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Thread: Master Health Condition

  1. #31
    Greetings,

    This thread, if fueled, will become the next "Is Shaolin Do for Real" thread. mig and Mighty B have set the bar of excellence for themselves. I hope they achieve it. I root for them and all others like them. That is what kung fu is about: set a goal and work towards attaining it.

    mickey
    Last edited by mickey; 07-21-2016 at 05:11 AM.

  2. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by mickey View Post
    Greetings,

    This thread, if fueled, will become the next "Is Shaolin Do for Real" thread. mig and Mighty B have set the bar of excellence for themselves. I hope they achieve it. I root for them and all others like them. That is what kung fu is about: set a goal and work towards attaining it.

    mickey
    I didn't set the bar, I'm just following the example that was set before me. The majority of people I call Sifu, Sensei or Coach are over the age of 60. All of them are in great shape for their ages. One of my favorite Judo coaches is pushing 80 and he still is a hands-on coach.

  3. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by MightyB View Post
    I didn't set the bar, I'm just following the example that was set before me. The majority of people I call Sifu, Sensei or Coach are over the age of 60. All of them are in great shape for their ages. One of my favorite Judo coaches is pushing 80 and he still is a hands-on coach.
    MightyB,

    I do agree with you, in that all of my own teachers were or are in great shape for their ages, or simply were in great shape (one of my Mantis teachers in Taiwan died in a motorcycle accident in his late 30s and thus never became old or out of shape).

    IMO, even if injured, if you can still move well enough, are determined and never lose your passion for KF, you can still be in great shape for your age, and even better shape than most younger people. The mind and the will are essential in KF. After my injury many years ago, I gradually gained 30 pounds; I never completely stopped practicing, but my mind created some excuses that I could no longer do certain things. Until 2 years ago when I got fed up with it. I made it about all that I CAN do. Needless to say, I've lost over 30 pounds back down to my peak weight of 160. Proper eating habits and more exercise again, like before. Some aspects of my KF have even improved now over my pre-injury level. As you get older and sometimes **** happens, the mind and the will become even more important. That to me is one of the true tests of dedication and love for KF.

    Perhaps some people who let themselves go simply lose their passion for KF (or whatever type of MA they practice or teach). Maybe they just get tired of it, if teaching MA is all they've done all of their lives.
    Last edited by Jimbo; 07-21-2016 at 07:45 AM.

  4. #34
    Quote Originally Posted by MightyB View Post
    I didn't set the bar, I'm just following the example that was set before me.
    You HAVE set the bar for yourself by making the CHOICE to follow the examples set before you. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I support it wholeheartedly. I never saw TCMA as a young man's art. I saw it as a lifelong pursuit. Being fit to do what you love to do is nothing to debate about. That being said, there are those who cannot pursue what they love and still try to derive some satisfaction from practice, even though they may no longer have that look. We could never know their story at first glance, unless it was glaringly obvious.

    mickey

  5. #35
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    As I mentioned in my first post in this thread, there have been many martial artists who were avid smokers. I know it was common in the past; it was common when I was in Taiwan. It wasn't uncommon to see CMA teachers teaching with a cigarette dangling from their mouths, or some students taking a break during class to take a smoke. In the '70s, Japan's elite JKA Shotokan karate team were all heavy smokers. A very high percentage of the old-school KF movie people, including Jackie Chan, smoked (though I heard that JC eventually quit). Even in the 1960s American sport karate scene, it was common for competitors to fight a match, go out and smoke, then come back in. It was probably also normal in the European MA scene as well.

    Smoking is probably still common among MAists/masters, especially in Asian countries. It seems counterintuitive that often those who teach MA, qigong and other forms of exercise, at least partially (and often primarily) to promote health and physical fitness, and who train their bodies and minds for MA mastery, would so readily damage themselves (and others through secondhand smoke) by partaking in smoking. But until fairly recent decades, in China and in some other countries, smoking was believed to be good for you. There was little to no awareness or concern about its harmful effects.
    Last edited by Jimbo; 07-23-2016 at 07:26 AM.

  6. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by mickey View Post
    Greetings,

    This thread, if fueled, will become the next "Is Shaolin Do for Real" thread. mig and Mighty B have set the bar of excellence for themselves. I hope they achieve it. I root for them and all others like them. That is what kung fu is about: set a goal and work towards attaining it.

    mickey
    Funny how everybody interpreted a simple question about Masters in good healthy conditions as they advance in age, meaning past 50 or 60s. No, it is not shao lin dao it is just a simple question. Most of the responses emphasized about fighting, like to be a Master you need to fight. In that case any street fighter in several generations could be a master too. The point here is that many claim as Masters in TCMA and I don't understand why they end in bad shape. I understand genetics or whatever other reason but don't you learn better that you need to care of yourself? How come some good masters who lived longer were involved in acupuncture or bone setting or some sort of traditional medicine? Many masters don't even call themselves, sifu or shifu, they are only practitioners and they are indeed, Masters.

  7. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by mig View Post
    Funny how everybody interpreted a simple question about Masters in good healthy conditions as they advance in age, meaning past 50 or 60s. No, it is not shao lin dao it is just a simple question. Most of the responses emphasized about fighting, like to be a Master you need to fight. In that case any street fighter in several generations could be a master too. The point here is that many claim as Masters in TCMA and I don't understand why they end in bad shape. I understand genetics or whatever other reason but don't you learn better that you need to care of yourself? How come some good masters who lived longer were involved in acupuncture or bone setting or some sort of traditional medicine? Many masters don't even call themselves, sifu or shifu, they are only practitioners and they are indeed, Masters.
    As we are discussing MARTIAL arts, so it only seems natural that fighting (or sparring) is brought into it. Nobody is saying that a master has to have been a professional fighter, or that he has to fight all the time into old age. At some point in a MAist's training, at least during youth into young adulthood in a lifelong practitioner, testing one's self, i.e., sparring against many different types of uncooperative opponents, does matter, if one's art is designed and taught as a fighting method, and they are going to teach it as such. I get the whole thing about good boxing trainers who never fought, etc., but that is different from one who is supposed to be a CMA 'master' (IMO). Otherwise they are a coach.

    As to why some TCMA masters are out of shape, you've already gotten some valid answers to your question as to why, outside of genetics, illness, injury, etc., but apparently not the answers you were looking for.
    Last edited by Jimbo; 07-25-2016 at 03:58 PM.

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