If you could do it all over again...

[Lucas]

quit posting pictures of my wife online.

[bawang]

transgender mma...i coulda been the champ.

i can be your coach, super duper team adventur

[jimbob]

Even as a youngster, there were some things I saw that would make me think 'Is this really going to work?'. But sifu/sihing said it would so i would practice very hard.

I wish I'd had more faith in that little voice that raised the question marks when it did. I was very young though, so I didn't think I had any idea - and your teacher is just like your father who you don't question.

I would have liked to have learned grappling from the beginning too.

[YouKnowWho]

I would have liked to have learned grappling from the beginning too.

If you (general YOU) can look at the striking art training from the grappling art training point of view, your training path will be different.

In grappling art, you develop your skill from partner drills. You then test it through wrestling (This is the advantage of the grappling art. It's much safter to test it). At home, you use equipment (weight) training to enhance, and solo drills to polish your skill.

If you learn a pure striking art, your striking art teacher may not follow this path. He may ask you to spend 20 years to develop your "xxx engine". After you have developed a perfect "xxx engine", you will find out that you are too old to test it. For the rest of your life, you will have a perfect "xxx engine" but never been used.

On the other hand, if your start your wrestling skill testing on day one, you will have all your life to develop whatever the "xxx engine" that you want to have.

[jimbob]

If you (general YOU) can look at the striking art training from the grappling art training point of view, your training path will be different.

In grappling art, you develop your skill from partner drills. You then test it through wrestling (This is the advantage of the grappling art. It's much safter to test it). At home, you use equipment (weight) training to enhance, and solo drills to polish your skill.

Yes - I agree 100%.

[TaichiMantis]

If you could hit a reset button and start your training all over, what would you change?

I wish I could have started at 13 instead of 43...*sigh*...and now I'm 53.

[ShaolinDan]

Start younger goes for me too. Dabbled in MA at a young age, but never got serious until 25...

[-N-]

If you learn a pure striking art, your striking art teacher may not follow this path. He may ask you to spend 20 years to develop your "xxx engine". After you have developed a perfect "xxx engine", you will find out that you are too old to test it. For the rest of your life, you will have a perfect "xxx engine" but never been used.

If you want to learn to fight, you should realize before 20 years pass that you weren't getting that from your teacher.

What legit teacher takes that approach?

Sounds more like you are talking about some kind of "tai chi for health" school or some kind of "used to be martial arts a loooong time ago" school.

[ShaolinDan]

25 is a great age to start. Bones do not fully mature until the age of 25 and you have a good 20 years of training and development ahead of you. Use your head and do not do not take any chances that could get you permanently damaged. To start training as a child is not necessarily healthy for a young, growing body. The cartilage is malleable and a child could develop some unwanted structural anomalies. I never allowed a young person below the age of 15 into my training hall. By that time, they have enough structural development and emotional maturity to handle the brutality of training. Once they entered my training hall, I treated them as adults and they sparred adults. You are in a great place. I wish you all the best in your training career.
SKM

Thanks, but I beg to differ. My Shifu started at 9 and I'm never going to catch up with him. at 28 I missed about 6 months because of a hernia, at thirty I missed about 9 (but took up taiji) from plantar fasciitus...I'll never compete full contact now that I can't fight without shoes...I'm glad to be doing gongfu and it's better late than never, but still I'm sure I could have been much better if I'd started earlier.

[YouKnowWho]

I wish I could have started at 13 instead of 43...*sigh*...and now I'm 53.

It's a trade off. When I took my SC team to China. After we had tournament with the Beijin Phisical Education University team. We had a party afterward. In that party, my guys asked them how long do they train. The Beijing PE University students said that they trained 6 day a week and 6 hours a day. One of my guys said, "I wish I can have that much time to train". One Beijing PE University student said, "I wish I have money to travel like your guys have."

In that party, I still remember a young Chinese girl who spoke pretty good English. Later on she won twice in Olympic women water jumping gold metal.

[bawang]

I wish I could have started at 13 instead of 43...*sigh*...and now I'm 53.

take steroids

[YouKnowWho]

I just got the joke from a WC Chinese article.

When you are in your

- 20, you don't want to spar because you think that you will need more training time and you are not ready yet.
- 30 and 40, you also don't want to spar because you think that you are too old to spar.
- 50 and 60, you start to talk about "fight without fighting" and "Wude" for the rest of your life.

[SPJ]

I just got the joke from a WC Chinese article.

When you are in your

- 20, you don't want to spar because you think that you will need more training time and you are not ready yet.
- 30 and 40, you also don't want to spar because you think that you are too old to spar.
- 50 and 60, you start to talk about "fight without fighting" and "Wude" for the rest of your life.

Jean Claude wanted to compete in a ring still at 40+ YO.

Steven Seagal started to sing more once he hits 50.

Ba gua guys still doing daily walk well into 80s.

---

[annieb]

If you could hit a reset button and start your training all over, what would you change?

I be in my teens or 20's instead of my 40's and I wouldn't be afraid of looking stupid.