you,” he said.

His family members say Nonaka still moves about by himself in a wheelchair.

He reads a newspaper after breakfast every morning, and loves to watch sumo wrestling and samurai dramas on TV. But his favorite pastime is soaking in the hot springs and relaxing.

Nonaka has outlived all seven of his siblings, as well as his wife and two of their five children.

He is one of about 67,800 centenarians in Japan, the fastest-aging country in the world, with the highest average life expectancy — 80.98 for men and 87.14 for women, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Guinness says Nonaka replaced Francisco Olivera of Spain, who died earlier this year at age 113, as the world’s oldest man.

A 117-year-old Japanese woman, Nabi Tajima, who is currently the oldest living person in Japan, is expected to be certified as the world’s oldest person, replacing Violet Moss-Brown of Jamaica, who died in September at age 117.

Hot springs, sumo wrestling and samurai dramas FTW!

THREADS:
Give it up to the elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
Sumo (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56343-Sumo)
Favourite Samurai movie (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?42924-Favourite-Samurai-movie)

[Jimbo]

Not 'Kung Fu' but Muay Thai:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv-3RTLo-XE&sns=em

I like this a lot, except for the weird, altered photo of Sammo Hung at 1:10.

[GeneChing]

World's oldest person dies in Japan at age 117 (http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-oldest-person-20180421-story.html)
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
APR 21, 2018 | 9:05 PM | TOKYO

http://www.latimes.com/resizer/wX6GpmmqToRjBOo8rVGuMfy4MbM=/1400x0/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tronc.s3.amazonaws.com/public/74K45EH3OZBUPKF57D4DG6UK2I.jpg
Nabi Tajima, left, had been hospitalized since January. Masazo Nonaka, right, is the world's oldest man at 112. (Kikai Town / Kyodo News; Masanori Takei / Kyodo News)

The world's oldest person, a 117-year-old Japanese woman, has died.

Nabi Tajima died of old age in a hospital Saturday evening in the town of Kikai in southern Japan, town official Susumu Yoshiyuki confirmed. She had been hospitalized since January.

Tajima, born Aug. 4, 1900, was the last known person born in the 19th century. She raised seven sons and two daughters and reportedly had more than 160 descendants, including great-great-great-grandchildren. Her town of Kikai is a small island of about 7,000 people halfway between Okinawa and Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands.

She became the world's oldest living person seven months ago after the death in September of Violet Brown in Jamaica, also at the age of 117. Video shown on Japanese television showed Tajima moving her hands to the beat of music played on traditional Japanese instruments at a ceremony to mark the achievement.

The U.S.-based Gerontology Research Group says another Japanese woman, Chiyo Miyako, is now the world's oldest person in its records. Miyako lives south of Tokyo in Kanagawa prefecture, and is due to turn 117 in 10 days.

Guinness World Records certified 112-year-old Masazo Nonaka of northern Japan as the world's oldest man this month, and was planning to recognize Tajima as the world's oldest person.


Long live Masazo Nonaka!

[GeneChing]

The world’s oldest person died at 117. She was the last known person born in the 19th century. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/04/22/the-worlds-oldest-person-died-at-117-she-was-the-last-known-person-born-in-the-19th-century/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.dbd47325dc5d)
By Alex Horton April 22

https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/ISLyEWNcGEG6N7Ibf_54zUk5j7c=/1484x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/FKZ7SLWWQA5IXCMLRL7NXIEYVQ.jpg
Nabi Tajima in September. (Kikai Town/Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images)

At 117, Nabi Tajima was older than modern-day Australia, and everyone else known to live on the planet.

Tajima, born Aug. 4, 1900, in Araki, Japan, and recognized as the world's oldest person, has passed on that mantle. She died Saturday, having been hospitalized since January, the Associated Press reported, and was the last known person born in the 19th century (which ended on Jan. 1, 1901).

She was living in the town of Kikai on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands, the AP reported.

“She passed away as if falling asleep. As she had been a hard worker, I want to tell her 'rest well,'" said Tajima's 65-year-old grandson Hiroyuki, local media reported.

The title of 'world's oldest living person' is a remarkable, if not fleeting, one. Tajima claimed the distinction in September, when fellow 117-year-old Violet Brown died in Jamaica. Brown was the oldest person in the world for about five months.

Tajima was in the exclusive group of supercentenarians, people who have crossed the 110-year threshold. The U.S.-based Gerontology Research Group, which tracks certified people who become supercentenarians, reports 36 worldwide. All but one of them are women, and 18 of them are Japanese. Good diets and supportive family structure have been linked to Japan's world-leading life expectancy.

Tajima straddled the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries and is one of the few people who could recall a time before World War I. Two days after her 45th birthday, the United States dropped the first of two atomic bombs northeast of her home island.

Her legacy is similarly expansive; she had nine children and 160 descendants, including great-great-great grandchildren, the Gerontology Research Group said.

Tajima's secret to longevity was “eating delicious things and sleeping well,” the group said. She danced with her hands at the sound of a samisen, a traditional three-string instrument.

Chiyo Miyako, also in Japan, has become the world's oldest person, according to the group. At 116 years and 355 days, she has about nine months to reach her countrywoman's mark of 117 years and 260 days.

Miyako would not have to travel far to visit her male compatriot. Japan's Masazo Nonaka, at 112 years and 271 days old, was confirmed to be the world's oldest man by Guinness World Records this month. The organization had been set to recognize Tajima before she died, the AP reported.

What is it about Japan that yields so many record holders?

[GeneChing]

Ms. Netting is my new hero.


100-Year-Old Woman Says a Daily Guinness Is the Secret to Her Longevity (https://www.foodandwine.com/news/100-year-old-woman-drinks-guinness-every-day)

https://imagesvc.timeincapp.com/v3/mm/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn-image.foodandwine.com%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2F styles%2Fmedium_2x%2Fpublic%2F1526063581%2F100-year-old-woman-guinness-FT-BLOG0518.jpg%3Fitok%3DxZhsIzsn&w=800&q=85
Bloomberg/Getty Images

She began drinking the Irish stout as a way to get extra iron.

MIKE POMRANZ May 11, 2018

Back in the 1920s, the beer brand Guinness had a slogan that probably wouldn’t fly today: “Guinness Is Good for You” advertisements openly exclaimed. Though openly touting the health benefits of beer doesn’t happen as often as it used to, a 100-year-old English woman—who lived through the 1920s, by the way—still prescribes to that old mantra. She credits her longevity to drinking a Guinness every day since her 30s. That about 70 years of Guinness. Or to do the math, over 25,000 beers!

Doris Olive Netting of Plymouth, England, is so committed to Guinness that she even themed her 100th birthday party after the well-known Irish stout, decorating her nursing home with things like branded balloons and a life-sized Guinness toucan logo. If you didn’t quite catch that, yes, Netting hasn’t let living in a care home slow down her beer habit. “She refuses to go a day without drinking it,” the centenarian’s 37-year-old granddaughter Tammy told the Independent.

Apparently, Netting began drinking Guinness after seeing one of those aforementioned Guinness ads touting the beer’s iron content. “After the war there was a big marketing campaign to buy Guinness—drink Guinness to get your iron—following on from the ration years. So Olive did just that: a glass [mini bottle] of Guinness a day for the rest of her life,” Tammy further explained. “She reckons that's why she's lived for as long as she has, because of the iron intake through Guinness. She's doing really well. She's remarkable.”

Like all Brits who reach 100 years of age are eligible for, Netting also had the honor of receiving a telegram from the Queen; however, she might have been more impressed with another well-wisher. After hearing of her devotion to their brews, Guinness sent her a personalized gift basket to mark the occasion. Hopefully, it contained at least a few bottles of Guinness, though knowing Olive as we now do, they won’t last long.

THREADS
Give it up to the elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
Beer... (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?6266-Beer)

[Jimbo]

https://youtu.be/xRbCHA5YTi8

Shoot...I'm still unable to embed anymore...

[boxerbilly]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqfFrCUrEbY

Dicks- :)

[Jimbo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqfFrCUrEbY

Dicks- :)

Hi, Billy. Hope everything is going well for you.

What is Dicks referring to?

[boxerbilly]

Im with the dicks ?

Dicks sporting losers.

My friend , Jimbo !

[GeneChing]

Reminds me of Doris Olive Netting (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!&p=1308872#post1308872). I'm beginning to think these elderly people are just scamming free drinks. Which is super wise.



112-year-old woman credits longevity to nightly dram of single malt whiskey (https://thetakeout.com/112-year-old-woman-credits-longevity-to-whiskey-1829202941/amp)
Allison Shoemaker
Yesterday 1:45pm
Filed to:WHISKEY

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--nE8crvFj--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/aatrpp4ls2xxibpq6zhm.jpg
Photo: Marina113 (iStock)

The oldest person in Great Britain celebrated her 112th birthday this week, and to mark the occasion, she gave away her secret to longevity: A dram of single malt whiskey, every night for the last sixty years.

Grace “Amazing Grace” Jones, who was born in Liverpool in 1906, told the Daily Mail that she has a nightcap of Famous Grouse Single Malt Whiskey nightly, and has done so for 62 years. That means she began this tradition in 1956. One hopes she is being sent a large case of free Famous Grouse right now as thanks for the loyal patronage and great publicity.

“I never miss my nightcap,” she told the paper:


All I have is the whisky at night. Whisky is very good for you. I started having a nightly tot of it when I turned 50 so I’ve been having it every night for the last 60 years and I certainly have no intention of stopping now. My doctor said, ‘keep up with the whisky Grace, it’s good for your heart’.”

THREADS:
Give it up to the elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
Let's talk Whisky! (www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?59392-Let-s-talk-Whisky!)

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnxlOxh3sZg

THREADS
Leopard style (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?61248-Leopard-style)
Give it up to the elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)

[GeneChing]

101-YEAR-OLD VETERAN’S SECRET TO LONG LIFE IS A DAILY COORS LIGHT (https://vinepair.com/booze-news/secret-to-long-life-coors-light-every-day/)
1 Minute Read
Produced by Cat Wolinski / @beeraffair
Updated on 2018-12-06

https://static.vinepair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/coors-light-header.jpg
Photo Credit: Coors Light / Facebook.com

Andrew E. Slavonic of McMurray, Penn. turned 101 years old on December 1. His secret to the long, healthy life he continues to enjoy? A daily Coors Light at 4 p.m.

According to Fox News, Slavonic has been drinking a Coors Light daily in the afternoon for the last 15 years. Before that, it was Coors — he’s been a fan of the brand since 1996.

His son, Bob Slavonic, who lives with his father, says he introduced Andrew to the brand. “I think I am the one to blame for the switch because that is all that I have been drinking for about the past 25 years,” he told Fox News.

https://static.vinepair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/andrew-coors-light.jpg
Credit: wdrb.com

Andrew is still “spry,” his son says, and keeps a regular schedule. He wakes at 8:30 a.m., makes his own breakfast and lunch, and reads the newspaper every day.

And each afternoon, “around 4:00 p.m., he tells me that it is 4:00 p.m., and it is time for our beer,” Bob said. “He gets his Coors Light from the garage beer fridge and enjoys a nice cold one. The bluer the mountains are on the can, the better.”

Andrew is a true American: He’s a WWII Air Force Veteran who served as a nose gunner and top turret gunner, along with training new pilots during the war.

Bob reportedly reached out to MillerCoors about his father’s affection for the brew, but has not gotten a response.

Published: December 6, 2018

Daily Coors Light? Nah, I don't want to live to 101 that bad.

THREADS:
Give it up to the elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
Beer... (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?6266-Beer)

[GeneChing]

Here's a twist on this thread. ;)


The world’s oldest woman was 122 when she died. A researcher says she was lying about her age. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/01/05/was-worlds-oldest-women-lying-about-her-age-when-she-died-one-researcher-thinks-so/?utm_term=.97bdf9ff5d46)
By Eli Rosenberg January 5

Jeanne Calment died in 1997 in the southern French town in which she was born, and her death drew a flurry of attention.

At 122, an age that had been certified by the Guinness World Records as well as public health researchers, she was the oldest documented person to have lived.

But a Russian mathematician is casting doubt on her record. Nikolay Zak said in a report that he believes Calment was actually Yvonne Calment, Jeanne’s daughter, who Zak says assumed her mother’s identity to avoid inheritance taxes in the 1930s. If true, Yvonne Calment would’ve been 99 if she died in 1997.

