Registered User
It's so funny that you guys think that you are old enough. I would love to be in your situation if possible.Originally Posted by ginosifu
I have just received my medicare card this year. I train 3 to 4 hours daily and 5 days a week. I have tried to train 6 days a week but soon find out I need 2 days rest. I have divided my training in 3 parts:
- running, sit up, push up, stretching.
- weight training.
- combat skill training.
I still love to spar/wrestle 15 rounds if I can find partner.
Last edited by YouKnowWho; 12-13-2011 at 03:57 PM.
Modified Martial Artist
Oops, too late.
Good thing I'm a CSCS, I can get away with staying in shape because it's my job.
Richard A. Tolson
This past summer was my 43rd year practicing MA. Two screwed up discs (L4 & L5) with arthritis in my spine. Bad left knee and ankle from constant injuries. Two concussions (auto accident and thrown on my head in class).
I train everyday and teach two classes per week. Forms, Bag work, pads, sparring and weapons sparring in class. Forms and treadmill/walking in park for cardio between classes.
Had to give up rock-climbing and rappelling in my late 40s.Still camp and kayak in the Summer.
Old and broken, but still going at 53. No sign of stopping in sight!
Richard A. Tolson
https://www.patreon.com/mantismastersacademy
There are two types of Chinese martial artists. Those who can fight and those who should be teaching dance or yoga!
53 years of training, 43 years of teaching and still aiming for perfection!
Recovering Forms Junkie! Even my twelve step program has four roads!
Registered User
I have been teaching kung fu since about 1994 and over the years I have lost many good fighters to "Snatch" or "The Beaver". When the possy is good, guys just eventually fade with lame excuses and then disappear altogether.
I was lucky, my wife married me knowing that I teach kung fu and that is how I was going to make money for her.
For those that are on a specific goal to fight / WIN FIGHTS etc etc., Women should be out of the picture or someone you have been married to for a coupke of years. Once you are married, it does not matter so much. If you have been married for a while, then your wife will be glad to get you out of the house and out of her hair for a while.
ginosifu
Registered User
It seems that many of us have something injured. Is this common? Do all athletes end up with Knee / Spine / Shoulder injuries etc etc? I know my teachers in similar situations as me.
John Ervin - Torn Rotator Cuff and bad hip
Richard Tolson - Bad Back and Knee
How about your teacher's? Do they have the same injuies as us. What about the generation before us? Have you heard anything about them, Are they getting hip and knee replacements now?
ginosifu
Registered User
I lost my first kung fu teacher to marriage/graduate school. Fortunately his shifu took over, in order to prevent his having 'kung fu orphans.' So, it worked out for the best for me, but that was very lucky. Still hoping my first shifu will return to the family one day, he might not have been a kung fu master, but he was a very good teacher.
Registered User
My teacher still moves very well (I should say exceedingly well), but in the past he has had a serious back injury as well as numerous other less serious injuries. (He's 42...shhh, that's a secret.) His teacher is probably in his mid sixties now...I don't know what injuries he's had, but I'm sure they are many...he moves very well also, though certainly his age is showing...
I don't think these kinds of injuries are limited to martial artists or athletes...basically everyone I know in middle age has some kind of nagging health issues--I'm afraid it's just the nature of being an organism. The main thing is not to stop training when injured, modify, but keep training.
Last edited by ShaolinDan; 12-13-2011 at 08:08 PM.
Registered User
The will to live.
Registered User
I am closer to 70 than I am to 60, and age does take away a lot of your prowess. I do not train, and have not trained in many years. To me training is simply sharpening your martial skills, and I think mine is about as good as they will ever be. I do actually work out and do a lot of walking to keep fit at my age. I am in fair shape as I stand, and am still trying to reduce my overall weight. I have a total gym and a total workout, and I do a great deal of walking.
I have no self injuries from training. Never been injured during a training session. It was planned that way. I have suffered crushed and broken hands in fights, shot more than once, stabbed more than once, struck with blunt objects on several occasions, and generally beaten up pretty good in fights. I am retired now, and do nothing that could lead to an altercation. The secret to longivity is to look both ways before crossing the road and never buy more life insurance that it will take to bury you.
Jackie Lee
Registered User
Why do husbands usually die earlier than their wives?
Because they want to.
Itinerant practitioner
I'm 47 and the last conflict I was in was 2 weeks ago.
I verbally de-escalated the situation and everyone went home.
I practice something every day, no matter what.
I don't compete.
I don't live a risky lifestyle.