The evidence produced by Zak in a paper published recently on the portal ResearchGate is not definitive.

He points to studies that show Calment had lost less than an inch of her height by the time she was older than 100, significantly less height loss than what would have been expected; Yvonne was taller than Jeanne, he says. A passport for Jeanne in the 1930s lists different eye colors for her than she had later in life. He also raises questions about other physical discrepancies in her forehead and chin. He also claims Calment had destroyed photographs and other family documents when she had been requested to send them to the archives in Arles.

The study has caused a global stir since it was issued. It has been covered by news media organizations around the world. Sample headline: “Jeanne Calment cheater?” France Inter radio asked.

But it has been denounced by some scientists, including Jean-Marie Robine, who validated Calment’s age and wrote a book about her around the time of her death.

“All of this is incredibly shaky and rests on nothing,” Robine told Le Parisien.

According to Smithsonian magazine, Robine said Calment answered questions when he interviewed her that only she would have been able to answer, like the name of her math teacher and housekeepers in her building.

“Her daughter couldn’t have known that,” he said, adding that town of Arles would have been in on the ruse.

“Can you imagine how many people would have lied? Overnight, Fernand Calment [Jeanne’s husband] would have passed his daughter for his wife and everyone would have kept silent?” Robine said. “It is staggering.”

Michel Vauzelle, who was the mayor of Arles when Calment died, has said the Russian’s theory is “completely impossible and ridiculous."

Nicolas Brouard, research director at France’s National Institute of Demographic Studies, said some in the research community favor “exhuming the bodies of Jeanne and Yvonne Calment” because of Zak’s study, according to French public radio broadcaster RFI. He also said DNA testing could settle the debate.

In an email, Zak told The Washington Post that he became convinced Calment’s age was suspicious in February while studying mortality patterns of people older then 105.

He said he started to investigate her life in September.

“I funded the work myself, it was a fascinating detective story in front of me,” he said. “Those who criticize my work heavily are those who have a huge conflict of interest or those who didn’t read it.”

He called critics of his report “dishonest” and released a document that rebuts their rebuttals point by point.

Still, he admitted to Reuters that he does not have “cast-iron proof.”

“I reviewed the whole situation,” he said. “There are lots of small pieces of evidence.”

Guinness World Records said it was aware of the report.

“Extensive research is performed for every oldest person record title we verify, which is led by experts in the gerontology field, and they have been notified of the current situation,” it said in a statement distributed by spokeswoman Rachel Gluck.

Robine did not respond to a request for comment.

A Washington Post story about Calment’s 120th birthday describes the broad contours of her life. She was born in Arles, in the south of France, on Feb. 21, 1875, before the invention of the lightbulb. She married Fernand Calment at 21.

“She dabbled in painting, played the piano in her parlor, rode her bicycle around town, hiked and hunted,” buoyed by the success of her husband’s fabric shop, reporter Dana Thomas wrote.

She said she met Vincent van Gogh as a teacher when he came to Arles to paint in 1888, saying she found him “very ugly, ungracious, impolite, sick.”

“Pardon me, but we called him ‘the madman.’” she said. She outlived much of her family. Yvonne died at 36 of pleurisy, Thomas wrote. Fernand died in 1942 at the age of 72 from eating tainted cherries. Calment’s only grandchild, Frederic, was killed in a car accident at 36 in 1963.

Questions about age-related records are not uncommon. Shigechiyo Izumi of Japan was dubbed the world’s oldest man when he died in 1986 at what was believed to be 120 years old. But research that came out later claimed he was around 105. Others claiming ages as high as 125 and up have lacked the required documentation to prove their ages.

The secrets of an exceptionally long life remain elusive. Obituaries about Calment noted that she was known for her love of chocolate — she reportedly ate two pounds a week — treated her skin with olive oil and rode a bicycle until she was 100. She had quit her two-cigarettes-a-day habit only a few years before her death — not for health, but because she could not longer light a cigarette without asking for help, The Washington Post wrote.

Under an obscure French system called viager — when a buyer purchases a home from an older person and begins paying mortgage but is only able to move in after that person dies — Calment had a man paying her mortgage for more than 30 years, The Post reported. She had signed the deal with him when she was 90.

Clarification: An earlier version of this report said that Nikolay Zak was part of the Moscow Center For Continuous Mathematical Education, due to information on the portal where he published his research. Zak says he has not been affiliated with the Center for many years. The story has been updated.

[GeneChing]

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-S06lsSVYC_kmNlHT2XYZUUK8c0=/0x0:2040x1360/625x625/filters:focal(857x517:1183x843):format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62817392/acastro_190109_3155_worlds_oldest_women_0001.0.jpg

SCIENCE
HOW WE KNOW THE OLDEST PERSON WHO EVER LIVED WASN’T FAKING HER AGE (https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/9/18174435/oldest-person-alive-woman-age-jeanne-calment-controversy-longevity-mortality-statistics)
A researcher claims that identity theft was at play in the case of Jeanne Calment, the world’s oldest person, but experts say that evidence is weak.
By Angela Chen@chengela Jan 9, 2019, 12:47pm EST
Illustration by Alex Castro

What if Jeanne Calment, the oldest person who ever lived, lied about her age? What if she wasn’t an astounding 122 years old when she died, but a lowly 99 because she wasn’t even Jeanne Calment?
Such is the theory of Russian mathematician Nikolay Zak, and it has everything: world records, statistics-defying long life, identity theft, tax evasion, and researchers duking it out with each other. In a paper posted to the research-sharing site ResearchGate, Zak claims that Calment actually died at age 59 in 1934, at which point her daughter Yvonne assumed her mother’s identity to avoid paying inheritance taxes. That would have meant that “Jeanne” was not even a century old when she died in 1997.

If true, the Calment story would be a truly spectacular case of fraud; even just the theory has captured international attention. And the same month that Zak released his findings, the journal PLOS Biology published a paper arguing that some exciting conclusions from aging research are caused by statistical error (from bad data if not outright fraud). So how do we know that Calment didn’t lie about her age? How do we know for sure how old anyone is?

The Calment controversy has demographers and non-demographers making different claims. It’s also a case of establishment science versus a less-supported but more titillating hypothesis. Though there continues to be back-and-forth, experts say that, most likely, Jeanne Calment is who she said she was: a woman from the southern French town of Arles who met van Gogh, rode a bike until she was 100, and smoked two cigarettes a day until a few years before she died at 122.

Humans want to know how to live forever — or at least for a little while longer. That’s why people click on headlines about chocolate being the secret to a 102-year-old woman’s longevity even while knowing that, come on, chocolate is not the secret. Spurious connections aside, the past century has seen a big increase in the frequency of really old people surviving, and scientists are still debating the limits of the human lifespan.

“THE PROBABILITY IS EXTREMELY LOW, BUT EXTREMELY LOW PROBABILITY AND IMPOSSIBLE ARE TWO DIFFERENT WORDS.”

Being able to accurately predict how many people will live to very old age is a “really important societal question,” says Daniel Promislow, a gerontologist at the University of Washington who was not involved with either of the recent papers. For example, an accurate understanding of these numbers will affect how much social support we’re going to need for the elderly, and that research would not be very useful if all of these 115-year-olds were actually much younger.

This is exactly what could be happening, says Saul Newman. Newman, a postdoctoral fellow at Australian National University who studies wheat genomics using machine learning, wrote the recent PLOS Biology paper casting doubt on longevity claims. Fraud or bad intentions aren’t necessary. Discrepancies could be as simple as a misrecorded birthdate, especially given that today’s supercentenarians (or people over 110 years old) were born in a time with lower literacy rates and less detailed record-keeping. And because there are so few supercentenarians to begin with, you only need tiny mistakes to throw off calculations and create dramatic statistical results.

Newman says statistical errors undermine the findings of two high-profile (and dueling) papers on the lifespan debate. One, published in Nature in 2016, suggests a maximum lifespan for humans of around 115. The other, published in Science in 2018, claims there might not be such a maximum. As a general rule, the longer we live, the more likely we are to die. The Science paper — which studied 4,000 Italians over the age of 105 — claims that after that age, the chances of dying actually level off, creating a so-called mortality plateau. The possibility of bad data means both of these papers are statistically flawed, Newman says, adding, “For 20 years, scientists have been fighting over an error distribution.”

Yet Kenneth Wachter, a demographer at UC Berkeley and co-author on the Science study, argues that Newman’s critiques are based on a hypothetical model and don’t take into account the actual data the team used. “We have birth certificates matched to age reports and death certificates,” Wachter says. “He has a theoretical exercise, but it’s not one that applies to our data.”

That’s not good enough, Newman replies. “That’s based on the idea that official documentation can never be wrong, and we know that’s not true. How many times are you in the DMV and they’ve made an error?”

So who’s correct?

These ideas aren’t entirely contradictory, says Dmitri A. Jdanov, a mathematician at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research who specializes in data collection and processing for the International Database on Longevity. The issue that Newman raises is real, but it’s not new. Demographers have long known that misreporting can create a lot of errors that throw off analyses. Books such as Validation of Exceptional Longevity, Exceptional Longevity: From Prehistory to the Present and Supercentenarians all deal with this methodological question. According to Jdanov, massive errors do exist in population data, but such errors are far, far less likely in the very carefully checked data about supercentenarians. continued next post

[GeneChing]

“FROM A SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE, WHETHER JEANNE CALMENT LIVED TO 122 OR 110 OR 112, WE’RE TALKING ABOUT EXTREME OUTLIERS FROM THE CURVE.”

Demographers at the International Database of Longevity start by requesting data from a national statistical office about all people in the country who died at, say, age 110 and older. (It’s hard to get information about people who are still alive because of privacy laws.) Then, they take every case and send messages to the person’s birthplace, get the original birth certificate and baptism record, census records, and more. “They track this person throughout their whole life,” says Jdanov. “All official documents, marriage certificates, birth certificates of children. It’s a huge amount of work with archives, and it certainly needs a lot of resources.” There is a chance that a birth certificate can be wrong, but the chance that every single piece of archival information throughout someone’s life is wrong is much lower.


As Wachter says, mistakes are possible — no one will ever claim that these methods are infallible — but the rates of error that Newman suggests are unlikely given how carefully a lot of this data is validated. Demographers are aware of the statistical issues surrounding claims of old age, and they try to take every precaution possible to avoid it.

All of which brings us back to Calment. Some scientists have lauded Zak’s imposter theory, but Jdanov is skeptical. Zak’s paper hasn’t been accepted for publication in a journal, “and I am almost sure that it will not pass any real scientific review,” he says. It’s not even the first time people have suspected Jeanne Calment of not being Jeanne Calment.

Zak’s arguments aren’t persuasive, Jdanov says. For example, Zak begins the paper by claiming the probability that she’d be able to reach this age is very low. “Well yes,” says Jdanov. “That’s right, the probability is extremely low, but extremely low probability and impossible are two different words.”

Other arguments are based on tiny inconsistencies. One piece of evidence is that a Facebook poll of 224 people reported that Calment didn’t look that old. In another instance, as the National Post pointed out, the fact that Calment “hated socialists” is used as an example of motive for identity theft and tax evasion. Most plausibly, Calment destroyed many of her personal papers. Still, speaking to Reuters, Zak, who is not a demographer, said that he has lots of small pieces of evidence but not “cast-iron proof.”

Meanwhile, French gerontologist Jean-Marie Robine worked extensively with Calment to catch potential inconsistencies, even asking and verifying details like the name of housekeepers in her building. Not just her family, but the entire city of Arles would have needed to keep the conspiracy going. “Can you imagine how many people would have lied? Overnight, Fernand Calment [Jeanne’s husband] would have passed his daughter for his wife and everyone would have kept silent?” Robine told Le Parisien. “It is staggering. All of this is incredibly shaky and rests on nothing.”

Jdanov sums his position up elegantly: “I see on the one hand a very prominent researcher who did a lot of work over the case, and from the other side, I see a guy whose first argument is that the probability is very low, the second argument is mostly about photos, and he also wrote that he’s not a professional in this area.”

Newman isn’t convinced and argues that we need to move away from using documents at all. “What we need is a way of biologically measuring how old someone is,” he says, “something that can’t be forged, that can’t be accidentally swapped or taken over by a sibling.”

A biological method of age verification doesn’t really exist yet, says Craig Atwood, a gerontologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. When it comes to identity theft, you could do whole-genome sequencing of someone at birth and at death. If that data matched perfectly, it would at least show that the two were the same person. With this method, you’d basically have to start sequencing babies now.