I'm ok with hard training and even sparring when it's doable.
Maybe I have a few more years to go before i make the switch to exclusively teaching/qigong and healthful focus, but I still like to play a little and I don't mind stepping up when someone is being an asshat to someone else.
I guess that oat never got let go...
Kung Fu is good for you.
Glorified TCMAist
54, and more injuries than I have the time to list.
When I do shuai-Jiao, even though we're easy on each other, it would take three days and alot of naproxen before I was normal again.
My sparring is limited, in SPM, we go at it, but we have a lot of control, so the dings are less common. I hate to admit it, but I'm getting the itch to enter in some point fighting again, just for s&g's. I wanna have some fun.
I am also doing more rolling, which although I can't spin out as fast as I could in my younger days, and I don't throw myself into stuff like flying armbars, it's still fun.
My flexibility has improved recently, as I started an "Tao Yoga" class in my school. It also made my back and sciatica issues stop.
I did notice something disturbing; I need to work harder to maintain my muscle mass and keep my bodyfat down. That blows. When I take time off, I lose strength and get soft (duh..yeah, but it seems to affect me more) So I need to stick to my schedule and make resistance and cardio part of my normal routine, for life.
"My Gung-Fu may not be Your Gung-Fu.
Gwok-Si, Gwok-Faht"
"I will not be part of the generation
that killed Kung-Fu."
....step.
Itinerant practitioner
yep..age brings all sorts of crappy gifts for the body.
-longer recovery time from training
-longer healing time from injury
-Body fat increase due to slowing metabolism
That last one can be handled by reducing caloric intake but keeping it in thirds or with a little more protein for muscle repair. That's how I keep my body fat down as opposed to longer sessions on the bag or tready.
I just got into better eating habits as far as caloric intake went without changing teh content of diet too much.
big changes on the body shock the crap out of it too, so I wouldn't advise anyone to quickly turn over a new leaf in this area. slow and steady wins here.
Kung Fu is good for you.
Moderator
Hmmm I must of married the wrong woman...........mine made be cranky and aggressive right up until the divorce.........now I am feeling more content and peaceful
Although, having my kids live with me as a single parent is bringing me back to being cranky again................maybe it's the circle of life
Resigned
42, soon to be 43; started training MA at 15, straight through until I was 27, incl TKD, JJJ, FMA and TCMA (CLF, Lama, bagua); after a crisis of identity / revelation at 27, forsook the martial stuff to focus on the health bit (taiji / qigong); got married at 31; went from less active to inactive, including a move from NYC to LI, which meant no more walking and lots of driving; had a kid at 36, and went to largely sedentary except for work (as a pediatric PT working in schools) and bouncing Jr. on my arm, being the PCG, as my wife was finishing her residency; 30+ lbs later, I finally started up again at 39 doing BJJ and running 2-3x / wk; lost 25 lbs.; I then started getting some Rt. piriformis syndrome stuff that devolved into a full-blown L5/S1 HNP, incl. textbook "disc" signs (the laughter emanating from my car as I read the MRI in the parking lot was erie, so I am told); one hemi-laminotomy / microdiscectomy later, and awash in a wave or irony (being a PT and all), I basically had to start from scratch; 18 mos. later, I was still getting a lot of symptoms in the AM, mostly in Lt. SIJ and hip (altho not discal, that was gone for good after surgery day 1, and then took about 4-6 mos. for things to totaly settle down in general); finally this summer I started working w a semi-decent PT, which lasted about 6 wks. until she hit the wall and couldn't get any where; then had my wife treat me and started doing one of her yoga routines for a while; added in sum of my own stuff as well, and that helped; now I'm more back on track - been doing Pilates for ~2 mos., started 1x / wk., now up to 3x; still get the AM stiffness in the Lt. SIJ, but am able to manage it effectively w a variety of stretches / releases, depending on the day; still hav a lot of residual inhibition of Rt. core stabilizers (multifidi) that is starting to resolve; will be planning on Cross Fit come the summer; hope to get back to BJJ mayb nxt fall; just have to go real slow -it's been a mixed bag getting to where I am now, lol...
oh, also opening up my own practice (finally) April 1st (yes, I know...) - getting out of the school based gig (which was killing my brain and soul) and back to my manual therapy roots - so I have a moral imperative to get myself back up to shape in order to be able to model for pt's what I am talking about;
in a strange kind of way, I am glad I had the surgery - I have an infinitely better understanding of what it's like to be a pt. now, and ultimately, this will make me better able to get where pt's I treat are at; lemonade...
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