The way Atwood sees it, the fraud theories might be intriguing, but such cases don’t have much effect when it comes to our hope of living longer. “From a scientific perspective, whether Jeanne Calment lived to 122 or 110 or 112, we’re talking about extreme outliers from the curve,” he says. That’s not quite relevant to understanding what makes the body age and how to change or delay that process. “It’s so far away from the biological underpinnings of what’s driving the aging process,” he says. “I just don’t know that it’s going to help us get to where we need to go in terms of researching longevity.”


Intriguing. Now I get why this is so controversial.

[GeneChing]

'I ate a lot of Kentucky Fried Chicken and Twinkies': Woman celebrates 105th birthday (https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/I-ate-a-lot-of-Kentucky-Fried-Chicken-and-13814374.php?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=socialflow&fbclid=IwAR0fSI1sCL_fzGJWcgjhe08c2y1zQAKV3cjYPEH93 JelcfQhgLoCT5TedjM)
HTV National Desk Published 11:55 am PDT, Thursday, May 2, 2019

https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/02/06/40/17328132/3/920x920.jpg

An Oklahoma woman is getting the birthday celebration she deserves.

Lois Wooten, of Del City, turns 105 on Sunday. She received a proclamation Wednesday at the Oklahoma State Capitol.

Wooten still lives by herself, sends homemade birthday cards and loves to text on her iPhone. She roared through the roaring '20s, learned to drive on a model T and has lived in Del City since 1950.

Wooten was honored by the state House of Representatives days ahead of her 105th birthday.

"I ate a lot of Kentucky Fried Chicken and Twinkies," Wooten said.

Wooten drove until she was 98.

"I don't like to cook much. I eat a lot of frozen dinners. But who cares?" Wooten said.

For someone who spent the vast majority of her life without a computer, Wooten now loves technology, including her iPhone.

Wooten spent 20 years as the cafeteria manager at Kerr Junior High. Her late husband was a firefighter at Tinker Air Force Base.

THREADS
Give it up to the elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
the Kentucky Fried Thread (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?22096-the-Kentucky-Fried-Thread)

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncr1muy0hOs

THREADS
GM Chu Chong/URL]
[URL="http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!"]Give it up to the elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67431-Video-of-Pao-Fa-Lien-Wing-Chun-GM-Chu-Chong)

[GeneChing]

Not martial arts, but daaaaaaaaamnn.


This 75-Year-Old Grandmother Won Award At Bodybuilding Contest With Her Killer Body (https://www.koreaboo.com/stories/75-year-old-grandmother-body-builder-korean-contest-lim-jong/)
She urges everyone to chase after their dreams, regardless of age.
June 16th, 2019

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/UGTAxgMrb4TfCBaF7xvB-RoWwK7Djl4Dzj0J2reqR3fsL9OxesLf6DVMQuKpgjBIghV-W_fyKOem1C3-moZ2ezUg9uF5DYPL=w1200-rw

A 75-year old grandmother has been receiving the spotlight for having won 2nd place in a bodybuilding competition.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/DcZfkYI8msxySec-_jz7JhI19dNhGQyios-U6cCPvyBMfhrfw6HXN4j8xdNHIXMcBxQFze2F7Ufv2lSsRLNwK 37gu7bQjBNl=w1600-rw

Lim Jong So was born in 1944 and despite her elderly age of 75 years, she began exercising for health purposes.

I like exercising so I did aerobics for 35 years but I got stenosis. I wasn’t able to walk with my right leg and as a part of treatment, I began going to the gym in May of last year.

ㅡ Lim Jong So

Eventually, with regular exercise and consistent efforts, Lim Jong So managed to with the 2nd place in a bodybuilding contest, competing against women in their late 30’s and above because there was no category for the elderly.

Grandmother Lim Jong So explained that whatever you do, you must take it on with confidence and with desperation.

She concluded by encouraging everyone to chase after their dreams, regardless of age.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bGrG9h9RWkx9vZ7hxbwb_8X2j34DM1EuxHKAQHm7X0b67Ju9O5 QGk_nBA5VTmUpOXy62LcC3QXXidZLEY7kWnb7jsZVTyx3R0hA= w1600-rw

Everyone has dreams. But if you give up on those dreams because of old age, life becomes too meaningless. If you challenge yourself to your dreams even after aging, I believe you will be able to have a great life in your remaining time.

ㅡ Lim Jong So

[GeneChing]

Woman credits good genes and Tai chi for longevity on her 100th birthday (https://nbc16.com/news/local/woman-credits-good-genes-and-tai-chi-for-longevity-on-her-100th-birthday)
by Kassandra Gutierrez Friday, November 1st 2019

http://static-31.sinclairstoryline.com/resources/media/dbd7239f-5397-4277-b5c4-1294a6fc7047-large16x9_file2.jpeg?1572640000430

Ethel Allen turned 100 on November 1, 2019. (SBG)

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. - Ethel Allen turned 100 on November 1, 2019.

She says she doesn’t know how to feel about achieving a triple-digit age but says, “I will survive.”

Family visited her from Nashville, Tenn., for the milestone birthday.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world," her granddaughter Holly said Friday.

Ethel credits her good genes for her longevity: Her mother lived until 84 and her father until 95.

But she says Tai chi and her healthy lifestyle have also helped.

Ethel has been doing Tai chi for about 20 years, the last 15 years of those at Sacred Hearth Medical Center at RiverBend.

She also gets a daily phone call from a friend at 9:30 every morning and one from her son-in-law at 8:30 every evening just to make sure she is OK.

THREADS
Give it up to the elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
Taijiquan's health (or longevity) benefits overrated? (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?4411-Taijiquan-s-health-(or-longevity)-benefits-overrated)

[GeneChing]

Stoneham Couple Benefits From Healthy Aging Tai Chi Program (https://patch.com/massachusetts/stoneham/stoneham-couple-benefits-healthy-aging-tai-chi-program)
Stoneham Couple Credits Healthy Aging Program Tai Chi—And Dick Van Dyke—For Improving Their Mobility
By Mystic Valley Elder Services, Neighbor
Nov 25, 2019 4:11 pm ET


Dick Van Dyke is the reason Eddie Di Muzzio can now lift one leg off the floor. Just a year ago, he couldn't imagine balancing himself without holding onto a chair.

Eddie and his wife, Pauline, were watching a television program hosted by the actor/comedian Dick Van Dyke. Van Dyke, who is 93 years old and an advocate of a healthy aging lifestyle, was promoting the Tai Cheng program, a form of Tai Chi, particularly geared toward older adults. He credited Tai Chi for improving his mobility. Van Dyke's program convinced Eddie and Pauline to give Tai Chi a try to help improve their coordination and balance, which had been a problem for them for years.

As Stoneham residents, the couple signed up for a Dr. Paul Lam's Tai Chi for Health course at the Stoneham Senior Center. The course is offered through Mystic Valley Elder Services as part of its Healthy Aging Program. It consists of a free eight-week, one-hour class on learning the basics of Tai Chi. The couple was hooked and have been taking classes for more than a year.

Prior to taking the Tai Chi classes, Eddie could hardly stand. He had pain and stiffness throughout his legs and suffered from light neuropathy in his foot. And when he did stand, his balance was off. Pauline shared the same problem, her coordination while walking was poor. Eddie, at nearly 88 years old, and Pauline, being 84, just accepted it as a burden of getting old.

Eddie and Pauline are currently taking their third Healthy Aging Program Tai Chi course, this one at the Milano Family Senior Center in Melrose. Because the Tai Chi courses are so popular, the class was filled at the Stoneham location. But that did not stop them from taking classes.

"We really enjoy the class and the company," says Eddie. "Many of the same people take the classes so we get to know one another. There is only one other male in the class, so we hang out together."

Eddie admits that it took him a while to learn the steps and get acclimated to the moves. But as he learned when he began to play the piano back in the day, it is all about practice. He is beginning to master the movements and can feel the difference in his legs with more flexibility and less pain. Pauline can see a major difference in her walking; her coordination is much better than it was a year ago.

Another reason the couple continues to take the course is because of their class leader, Susan Becker. "Susan is a people person," says Pauline. "She is very personable and a great leader. She explains the process making sure all of us understand it and will work with you until you have the movement down."

Both agree that having Susan lead their class really adds to the sessions. "She's an excellent teacher," says Eddie. "She goes over the actions until we have retained what we have learned."

Coincidently, Susan recently won the Kate Lorig Healthy Living Innovation Award, which is given by the Healthy Living Center of Excellence annually to recognize the innovative efforts of individuals or organizations for their creative thinking, commitment, and implementation of ideas that improve the quality of life for older adults through healthy aging programs.

For more information on Mystic Valley Elder Services' Healthy Aging Programs, please contact Donna Covelle, Healthy Aging Program Coordinator, at (781) 388-4867 or dcovelle@mves.org.

THREADS
Tai Cheng (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?66714-Tai-Cheng)
Elderly (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)

[GeneChing]

106-year-old in Salt Lake City still feisty, sharp in daily exercise routine (https://abc7.com/health/106-year-old-still-feisty-sharp-in-daily-exercise-routine/5745168/)

At age 106, Mary Kawakami of Salt Lake City stays sharp and feisty with a daily exercise routine designed by her 75-year-old son.

By ABC7.com staff
Tuesday, December 10, 2019 4:24PM
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (KABC) -- So what's your excuse?

You may need to find a new reason to skip exercising after watching a feisty 106-year-old perform her workout routine with her 75-year-old son.

Mary Kawakami is a workout diva, starting every day with a routine designed by her son Paul.

He's helped her out for more than 20 years.

They absolutely adore each other and their workout is like a comedy routine.

"The reason why she lived so long is she's mean," Paul jokes.

Mary embraces her centenarian status.

"How old am I? 1-0-6. Will be 107 in two weeks. Basically I am old!" she says.

And she's not slowing down. Her lungs are still strong and her heart rate is excellent.

And Paul - who is a Tai Chi instructor - says his mom is the best. Whatever he comes up with she is willing to try.


THREADS
Give it up to the elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
Taijiquan's health (or longevity) benefits overrated? (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?4411-Taijiquan-s-health-(or-longevity)-benefits-overrated)

[GeneChing]

Coronavirus-infected centenarian discharged from hospital after recovery (http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-03/07/c_138853115.htm)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-07 18:33:10|Editor: huaxia

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-03/07/138853115_15836239012631n.jpg

A medical worker from the military shows the nucleic acid test negative report of a 100-year-old man at the branch of Hubei's Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital at the Optics Valley in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei Province, March 7, 2020. A 100-year-old man has recovered and been discharged from hospital Saturday after 13 days of treatment for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), becoming the oldest recovered patient to date. (Photo by Zhao Jiaqing/Xinhua)

WUHAN, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A 100-year-old man has recovered and been discharged from hospital Saturday after 13 days of treatment for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), becoming the oldest recovered patient to date.

He was among the group of more than 80 COVID-19 patients who were discharged from the branch of Hubei's Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital at the Optics Valley in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei Province and the epicenter of the outbreak.

Born in February 1920, the elderly man just marked his 100th birthday.

He was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 24 due to a coronavirus infection, with underlying health problems such as Alzheimer's disease, hypertension and heart failure.

Due to his complicated conditions, medical professionals from the military held multiple consultations, and a variety of methods including antiviral treatment through traditional Chinese medicine and convalescent plasma therapy were adopted in the treatment.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-03/07/138853115_15836239013061n.jpg
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-03/07/138853115_15836239013501n.jpg
A 100-year-old man is discharged from the branch of Hubei's Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital at the Optics Valley in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei Province, March 7, 2020. A 100-year-old man has recovered and been discharged from hospital Saturday after 13 days of treatment for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), becoming the oldest recovered patient to date. (Photo by Zhao Jiaqing/Xinhua)


THREADS
Give it up to the elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
COVID-19 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

Coronavirus: 103-year-old woman becomes oldest person to beat disease (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/coronavirus-latest-103-year-old-woman-recovers-wuhan-hubei-china-a9393991.html)
Centenarian recovers after just six days of treatment at hospital in virus epicentre
Chiara Giordano
32 minutes ago

A 103-year-old woman has become the oldest person to beat coronavirus and return home.

Zhang Guangfen recovered from the disease after receiving treatment for just six days at a hospital in Wuhan – the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak.

The centenarian’s quick recovery was down to her having no underlying health conditions apart from mild chronic bronchitis, her doctor Dr Zeng Yulan told reporters.

She was diagnosed at Liyuan Hospital, Tongji Medical College, in Wuhan on 1 March, Chutian Metropolis Daily reports.

The newspaper published a video showing the woman being escorted out of the hospital to a waiting ambulance by a group of medical workers as she was discharged on Tuesday.

Older people and those with pre-existing medical conditions are more at risk of developing severe coronavirus symptoms.

The grandmother has become the oldest person to recover from the deadly disease so far – days after a 101-year-old man also beat the virus in Wuhan.

A 100-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease, hypertension and heart failure also recovered from the virus in Wuhan this week after being treated by military doctors.

Wuhan’s 11 million residents have been in lockdown since late January.

The disease has infected more than 80,700 people in China and killed more than 3,000.

https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2020/03/11/12/coronavirus-discharge1.jpg?w660
103-year-old Zhang Guangfen has been discharged from hospital in Wuhan, China, after recovering from coronavirus. (Chutian Metropolis Daily/screen grab)

Latest figures from the National Health Commission on the spread of the virus showed 24 new cases across China, and 22 more deaths as of Tuesday.

All of the latest deaths occurred in Wuhan.

However new infections in the wider Hubei province continue to stabilise, with new cases declining for the sixth day. All 13 new cases in Hubei were recorded in Wuhan.

Additional reporting by agencies.


THREADS
Give it up to the elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
COVID-19 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

... perhaps the will emerge with some later report.



Elderly Woman, 80, Uses Her Martial Arts Skills to Fend off Two 21-Year-Old Thieves (https://www.newsweek.com/elderly-woman-80-martial-arts-skills-fend-off-thieves-1552831)
BY REBECCA SPEARE-COLE ON 12/7/20 AT 10:18 AM EST

An 80-year-old woman fended off two 21-year-old thieves who were trying to raid her home in France by using her martial arts skills.

Two 21-year-old men appeared at the Béziers criminal court on Friday for assaulting and attempting to steal from her home in Agde in the southern region of Hérault on November 17, according to France Bleu.

It emerged that the men, both from Frontignan, had thought the woman was wealthy so planned to target her house but it was in fact a modest home on the Hérault river, the broadcaster said.

One of the men, a former legionnaire, was wearing a motorcycle helmet and was carrying a semi-automatic pistol, when he rang the doorbell. The gun has not been found, the court reportedly heard.

The woman, who is Belgian and has been described as a "master" in martial arts by French media, opened the door and was confronted by one of the two men.

Instead of retreating, she kicked him in the testicles before punching him several times, according to France Bleu.

As the man tried to contain her, she reportedly struggled as much as she could before screaming loudly to alert neighbours.

Three people came running to help and as they arrived to help, reports say the man attempted to grab the jewelry the elderly lady was wearing but to no avail.

https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/1681961/bezier-palais-de-justice.webp?w=790&f=74580f1d3eae314bfe84793ffee1520a
The Bezier Criminal Court in southern France.
GOOGLE MAPS
He then fled, joining the other man who was reportedly waiting on a stolen motorcycle in front of the house. They drove off without having stolen anything.

The driver of the motorcycle, a former soldier, was arrested last week after the discovery of several of his fingerprints at the scene, France Blue said.

The other man who confronted the woman has been sentenced five times in the past, including spending three years in prison for aggravated theft before being released last April, the media outlet added.

He now reportedly faces up to 20 years in prison so asked for a trial postponement in court to prepare his defense. Both men have been remanded in custody as they await trial, reports say.

Meanwhile, the 80-year-old woman sustained wounds to her hands in the attack and has now been given 30 days of Incapacité Temporaire Totale de Travail (ITT), which means time off work due to her injuries.

Newsweek has contacted the local police in Adge for comment.

Threads
Successful-Street-Applications (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49825-Successful-Street-Applications)
Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)

[GeneChing]

Video behind the link


Update: Elderly Asian Woman Who Clobbered Her Attacker Talks About Terrifying Assault In San Francisco (https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/03/18/elderly-asian-woman-beats-up-man-attacking-her-in-san-francisco/)
March 18, 2021 at 6:31 am


SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — An elderly woman attacked on Market St. in San Francisco Wednesday – the latest victim in a wave of attacks on Asians in the Bay Area – spoke to KPIX 5 about turning the tables on her assailant, leaving him with injuries that required a trip to the hospital.

From her senior retirement home in San Francisco, Xiao Zhen Xie candidly talked to KPIX 5 in an exclusive interview about the attack and her injuries, with her daughter Dong-Mei Li interpreting.

“Very traumatized, very scared and this eye is still bleeding,” Li told KPIX 5. “The right eye still cannot see anything and still bleeding and we have something to absorb the bleeding.”

For the latest, real-time San Francisco Bay Area news and alerts, click to download the KPIX 5 news app

Surrounded by her family, the 76-year-old who has resided in San Francisco for 26 years said she was quite shaken up and that the attack was completely unprovoked. Her immediate instinct was to fight back.

Xiao Zhen Xie says she was just waiting at the traffic light and then the suspect punched her by her left eye.

Immediately, her instincts kicked in to defend herself. While she suffered injuries and required medical attention, it was her attacker that ended up on the stretcher. “She found the stick around the area and fought back,” said Li.

Li said her mother cannot see at all out of her left eye and hasn’t been able to eat. The hope is that time will heal the physical and emotional wounds, but her family said the incident has left her scared for her life.

“As you can see she is extremely terrified,” Xie’s grandson John Chen told KPIX 5. “She’s terrified to even step out.”

Xie’s family has set up a GoFundMe account to help with her medical expenses.

San Francisco police said they are investigating the aggravated assault. The incident happened at Market St. and Charles J. Brenham Place near McAllister St. at around 10:30 a.m.

Coming upon the scene during his morning run was KPIX Sports Director Dennis O’Donnell.

“There was a guy on a stretcher and a frustrated angry woman with a stick in her hand,” said O’Donnell.

In a video he captured on his cellphone, Xie is seen with an injury to the side of her face and eye and holding an ice pack to her face. Police said both Xie and her assailant were taken to a hospital for treatment.

Witnesses told KPIX 5 they saw Xie pummeling the assailant. In the video, the alleged assailant is handcuffed to a stretcher with his face bloodied. A sobbing Xie berates the man and waves what looks to be a wooden board at him as he’s being taken away.

“You bum, why did you hit me?” she said to the man on the stretcher in Chinese.

Xie then turned to the crowd of people who had gathered, saying, “This bum, he hit me,” as she raised the stick she held and sobbed. “He hit me, this bum,“ she repeated.

The victim added that she had been leaning against a light pole and all of a sudden, the man punched her without provocation.

“The woman said that she was hit,” O’Donnell says. “She attacked back. From what I could see, she wanted more of the guy on the stretcher and the police were holding her back.”

Police did not disclose a motive for the attack and it was not clear whether the victim’s race had anything to do with the assault.

Officers also say there was a second victim Wednesday morning, an 83-year-old Asian man. A 39-year-old man is now being investigated for both attacks, and police say they are working to determine if bias was a factor.

“We have to do our job and we have to investigate these cases with all resources brought to bear and we need to make arrests, and we’ve done that,” San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said Wednesday.

Both the police chief and the mayor highlighted the arrests made in connection with previous attacks in the city, promising more targeted patrols.

“We need to understand, not only what is going on, but why these attacks occur,” said Mayor London Breed. “Because in some cases they didn’t include any robbery or theft.”

As for one case that did include robbery; police have announced three arrests in connection with the violent attack caught on camera in a San Francisco laundromat. Police say the suspects, arrested in Antioch, are also tied to eight car burglaries in the city.

“Again, you have a small group of individuals,” Scott said. “All of those three that were arrested live outside the city.”

Hate crimes against Asian Americans rose 150% in 2020, even as hate crimes overall declined. In January, a 91-year-old man was shoved to the ground in Oakland’s Chinatown. An assault in San Francisco killed 94-year-old Vichar Ratanapakdee, while another assault left 75-year-old Pak Ho dead in Oakland last week.

Most recently, 59-year-old Danny Yu Chang was severely beaten on San Francisco’s Market St. on Monday, leaving him with serious injuries.

And for every crime reported, state Assemblyman David Chui (D-San Francisco) says there are more that aren’t.

“It’s not just the incredible violence in a number of incidents, but how racism has manifested itself in so many ways,” said Chiu.

Chiu and other Asian American and Pacific Islanders are proposing a statewide hotline for reporting and dealing with hate crimes, as well as legislations for restorative justice programs. They also want Governor Gavin Newsom to appoint an attorney general from the community.

The wave of incidents has sparked rallies throughout the Bay Area condemning anti-Asian violence and more than $1.4 million in state funding to track and stop the attacks.

The group Stop AAPI Hate said over the past year there have been nearly 4,000 hate incidents against Asians across the U.S. Chiu says 1,600 of those attacks were in California.

threads
Stop-Asian-Hate (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?72003-Stop-Asian-Hate)
Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)

[GeneChing]

Follow the link for the vid

98-year-old Chinese grandma stuns spectators with amazing kung fu moves (https://www.scmp.com/video/china/3137265/98-year-old-chinese-grandma-stuns-spectators-amazing-kung-fu-moves)
Avery Choi

Ninety-eight year old Zhang Hexian has stunned spectators with amazing kung fu moves at a martial arts competition in China’s eastern Zhejiang province. Otherwise known as “kung fu grandma”, Zhang practises Xiao Hong Quan, one of the most popular forms of Shaolin boxing, and has been training since the age of 5.

threads
Kung-Fu-Granny-Zhang-Hexian (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70110-Kung-Fu-Granny-Zhang-Hexian)
Songshan-Shaolin-Lyrics-Xiaohongquan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?36983-Songshan-Shaolin-Lyrics-Xiaohongquan)
Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)

[GeneChing]

Respect your seniors. READ Fighting for Your Life on Today’s Wicked Streets: Self Defense for Senior Citizens (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1599) by Phil Humphries

http://www.kungfumagazine.com//admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/images/ezine/2217_Elderly-Self-Defense_Lead.jpg

[GeneChing]

81-year-old carries on a Filipino martial arts tradition (https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/81-year-old-carries-on-a-filipino-martial-arts-tradition/2021/07/18/52769c98-e7c8-11eb-a2ba-3be31d349258_story.html)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/IYJFNEHHZAI6XIV2HPRR2NESLA.jpg&w=540
Amante P. Marinas, 81, teaches students a type of martial art known as Pananandata at his Spotsylvania County, Va., home on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Marinas has been practicing the technique since he was eight-years-old. (Peter Cihelka/The Free Lance-Star via AP)
By Rob Hedelt, The Free Lance-Star | AP
July 18, 2021|Updated yesterday at 9:01 a.m. EDT

SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. — When he was growing up in the Philippines, Amante Mariñas was fascinated with watching his great uncle practice martial arts.

At 8 years old, Mariñas began to learn the movements and forms of the long-pole martial art of pananandata. Working alongside his uncle, he came to believe that such workouts were important to his mind and body.

Mariñas is 81 now, and on a good day, puts in three to four hours working out in his Spotsylvania County backyard. There, he deliberately practices hand-fighting, as well as martial arts with a long pole and short sticks, throwing knives, an ax, a blow gun and a bow and arrow.

The discipline and work ethic he hewed to as a chemical engineer means he not only works out each day, but keeps a log of every minute spent—and every knife, ax and arrow sent into targets.

“I’ve thrown knives close to 1.5 million times, and shot the blowgun 800,000 times,” he said.

Mariñas moved from his native country to New York City in 1973, moving on from the long pole discipline of his great uncle to other fighting styles using different weapons. He taught himself those new disciplines, seeking out whatever sources existed to help him in his instructional journey.

“I learned how to throw knives in my basement in Staten Island,” he said. “There, I had to throw sidearm so it didn’t hit the ceiling.

Before long, he was teaching other people who were drawn to his workouts at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens. Seven of his books on martial arts have been published since moving to this area in 1997, and they detail styles of Filipino martial arts not fully covered before. They include “The Art of Throwing,” “Blowgun Techniques,” and “Archery for Beginners.”

Mariñas continues to give private lessons in pananandata, which he said is a fighting system from Central Luzon in the Philippines.

He’s had more than 100 articles published in martial arts magazines, some featuring photos of him and his son, Amante Jr., a New York City police detective.

I visited Mariñas recently at his home, where he showed me the workout and practice stations he’s created in his backyard. He uses hanging pieces of wood and large soda bottles as targets for his long pole and short sticks, and there are targets for knives, axes and arrows safely tucked around the yard.

“The notes I kept in learning and practicing each of the disciplines were invaluable in writing the books,” he said. “After the first one or two, I kind of had learned the process.”

Mariñas said that once he moved to Spotsylvania County—his sons had attended the University of Mary Washington and he had other relatives in the area—word got out that he taught martial arts and students sought him out.

“I now teach one or two students at a time, here in my backyard,” he said. “Most of my students are retired officers of some type, one a retired police captain, another a U.S. Army vet, still another a retired air marshal.”

He keeps teaching and writing because he likes to pass along what he’s learned, and because he’s been lonely since his wife died of cancer a few years ago. He also enjoys the company.

His students call him “Po,” an honorific for an older person in the Philippines, and he doesn’t just see them as students.

“I treat them as friends, and look forward to them coming to learn,” he said.

He’s taught some students for a long time—one woman has been with him since 2000.

Mariñas said he had a group of air marshals come to learn to use extendable batons, and a police captain who wanted to learn disarming techniques—all skills in his martial arts wheelhouse.

“We have fun, as I will challenge them at times, telling them that if they stick four knives in a row, I’ll treat them to coffee,” he said laughing. “Then they come back at me and ask if two hits will get them half a cup.”

He even designed his own style of throwing knife, and said he has several finished manuscripts he still wants to get published on fighting styles and weapons he hasn’t fully covered yet.

“I’d like to get to having 20 books published. I’m a half dozen or so short of that now,” he said. “I hope that works out, but if the manuscripts I’ve finished don’t get published, I’ll just leave them to my grandchildren. I enjoy the writing and it keeps me sharp.”

I can attest to that after watching the spry 81-year-old going through his workout, despite an infected left hand that kept him from hitting the bullseye with an arrow.

But he came pretty darned close, and a follow-up shot found dead center despite pain from holding the bow.

“I’ll get this fixed up and be back on target again soon,” he said.

Amante Mariñas wrote several articles on throwing weapons for Kung Fu Tai Chi over the years.
See:
1994 Spring (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/index.php?p=magazine&article=268)
1994 Summer (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/index.php?p=magazine&article=270)
2008 May/June (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/index.php?p=magazine&article=758)
January + February 2016 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/index.php?p=magazine&article=1269)
Winter 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/index.php?p=magazine&article=1446)


Pananandata Knife Throwing by Amonte P. Marinas Sr. is good as well.

threads
Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
Throwing-Stars (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?489-Throwing-Stars)

[GeneChing]

Utah grandma, 83, receives karate black belt from Chuck Norris (https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/44380022/utah-grandma-83-receives-karate-black-belt-from-chuck-norris)
Monday, July 26th 2021, 3:36 PM EDT
By Ashley Imlay


SALT LAKE CITY (KSL) -- Carole Taylor may be 83, but she now has a fifth-degree black belt in karate — an honor she received from Chuck Norris himself.

The Utah woman's passion for martial arts began 15 years ago at the age of 68, when she started taking her 11-year-old granddaughter to lessons.

"I thought: 'Wow, this is mental and physical. This would be a good thing for someone my age to do. ... So I asked the teacher if it would be all right if I joined the class, and so that's why I did it," she recalled.

Taylor learned karate alongside her granddaughter.

"We both got our first-degree black belts at about the same time," she said.

On Saturday, that granddaughter was there to watch Taylor show off her skills in front of dozens at Chuck Norris' annual United Fighting Arts Federation International Training Convention. For her demonstration, Taylor chose to show forms of karate including traditional hand techniques, stances, footwork, targeting, focusing and power.

She performed to the Beach Boys' song "Little Old Lady from Pasadena," because that's where she grew up. Taylor fooled the crowd by using her bow as a cane to hobble onto the center of the mat, prompting laughter and smiles from Norris and the rest of the crowd, a video of the event shows. She then straightened her back and began a display of powerful stances and fierce facial expressions. Taylor received a standing ovation from Norris and many in attendance.

Afterwards, Norris awarded her a fifth-degree black belt — an accomplishment that takes years to reach in the Chuck Norris System.

"I was so excited. I was able to bow to him, turn around, he put (a black gi) on me, I turned back around and bowed, and then he grabbed me and hugged me so hard, he actually pulled me off the ground almost … my one foot went up," Taylor said.

A gi is a traditional karate uniform. When someone reaches the fifth degree, their white top gets replaced with a black top, she explained.

"(Norris) was so kind, and he's 81, and he made some comments about that he had not been exercising all that much recently and that I had inspired him to go back and to begin to train again, and that made me feel very, very good," Taylor said.

The Layton woman also teaches karate at the dojo where she learned it. During the pandemic, she taught a student from the class at her own home because they had to social distance. Taylor had the student come to her house every day and they practiced on the patio outside, according to her daughter, Lacey Owens.

"It helps her mind to stay calm, to be able to focus on all the forms they have to learn, and that really has kept her brain fresh, I would say. It helps her to remember things, to memorize things," Owens said. "The dedication has given her something to keep going after every day."

Karate isn't the first talent Taylor has developed. She is also an actress who has appeared in plays and films, an artist and a calligrapher.

But karate has been another life experience Taylor is grateful to have found.

"It's just one of those things that makes for a more full life for me, and I absolutely love it, and it makes me feel strong, and it makes me feel confident, and it makes me feel as though I'm able to continue to learn," she said.

When the pandemic kept her home, Owens said karate gave her mother "some purpose in such a crazy time. And now, she can't test again for five years if she wants to go for her sixth degree, but she said to me, 'Why not? Why not? Might as well keep trying."

Owens said that she and the rest of Taylor's family are very proud of her.

"My mom's just been through a lot. She's had a lot of things thrown her way, and she's just always found the light in everything and kept on pushing, and just inspiring other people with her love and her kindness, and everybody that meets her is impacted by her light. And I am extremely grateful to be her daughter," Owens said.

threads
Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
Everything-you-didn-t-want-to-know-about-Chuck-Norris-and-probably-never-asked (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?39196-Everything-you-didn-t-want-to-know-about-Chuck-Norris-and-probably-never-asked)
Karate (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?10141-Karate)

[GeneChing]

A 93-year old Vernon woman taught her final Tai Chi class before retiring (https://www.castanet.net/news/Vernon/347487/A-93-year-old-Vernon-woman-taught-her-final-Tai-Chi-class-before-retiring)
Teaching Tai Chi at 93
Victoria Femia - Oct 4, 2021 / 4:00 am
https://www.castanet.net/content/2021/10/screen_shot_2021-10-03_at_10.48.03_am_p3554622.jpg
Photo: Doug Geiger
Maryanne Thomas
At 93-years old Maryanne Thomas led her final Tai Chi class and officially retired.

The Vernon resident has been teaching Tai Chi for 32 years and has been an instructor in a rented space at Knox Presbyterian church for the last 18 years.

“The final class (Sept. 28) included 10 students who have been steadfast with Maryanne for the last 18 years through life’s ups, downs and challenges,” said Thomas’ son-in-law, Doug Geiger.

“Adding to the celebration were many who arrived at the end of class to give thanks and show their appreciation because this dynamic group of now seniors are more than a class.”

Thomas said teaching her final class was an emotional one.

“I’ve been at this for so long, with the same people that were in my class, we’ve known each other for a long time,” said Thomas.

“They’re my family.”

At 93-years old, Thomas credits Tai Chi for keeping her active and motivated.

“It’s very helpful as far as your balance, you improve with each move,” said Thomas.

“I really enjoyed it, it makes me feel good to see people improve too.”

threads
Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!/ (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!/)
Teaching-Tai-Chi-Chi-Kung-to-the-Elderly (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?36520-Teaching-Tai-Chi-Chi-Kung-to-the-Elderly)

[GeneChing]

This 78-year-old great-grandmother is keeping an Indian martial art alive (https://www.forbesindia.com/article/forbes-lifes/this-78yearold-greatgrandmother-is-keeping-an-indian-martial-art-alive/70805/1)

Meenakshi Amma, practitioner and teacher of 'Kalaripayattu', has been a driving force in the revival of India's oldest martial art and in encouraging girls to take it up

BY AFPRELAXNEWS
2 min read
PUBLISHED: Oct 4, 2021 04:20:27 PM IST
UPDATED: Oct 4, 2021 04:30:39 PM IST

https://www.forbesindia.com/media/images/2021/Oct/img_169217_meenakshiamma.jpg
Meenakshi Amma, practitioner and teacher of 'Kalaripayattu', a traditional martial art originated in Kerala, posing for pictures at her family-run Kadathanadan Kalari Sangam school in Vatakara in the Kozhikode district of the state of Kerala
Image: Manjunath Kiran / AFP

Deftly parrying her son with a bamboo cane, Meenakshi Amma belies her 78 years with her prowess at kalari, thought to be India's oldest martial art.

The great-grandmother in Kerala, southern India, has been a driving force in the revival of kalaripayattu, as the ancient practice is also known, and in encouraging girls to take it up.


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"I started kalari when I was seven years old. I am 78 now. I am still practising, learning and teaching," the matriarch of the Kadathanad Kalari Sangham school, founded by her late husband in 1949, told AFP.

"When you open the newspapers, you only see news of violence against women," she said.

"When women learn this martial art, they feel physically and mentally strong and it makes them confident to work and travel alone."

Kalari, which contains elements of dance and yoga, can involve weapons such as swords, shields and staffs. Reputedly 3,000 years old, and mentioned in ancient Hindu scriptures, it remains infused with religion in the present day.

India's British colonial rulers banned the practice in 1804 but it survived underground before a revival in the early 20th century and after independence in 1947.

In recent decades it has come on in leaps and bounds, thanks in no small measure to Meenakshi, who won a national award in 2017.

Now it is recognised as a sport and practised all over India.

Inside Meenakshi's kalari hall, her bare-chested son Sanjeev Kumar, a lungi tied around his waist, puts barefoot pupilsn—boys and girls aliken—through their paces on the ochre-red earth floor.

"There are two divisions in kalaripayattun—one is that kalaripayattu is peace and the other is kalaripayattu in war," said the "gurukkal" (master).

"It's an art that purifies mind, body and soul, improves concentration, speed and patience, regenerates physical and mental energy.

"When totally connected mentally and physically to kalari, then the opponent disappears, the body becomes eyes."

"It's a form of poetry," said civil engineer Alaka S. Kumar, 29, daughter of Kumar and the mother to some of Meenakshi's many great-grandchildren.

"I am going to teach kalari, with my brother. We have to take over. Otherwise it is gone."

threads
Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
Indian-Martial-Arts (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69806-Indian-Martial-Arts)

[GeneChing]

'It wasn't a ninja move, honestly': TikTok's kung-fu grandma explains her viral reaction to Nelson anti-lockdown march (https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/it-wasnt-a-ninja-move-honestly-tiktoks-kung-fu-grandma-explains-her-viral-reaction-to-nelson-anti-lockdown-march/ar-AAR9te1)
The Project 4 days ago
https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AAR9xaE.img?h=457&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=784&y=151
© The Project Watch: TikTok-famous 'kung-fu grandma' explains her viral ninja stance to Nelson anti-lockdown protesters.
We've seen a diverse range of protestors out and about recently, but a few days ago a grumpy grandma caught New Zealand's attention for saying enough's enough and taking to the streets with a counter-protest of her own.

That clip is going nuts on TikTok - so what motivated mysterious Nelson ninja Jan to unflinchingly stand her ground for the sake of public health?

Speaking to The Project on Friday night, Jan said she had just been out shopping when she tried to cross Trafalgar St at the same time an anti-lockdown march was taking place.

"They were just there in front of me, coming towards me, and I thought 'well, I'm gonna cross Trafalgar St'. There was a cameraman walking backward towards me, and he said something like, 'you better move lady, they're not going to stop for you'.

"And I thought, 'actually, let's just give this a try', because I didn't really agree with their sentiments."

What happened next was pure social media gold. Jan was filmed standing up to the crowd, striking a ninja pose, and then almost immediately being swallowed up by protesters who refused to stop for her.

"I just stood where I was and the crowd walked past me," she said of what happened next. "It was like a parting… one woman gave me a high-five, which was interesting."

Jan says her counter-protest came about because she's got friends who are immuno-compromised and those people need to be protected - "so I thought no, I'll make a stand here."

Slightly disappointingly, Jan concedes the stance she took up was more to do with fears the swarm of protesters would bowl her over, rather than an actual martial arts move.

"I planked my feet… I did cross my arms. It wasn't a ninja move, honestly… it was rather misinterpreted, I think because they put the kung-fu music over it.

"But yes it was my point, my statement."

threads
Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!! (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
covid (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

China’s ‘oldest living person’, a Xinjiang Uygur woman born in the 1800s during Qing dynasty, dies at reported age of 135 (https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3160416/chinas-oldest-living-person-uygur-woman)
An ethnic Uygur, the woman was born on June 25, 1886, according to her Chinese ID card
Despite state claims she was the country’s oldest living person, this has long been controversial due to a lack of authentication of her age


Mandy Zuo in Shanghai

Published: 5:00pm, 20 Dec, 2021
https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1098,format=auto/sites/default/files/styles/1200x800/public/d8/images/canvas/2021/12/20/ea6af2ca-14fe-408c-a297-e5e16fd1abda_d3f3e224.jpg?itok=W_LsxUCt&v=1639989780
Alimihan Seyiti (left) talks with her grandson at her 134th birthday party in Shule County, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on June 25, 2020. Photo: Xinhua
A supercentenarian from Xinjiang in Western China whom the Chinese government claims to be 135 years old, but was never internationally verified, died last week, state media has reported.

Almihan Seyiti, who lived in a village in Shule county of Kashgar city and was declared China’s oldest living person in 2013, died at home on Thursday last week, the Xinjiang Daily said over the weekend.

One of the ethnic Uygurs, she was born on June 25, 1886, under the rule of the imperial Qing dynasty, according to an ID card issued to her by Chinese authorities, but her incredible longevity has long been controversial due to her unverifiable birth records.

Guinness World Records said it had not been invited to verify Seyiti’s age independently. If true, she could be the longest-living person in history in the world.https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2021/12/20/b73d4b35-82e0-423a-9b67-f17106cb9fd5_0c585c65.jpg
Alimihan Seyiti, the oldest person in China, died at the age of 135 in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, local authorities said on Saturday. However, there are significant doubts about her real age. Photo: Xinhua
Currently, Jeanne Calment from France, who died at 122 in 1997, holds the Guinness World Record for being the planet’s longest-living person.

The oldest currently living person verified by the organisation is Kane Tanaka, a Japanese woman born in January 1903, who has reportedly survived cancer twice.

Seyiti, who lived with her grandchildren, died peacefully on Thursday morning, the report quoted her family as saying.

She was ranked at the top of China’s ten oldest living people by the China Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics in 2013 and has held the record since.

Having altogether 43 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, the woman had lived to see her sixth generation of descendants born, the report said.

She was married at the age of 17 in 1903 and was said to have adopted a boy and a girl with her husband, who died in 1976.

She lived a regular life before her death, getting up before 10am and going to bed before 11pm, her family said.

Her primary carer, grandson Kuerban Nuer, was quoted as saying that she enjoyed singing and dancing and was in the habit of listening to the radio every day. “When hearing music from the radio before sleep, her feet would move along with the rhythm,” he said.

The Shule county government organised a grand birthday party for the woman last year when she reportedly reached 134. According to video clips and photos from the party, Seyiti, wearing a floral hoop and a paper tiara, sang along to music, cheered with a big crowd, and talked to local officials.



Mandy Zuo

Mandy joined the Post in 2010 and has been reporting on China news ever since. Her work covers a range including China policies, culture and society news.


So her secret was singing and dancing?

[GeneChing]

The world's oldest person is a French nun who enjoys chocolate and wine (https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/26/europe/oldest-living-person-nun-sister-andre-scli-intl/index.html)
By Simon Bouvier, Xiaofei Xu, Camille Knight and Elias Lemercier, CNN

Updated 3:16 PM ET, Tue April 26, 2022https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220426124854-01-lucile-randon-sister-andr-worlds-oldest-person-0426-exlarge-169.jpg
Sister André, the world's oldest person, is also the world's oldest Covid-19 survivor.

Paris (CNN)A 118-year-old nun living in a nursing home in southern France has become the world's oldest living person, according to the Guinness World Records.
Sister André is also the world's oldest living nun and the oldest nun ever, according to a statement released by the record-breaking authority on Monday.
Born as Lucile Randon on February 11, 1904, Sister André has dedicated most of her life to religious service, the statement said. Before becoming a Catholic nun, she looked after children during World War II and then spent 28 years caring for orphans and elderly people at a hospital.
Sister André, who lives near the French city of Toulon, is also the world's oldest Covid-19 survivor. The Guinness World Records statement said she tested positive for the virus at the beginning of 2021, but recovered fully within three weeks, just in time for her 117th birthday.
In an interview with the French TV channel RMC Story on Tuesday, Sister André appeared to have mixed feelings about becoming the new oldest living person.
"I feel I would be better off in heaven, but the good Lord doesn't want me yet," she said, calling the title a "sad honor."
However, she also expressed her joy at being "pampered" by her family.
Sister André enjoys chocolate and wine -- and drinks a glass every day -- her nursing home, Résidence Catherine Labouré, confirmed to CNN on Tuesday.
When she turned 118 earlier this year, the elderly nun received a handwritten birthday note from French President Emmanuel Macron -- the 18th French president of her lifetime -- according to a tweet from the nursing home. There have also been 10 different Popes presiding over the Catholic Church since she was born.
Sister André became the world's eldest following the death of Kane Tanaka, a Japanese woman previously certified as the world's oldest person, who died at the age of 119 on April 19.
The title of oldest person ever recorded also belongs to a French woman. Born on February 21, 1875, Jeanne Louise Calment's life spanned 122 years and 164 days, according to the Guinness World Records statement.

torch passed


World's oldest person, Kane Tanaka, dies in Japan aged 119 (https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/25/asia/worlds-oldest-dies-scli-intl/index.html)
By Emiko Jozuka and Lianne Kolirin, CNN

Updated 9:55 PM ET, Mon April 25, 2022
https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220425120323-kane-tanaka-dies-exlarge-169.jpg
Kane Tanaka was the second-oldest person ever recorded.
(CNN)Kane Tanaka, the world's oldest person, has died in Japan aged 119, according to a statement released by the country's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Tanaka, who was born on January 2, 1903, died on April 19, the ministry said.
Guinness World Records said they were saddened to hear of Tanaka's passing, and said the news of her death had been confirmed by senior gerontology consultant Robert Young, who also helped confirm her record as the oldest person alive back in 2019.
Tweeting about her death, Guinness World Records said: "She became the oldest living person in January 2019 at the age of 116 years and 28 days.
"She is also the second oldest person ever recorded, behind only Jeanne Calment who lived to the age of 122."
Tanaka's family said in a tweet earlier this month that she had been frequently sick recently and "in and out of hospital."
Born in 1903, Tanaka married a rice shop owner at the age of 19, and worked in the family store until she was 103.
She twice survived cancer and lived through a multitude of historical events, surviving two world wars and the 1918 Spanish flu -- as well as the Covid-19 pandemic.https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/210302163944-01-118-granny-exlarge-169.jpeg
Kane Tanaka, aged 32 in 1935, is pictured in the center of the front row.
CNN previously reported on Tanaka during her preparation to participate in the Olympic torch relay ahead of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.
The plan had been that she would take the flame as it passed through Shime, in her home prefecture of Fukuoka, but ultimately she did not participate, because of concerns about Covid-19.
Tanaka had been living in a nursing home in Fukuoka. Her family said she kept her mind and body engaged by doing math and remaining curious.
Tanaka's great-granddaughter Junko Tanaka set up a Twitter account in January 2020 to celebrate the supercentenarian's life.
She tweeted photos of her great-grandmother enjoying treats such as cake and soda pop, and shared her achievements and the exchanges she had with her relatives.
CNN previously reported Junko as saying of her grandmother: "I might be biased because I'm related to her but I think it's kind of amazing -- I wanted to share that with the world and for people to feel inspired and to feel her joy."
In 2020, one in every 1,565 people in Japan was over 100 years old -- more than 88% of them women. Government figures released in July 2020 showed that women have a life expectancy of 87.45 years compared with 81.4 for men.
Announcing Tanaka's death on its website on Monday, Guinness World Records said "the titles of oldest person living and oldest person living (female) are currently being investigated" and that further details would be announced in due course.
Blake Essig, Junko Ogura and Sana Noor Haq also contributed

[GeneChing]

More on Amma here (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69806-Indian-Martial-Arts&p=1321884#post1321884).


Meet the Sword-Wielding Grandmother Bringing Women Back to Indian Martial Arts (https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/grandmother-meenakshi-amma-martial-arts)
Women who practiced kalaripayattu were a thing of the past—until Meenakshi Amma.
BY SHOMA ABHYANKAR
MAY 13, 2022

https://img.atlasobscura.com/GTbehhqzwOBpCnjwTiJuy-ji1s_VD3Svf4GfMkG6zao/rt:fit/w:1280/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL2Fzc2V0/cy81MDA5NjUxNTZh/OTU1YjQ4YzdfR2V0/dHlJbWFnZXMtNjIy/MjcyMTI0LmpwZw.jpg
Meenakshi Amma, shown here at age 76, continues to teach students kalaripayattu in her “kalari,” or arena, in Kerala, India, today at age 81. ALL PHOTOS: FUTURE PUBLISHING VIA GETTY IMAGES

CLAD IN A RED SARI with a gold border, Meenakshi Raghavan wields a sword and a shield. The petite woman assumes a formidable stance and matches each strike from her opponent—twice her size and less than half her age—with an alert ferocity that reflects in her eyes. Meenakshi Amma, as her family and disciples fondly call her, is at the “kalari,” or arena, in Vadakara, a small town in northern Kerala, India, training her students the moves of the martial art of kalaripayattu. One disciple, as her students are known, swings his sword through the air but Meenakshi Amma suddenly twists on the mud floor dodging the attack and counter striking, taking her disciple by surprise.

Everything about Meenakshi Amma is a surprise. At 81 years of age, Meenakshi Amma is the oldest woman “gurukkal,” or teacher, actively practicing this ancient practice from the southern Indian state of Kerala. She is credited in popularizing the once-banned practice and with inspiring women—long excluded from the kalari—to take up the martial art as means to self-defense.

Derived from the Sanskrit word “khalurika” meaning battlefield or military training ground, kalaripayattu—or simply, payattu—dates back thousands of years and was traditionally practiced by the Nair community warriors of Kerala. Yoga postures paired with wooden sticks, metal blades and bare-hand combat techniques make it one of the more complex martial arts. “Kalaripayattu is a complete art form that has the grace of a dancer and lethal moves of a warrior. It synchronizes both mental and physical faculties and tests the extreme limits of the body and mind.’ says Meenakshi Amma.

https://img.atlasobscura.com/kltYKbHXPidkd-dvNqvDgOju8KlDqE5i4vDD0Q_vj40/rt:fill/w:1200/el:1/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL2Fzc2V0/cy81MDA5NjUxNTZh/OTU1YjQ4YzdfR2V0/dHlJbWFnZXMtNjIy/MjcyMjMyLmpwZw.jpg
Kalaripayattu had been a part of the culture in Kerala for centuries until it was banned under British rule in the early 19th century.
For centuries kalarippayattu was deeply ingrained in the culture of Kerala, according to the late historian and Kalaripayattu master, Chirakkal T. Sreedharan Nair. It was both a mode of warfare and a method of settling disputes between feuding families. Throughout this time, women trained along with men. Some, such as Unniyarcha, identified as a 16th-century woman warrior, became fixtures in the folklore of Kerala.

But the prominence of kalaripayattu had already begun its slow decline with the arrival of Europeans on the shores of Kerala around the late 15th century. Its traditional weapons were no match for the firearms of the Portuguese. The final blow came with British rule. An armed revolt between 1796 and 1805 by the combined forces of Pazhassi Raza, Nair warriors, and Kurchiya tribes of Wayanad, resulted in the British officer Lord William Bentick issuing a government order in 1804, permanently banning possession of weapons and weapons training to curb future revolts. For almost 150 years under the oppressive British rule, the young men and women could not learn and practice the traditional martial art.

The ban on the practice of kalaripayattu by the British lasted until the countrywide Swadeshi Movement, defying British rule, began in the early 1900s. The century-and-half ban had almost wiped away the tradition of systematic practice of the martial art. With the Swadeshi movement, however, began the slow revival when some of the traditionally trained gurus restarted training villagers covertly. It was only in 1958, almost a decade after independence of India that an organized effort towards the revival of martial arts started with the formation of the State Kalaripayattu Association.

Meenakshi Amma was seven, the traditional age for starting kalaripayattu training, when her father introduced her to the practice on the advice of her Bharatanatyam (Indian classical dance) teacher. She started training under her future husband, the legendary late VP Raghavan Gurukkal in 1949 at Kadathanad Kalari Sangham in Kerala. “It is so much a part of me now, just like breathing” the matriarch says now.


“It is so much a part of me now, just like breathing.”
But in the mid-20th century, it was unusual to see a woman in the kalari. Women had become homebound, and the legends of 16th century female warriors like Unniyarcha were history, cited and extolled only in ballads. “I got a lot of encouragement though,” says Meenakshi Amma. “My dance guru and most of the family supported the idea of me being trained in an activity that was predominantly a male bastion.”

While most of the small number of women who did study kalaripayattu gave up after marriage and childbirth, Meenakshi Amma, who married her kalaripayattu teacher, continued her practice. “I took a break during my pregnancies and when my children were younger, but I was always by my husband’s side every day at the kalari. I prepared the herbal oils and Ayurvedic medicines for ‘marmchikilsa’ [massage treatment for vital pressure points of the body], cuts, bruises, pains and aches, an essential part of training of kalaripayattu,” she recalls.

https://img.atlasobscura.com/X10LdGt4SPJYhdRaa2MdFEvVmtmzJaBrJEh3X8pQD4c/rt:fill/w:1200/el:1/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL2Fzc2V0/cy81MDA5NjUxNTZh/OTU1YjQ4YzdfR2V0/dHlJbWFnZXMtNjIy/MjcyMDUyLmpwZw.jpg
Meenakshi Amma’s example brought more girls and women to kalaripayattu. “Learning the martial arts makes women fearless,” she says.
Meenakshi Amma stepped into her husband’s shoes as a gurukkal after his death in 2009 and has been training young and old, men and women from across the country and abroad. In 2017, “She was like a mother to her students,” says Kunnathukuzhi Francis Thomas Gurukkal, one of her students who runs a kalaripayattu school of his own in Wayanad.

In 2017, Meenakshi Amma was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India’s highest civilian awards for her work. In her paper in Women’s Studies, A****ha Mandakathingal writes, “The massive media coverage Meenakshi received after her national recognition placed Kalaripayattu in limelight in national headlines making it popular talking point, leading to the revival of Kalaripayattu in contemporary Kerala.”

Seeing an old woman handling spears, swords and sticks effortlessly generated a desire and confidence among young women to learn kalaripayattu. “Women should take up payattu to empower themselves,” Meenakshi Amma says. “It not only makes the body stronger but also helps in improving stamina, concentration, and control over motor skills.” She adds, “Learning the martial arts makes women fearless.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story included an image that was incorrectly identified as a childhood photo of Meenakshi Raghavan.

threads
Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
Indian-Martial-Arts (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69806-Indian-Martial-Arts)

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=TjlMREYxIQs
83 year-old martial artist promotes Kung Fu in Hong Kong: "The heritage is very important."

Wong-Fei-Hung (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?22478-Wong-Fei-Hung)
Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!! (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
Hung-Gar (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?50150-Hung-Gar)

[SteveLau]

Gene, the master in the video has aged much further that I almost do not recognize him. I agree with you that heritage is very important to us. Because it tells what we are learning, and how it has passed from previous generations.



Regards,

KC
Hong Kong

[GeneChing]

Legendary Judo Coach Uchida Celebrates 103rd Birthday in Style (https://rafu.com/2023/03/legendary-judo-coach-uchida-celebrates-103rd-birthday-in-style/)
by Rafu Reports 03/18/2023

https://i0.wp.com/rafu.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/uchida2.png?w=939&ssl=1
Yosh Uchida was joined by past and present members of the San Jose State judo team. (Courtesy Robert Handa)
SAN JOSE — Judo coach Yoshihiro “Yosh” Uchida celebrated his 103rd birthday a little early with 500 of his closest friends last Saturday at Signia by Hilton (formerly the Fairmont Hotel).

Uchida, who was born on April 1, 1920, has been promoting judo in the U.S. for nearly 80 years.

He established the judo program at San Jose State University in 1946; was instrumental in judo being sanctioned in 1952 as an official sport by the Amateur Athletic Union; helped organize the inaugural national collegiate judo championship in 1962; and was the first U.S. Olympic judo coach in 1964 at the Tokyo Games. Under his guidance, SJSU has won more than 40 men’s and 20 women’s titles.

https://i0.wp.com/rafu.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/uchida-1964.png?w=516&ssl=1
Yosh Uchida in 1964
Uchida is also a community leader who built up a medical laboratory business that was sold to Unilab for $30 million in 1989 and founded the Japanese American Chamber of Commerce of Silicon Valley in 1996. With other investors, he formed the San Jose Nihonmachi Corporation, which invested millions to develop housing and businesses in San Jose’s Japantown.

For his contributions to judo, Uchida was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure with Gold Rays in 1986 by Emperor Hirohito; received San Jose State’s highest honor, the Tower Award, in 1992; was inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame in 1996; and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 2004. The building on campus that houses the judo dojo was renamed Yoshihiro Uchida Hall in 1997.

Born in the Imperial Valley town of Calexico to Issei farm laborers, Uchida grew up in Garden Grove and took up judo at the age of 10. He studied biology at San Jose State, where he became a student coach in 1940. During World War II, while his family was incarcerated, he was drafted by the Army and served as a medical technician.

https://i0.wp.com/rafu.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/uchida1.png?w=1082&ssl=1
Yosh Uchida with Robert Handa, Arlene Sison-Handa and Mike Inouye. (Courtesy Robert Handa)
The event was emceed by NBC Bay Area’s Robert Handa and Mike Inouye. The Steve Nakano Trio and Roy and PJ Hirabayashi of San Jose Taiko performed. There was a traditional kagami-wari ceremony in which a sake barrel was broken open.

Among those taking part in the celebration were former U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahon, former Mayor Sam Liccardo, Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, Consul General of Japan in San Francisco Yasushi Noguchi, professional cheerleader Krazy George Henderson, and several past and present members of the SJSU judo team.

I worked for Uchida Sensei for a bit as a driver for his company Laboratory Services. He was a good boss, such a gentleman.

[GeneChing]

The Taekwondo 68 Nun (https://www.tkdkwan.com/2023/04/the-taekwondo-68-nun.html)
1:46:00 PM

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4LaS3RWBSEplULlMC_IlPLkfB6TBrif1VMsRohrmO4Y lvWYo_LDCmXmXWxlrA2AE2xPu8EbeEQ-_FMgS5gkHy-Ba2389wSb6JXVYOXXuf4vB-ErS64XpTgJF8JKsQEuvXF02y877x1LKzAcqFXvvm7B9QcSi0qy 34xPu12j3TQDFdP08ECr1tjuOR/s320/linda.jpg
Calm, serene and noble, this is how we can imagine nuns and sisters in general. This is applicable on our article guest today, except that the sister Linda Sim who is 68 years old is a martial artist and specifically practicing Taekwondo and holding the black belt the 5th Dan in the Korean martial art. The nun Linda started competing in Kyorugi in 1978 and got a bonze medal, and she said that she was beaten very hard at the time, while there was not much protection gears as we can see today.

More than that the sister Linda competed at the World Taekwondo Poomsae championships held in Russia 2011 and won the gold medal in her division.

The Nun Linda practiced Taekwondo for 52 years since 1971, and never gave up even if she had challenges and no support, and now we can see an amazing champion in Taekwondo.

We do believe that Taekwondo is for everyone, it does not matter where you come from or what you do, Taekwondo is uniting us.

Here are few videos of the nun Linda during the world championships.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeDEMTmzF6U

Tae-Kwon-Do (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?42906-Tae-Kwon-Do)
Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!! (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)

[GeneChing]

90-Year-old Earns Judo Belt Level Reached By Only 6 People in the Nation (https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/90-year-old-earns-judo-belt-level-reached-by-only-6-people-in-the-nation/)
By Andy Corbley - Jun 20, 2023

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Michael-Leigh-the-judoka-696x414.jpg
(left) Michael Leigh the judoka stands with his ninth dan, (right) Leigh performing a foot sweep on his opponent; note the extreme flex in his right foot—needed to apply maximum force to sweep his opponent’s planted foot.

A 90-year-old master who’s still limber enough to get on the mat every once in a while has just been awarded his ninth degree, or dan, in Judo.

Only 6 individuals in the UK hold a ninth dan, and Michael Leigh is the oldest judoka in the country to reach what is the second-highest rank in the sport.

Michael Leigh set up the Kin Ryu Judo Club in Crawley, West Sussex, in 1976 after taking up the martial art in 1955 in London and acting as a backup on the UK ’64 Olympic team.

He first discovered the sport while working in the Royal Air Force, after he stumbled on a judo book in a charity shop written by the co-founder of the London Judo Society. He thought it “looked interesting”.

He went on to become the chairman of British Judo for two terms, a national coach, and an international referee.

“When I heard the news I couldn’t quite take it in,” Leigh wrote for his club’s news section. “Knowing that there are only five other people in the UK who have been awarded 9th dan, I find myself amongst peers I greatly admire and respect. I appreciate this recognition of my lifetime of commitment to the amazing sport of Judo and I will hold the grade with great pride and honour.”

Leigh’s school became the largest in the UK at one point, with 520 members in three locations: Crawley, Horley, and Horsham.

“I’ve had a very interesting life, I’ve been to about 160 countries,” he told the BBC, adding that it had been a “wonderful journey”.

“I’m tempted to go on the mat but until my current disabilities go away I don’t think I’ll be able to,” he said. “I miss it very much, but everything has a beginning, middle, and end.”

After obtaining the black belt, judokas move onto the ten dan levels. The last four are generally honorary, with judges at the International Judo Federation taking into consideration their lifelong accomplishments.

Judo is a grappling martial art that involves using leverage and grips to throw opponents to the ground and can be physically punishing. Perhaps the most famous Judo practitioner in popular culture was the former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Rhonda Rousey.

In one respect, Rousey and Leigh have more than just their martial skill in common—both have helped make the sport more inclusive.

As a silver citizen, Leigh has organized championships in the UK for older judokas and a special needs Judo program.

Although “more of an oracle” now, Martin Rivers who co-manages the Crawley Judo club said Leigh still gets on the mat from time to time, and certainly doesn’t look a day over 75.

Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!! (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
Judo (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?42938-Judo)

[GeneChing]

US Woman, 71, Earns Guinness World Record Title Of Oldest Female Ninja (https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/us-woman-71-earns-guinness-world-record-title-of-oldest-female-ninja-4417183)
World's oldest female ninja: Virginia Lenore MacColl's favourite moves include swinging on rings and climbing ropes.

Edited by Rahul KumarUpdated: September 23, 2023 5:30 pm IST
https://c.ndtvimg.com/2023-09/nc13eua8_virginia-lenore-maccoll_625x300_23_September_23.jpg
Virginia Lenore MacColl started ninja warrior competitions at 66.

New Delhi: In the most recent Guinness World Records (GWR) roundup, a 71-year-old woman from the United States was recognised as the oldest female ninja, proving the adage 'Age is just a number' to be completely true. The organisation also released a video showing her navigating obstacle courses filled with a variety of challenges. In the video, she can be seen climbing, jumping, and even swinging from a bar.
"Oldest competitive ninja athlete (female). Competed at the age of 70 years and 90 days," Guinness World Records said in a video post on Instagram. According to the organisation's blog, Virginia Lenore MacColl began her journey into ninja warrior competitions at the age of 66, inspired by her daughter's encouragement to take up sports.

MacColl added that she was motivated to start her journey after watching her daughter, Jessie Graff, participate in American Ninja Warrior.

Ms MacColl said, "While I cheered for my daughter Jessie Graff, I found inspiration in her strength, grace, and health."

Earlier, she had never participated in athletics or weightlifting. She also mentioned that it took her a while to even consider herself an athlete. However, the 71-year-old found herself committing to four cardio, strength training, and obstacle training sessions each week.

"I engage in cardio through swimming two to three times a week," she said.

Her favourite ninja moves include swinging on rings and climbing ropes, while she considers the salmon ladder and the warped wall to be some of the trickier techniques.

Speaking about her husband, she said he was her "biggest supporter." MacColl further mentioned, "Despite being unable to travel for medical reasons, he consistently encourages me to participate in every competition."

Regarding her exercise routine, she explained that her primary dietary choice is a 'Mediterranean diet,' consisting primarily of fish, and vegetables, along with some chicken and turkey. However, she avoids dairy products and soda, and carefully monitors her sugar intake to keep it in check.

Martial-Arts-World-Records-and-Stunts (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?52601-Martial-Arts-World-Records-and-Stunts)
Ninjas! (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?44568-Ninjas!)
Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!! (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)

[GeneChing]

A 104-year-old woman dies before Guinness can confirm her record as oldest skydiver (https://www.npr.org/2023/10/11/1205280562/104-woman-dies-skydiving-record)

October 11, 20237:15 PM ET
By Ayana Archie

https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/10/11/dorothy-in-plane-83-_custom-dbaf0ebb4f8dd69eac99a2a783bb299099e0bdc0-s800-c85.webp
Dorothy Hoffner, 104, went skydiving Oct. 1 and could hold the record for the oldest person to jump from a plane. She died Monday, likely in her sleep, Brookdale Senior Living said in a statement.
Brookdale Senior Living

A 104-year-old woman has died a little more than a week after she potentially broke the world record for the oldest skydiver.

Dorothy Hoffner jumped 13,500 feet from a plane with Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, Ill., on Oct. 1. She likely died in her sleep Monday at Brookdale Senior Living, the center said.

"The associates at Brookdale Lake View are deeply saddened by the passing of our resident, Dorothy Hoffner," the statement said. " We were thrilled to see her continue to live with passion and purpose, skydiving earlier this month at 104 and ultimately proving that age is just a number. She will be greatly missed by our entire community."

Guinness World Records is still working to confirm if Hoffner broke the record for the oldest person to jump from a plane. The current record belongs to Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson of Sweden, who was 103 when she made a jump in 2022, The Associated Press reported.

Hoffner made her first jump at the age of 100.

A memorial service for her will be held next month, the AP said.
Such a bummer...

Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!! (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!)
Martial-Arts-World-Records-and-Stunts (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?52601-Martial-Arts-World-Records-and-Stunts)

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVlNL0OqR-k

[GeneChing]

Attilio Fini is my new hero.


Can Fencing Be Used for Self-Defense? (https://academyoffencingmasters.com/blog/can-fencing-be-used-for-self-defense/)
BY IGOR CHIRASHNYA ON JANUARY 29, 2024 IN MOSAIC

https://i1.wp.com/academyoffencingmasters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Can-fencing-be-used-for-self-defense.jpg?resize=768%2C513&ssl=1
I recently came across an inspiring news story about self-defense that underscores the remarkable skills and courage honed by a former Italian National Fencing Team coach, Attilio Fini, who is now 93 years old. Just a month ago, he found himself in a perilous situation that required quick thinking and action.

As he was returning home one evening in Milan’s Piazza De Agostini, Fini noticed a shadow drawing too close for comfort. He soon realized that the approaching figure was pointing a gun directly at him. In that critical moment, he relied on the reflexes and instincts instilled in him during his fencing days.

Fini’s fencing background proved to be invaluable. Without hesitation, he disarmed the armed robber, striking his hand and causing the weapon to fall to the ground. He didn’t stop there; with a swift push and punch, he further incapacitated the assailant, sending him tumbling amidst parked scooters. Two brave bystanders joined in, helping to immobilize the attacker until the police arrived.

The assailant, as it turns out, was wanted for murder in Algeria, his home country, and faced charges for multiple robberies. Fini’s remarkable response to this dangerous encounter can be attributed to the fearless mindset and quick reflexes fostered by his fencing training.

While fencing is not typically associated with self-defense, it undeniably played a pivotal role in Fini’s ability to respond effectively to a life-threatening situation. His story serves as a powerful reminder of the transferable skills and attributes developed through sports, which can unexpectedly prove crucial in real-life scenarios. But also, it raises an interesting question – can fencing be used for self-defense?

Fencing is a combat sport. Much like karate or ju-jitsu, fencing is the act of facing an opponent and coming into physical contact with them in order to gain the advantage. That connection to the combat sports arena gives a lot of people the idea that maybe fencing teaches self-defense skills.

So it’s a good question! We’re going to explore this idea, but we want to start off by being very, very clear: sport fencing is not meant for self-defense. That is not what we’re training for. We are training to get points against our opponent in a controlled situation. Period.

With that as our foundational point, we can start to explore how fencing has a legacy of self-defense and the ways that fencing could help in a combat situation. Though every kind of physical fitness activity would be beneficial for someone facing a dangerous situation, fencing does is a special case.

Dueling vs. sport fencing

We all know that fencing has its roots in dueling. Centuries ago, there was significant training in fencing for people who were in the military or needed to know how to take on an opponent for a duel or some other kind of battle.

Our sport originated from life and death, mortal combat encounters. Dueling meant protecting your life from the opponent, and these duels were to the death. The danger was serious, and so was the need to protect yourself. Swords were sharp, and the risk of getting injured was massive. Even in training. Schools of swordsmanship across Europe taught their pupils rigorously about how they could protect themselves. The parry and riposte were developed to prevent real injuries!

The moves that we do in sport fencing today are legacy movements that are related to avoiding being struck by an opponent or actually striking and opponent. The piste is actually not that different from the narrow streets on which those classical European sword duels took place. It’s important to understand that what we do today in sports fencing has a clear track back to the wound-making realities of dueling.

That’s another important point that differentiates sport fencing from dueling – wounds. Though sport fencing causes the occasional bruise or a stray small cut here and there, injuries are incredibly minor. Competitive fencers especially learn to push past these minor injuries to keep on going, but they are so minor.

Sport fencing is not made for self-defense

The use of weapons in fencing is particularly important, and weapons have a clear advantage in a self defense situation. That being said, is anyone really going to have their epee out with them when they run into trouble and need to use self-defense? The answer here is a resounding “no.” There is almost no chance that a fencer would ever have to use self-defense when they actually have their weapon with them.

Beyond that, there is a reason it’s called “the sport of fencing”. Whereas sport judo or sport taekwondo is still effective in a real world situation, sport fencing is much further from its original form. The techniques that we use have their history in real combat techniques, but the gear that we use and the weapons that we choose are so very different. This is why fenciing has such a low rate of injury, even though it is a combat sport. continued next post

[GeneChing]

Focus and attention

The best way to keep from getting hurt in a fight is to avoid it. This is the backbone of almost every self-defense class and seminar.

The basic idea here is that if you don’t ever go walking down a dark alley at night, you can never get mugged in a dark alley at night. There are all kinds of techniques here to prevent becoming a victim of a crime. Think about parking your car under a light, not going into a parking deck alone late at night, making sure you have your keys ready when you get to your car so you’re not fumbling with them.

Something that goes hand in hand with all of that is being aware of your surroundings. This is a skill that fencing teaches pretty wonderfully, because in fencing we have to be so keyed into our surroundings. Focus is a transferable skill. When you’re focusing on your fencing, you’re teaching your brain how to focus in the future.

The essential thing here in terms of self-defense is that fencing teaches you to split your attention effectively. Listening to the ref and the coach and then also paying attention to your opponent and their constantly changing attacks and counter-attacks helps the brain deal with the cacophony of stimuli. If a fencer was to find themselves in a situation where they needed to use self-defense, either to avoid something happening or to face something that’s happening, that fencing training in focus and attention would help.

Footwork and agility

The footwork and agility that fencers work hard to hone in practice is potentially helpful in dangerous situations. Most dangerous situations that people are in require fast reflexes. It’s not only for self-defense: a crazy road situation can be such too. Fencers by nature train to improve their reflexes so that they can have faster reaction times. It’s part of the DNA of fencing.

Bruce Lee did take some techniques from fencing, particularly footwork and stance, when he developed his Jeet Kune Do style of martial arts. His style is meant to be used for self defense in the real world, not for sport. From that standpoint, we can assume that fencing does offer some foundational techniques that can help in a real world scenario.

The real world isn’t the movies

Speaking of Bruce Lee, let’s talk about fencing on film. Fencing in the movies, when we sometimes see superheroes pull out a foil or sabre and go toe-to-toe with an opponent in a life or death match is not accurate to real world self defense. It’s sad to realize that this is the case, but it doesn’t make fencing any less exciting.

We often see someone in a movie or a TV show pick up some long object, like a broom handle or a piece of pipe, and they use it as a sword. This looks really cool and it’s fun onscreen, but that isn’t what it would look like in real life.

Conditioning vs. expertise

The bottom line here is that the conditioning that fencing provides is definitely going to give a fencer some skill in a self-defense situation. Both mental conditioning and physical conditioning.

Improved awareness, agility, mental toughness, physical stamina, etc. won’t guarantee a win if someone is in a street fight, but they definitely contribute and offer some advantage. Something is better than nothing in this case.

What fencing does teach us is how to stay present in our bodies and how to move swiftly. While we don’t carry around swords to defend ourselves, we can at least use some of the skills that we have built in fencing to make some headway in a tough situation.

While fencing can offer some advantages in terms of physical and mental attributes that may be beneficial for self-defense, it is not a complete substitute for specialized self-defense training. Self-defense programs often include techniques for escaping grabs, dealing with multiple attackers, and using everyday objects as improvised weapons, which are not part of traditional fencing training.

In the case of Attilio Fini, his background in fencing definitely contributed to his ability to react quickly and disarm the attacker, but it’s essential to remember that each self-defense situation is unique, and success depends on a combination of skills, awareness, and decision-making. If someone is specifically interested in self-defense, it’s advisable to seek out dedicated self-defense training programs that address real-life threats and scenarios.

Photo by Flickr user roanokecollege

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Donna Jean Wilde, 58, set the record for the longest time in an abdominal plank position by a female. Wilde beat the record by planking for an impressive four hours, 30 minutes and 11 seconds. (Photo: Guinness Book of World Records)
By Christian Oldale
Alberta grandmother Donna Jean Wilde sets world planking record (https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2024/04/02/alberta-grandmother-donna-jean-wilde-sets-world-planking-record/)
Apr 2, 2024 | 4:47 PM

MAGRATH, AB – An Alberta woman has set a Guinness World Record for an impressive feat of fitness.

Donna Jean Wilde, 58, set the record for the longest time in an abdominal plank position by a female. Wilde beat the record by planking for an impressive four hours, 30 minutes and 11 seconds.

Wilde spoke on her journey to becoming the plank champion, which started with an injury 12 years ago.

From then on, Wilde said she kept pushing herself further and getting longer times on her planks, and it helped that she could multi-task while she did it.

“I just loved having that as part of my exercise routine, but I could also do my reading and things at the same time. I just kind of lost track of time as I read.”

Wilde’s family saw her progress and set up a family goal, and when she beat it, that’s when she began moving to push on the record.

When she was ready to attempt the world record plank, Wilde contacted the Guinness Book of World Records and set up the event in January of 2024.

The event was held in March in the theatre at Magrath High School, where Wilde was formerly a teacher, and where her son Ray now teaches. Wilde also spent time as a vice principal at the school. A judge was sent to watch over the attempt, and a film crew from Calgary was also on scene.

https://d2ksr9467jthww.cloudfront.net/20240402220444/c6d46bd90a98bebebbc7abbc2004599ee3b4e6b71b6eb624fa 99246562d975d4.jpg
(Photo: Guinness Book of World Records)
She said, “It was fun to have it at the theatre, because the students came in, the elementary teachers brought their classes in, we had rugs on the floor so they could plank on the floor.”

Wilde’s family, including her 12 grandchildren were all in attendance to cheer her on, which she said meant a lot to her.

Wilde also provided some advice for those who are looking to improve on their planking, or any other skills:


Wilde’s time of four hours, 30 minutes and 11 seconds beat the record set by fellow Canadian Dana Glowacka in 2019 by over 10 minutes.

Planking (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70844-Planking)
Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!! (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57037-Give-it-up-to-the-elderly!!!!!) At 58, Wilde is actually younger than me :eek:but she's a grandparent and I'm no where near that yet. ;)