OK, maybe not "old" but is anyone out there 30 or over? I'm 32 and constantly spar with 17 through 25 year olds (all in much better shape than me). Their speed and endurance is humbling, to say the least. I have to remind myself that they're all highschool track stars or are currently ranked in the top 5 by NASKA. If I trained harder I would be more of a match for them. Right now it almost feels like they're humoring me a bit. Anyone else out there find themselves "behind the curve" when sparring with the younger guys? Jon
I'm even more ancient than Kwaj and I find myself "behind the curve" just walking into the dojo. If any very young people who haven't started training yet are reading this, don't wait until you're my age to start!
i'm 16. still young come on, 30's isn't old. Shamrock and Couture are both 41, and they could beat my ass all over the cage
It's good to train with people who have more energy than you do. Well, at the time it isn't but you know it's good for you . 33 (34 next week ) and better, faster, stronger than any time before. Just can't recover from alcohol quite like I used to. Rgds, David
Glad to hear I'm not the only one. Yes, some of the pros have 8-10 years on me. But they're pros and get paid to train and compete. I get paid to develop software. I'm into MA because I'm trying to improve myself as a person and martial artist. Although, I do find myself saying "Wonder if I could take him..." when walking down the street. Anyway, more endurance training would help me a lot. With endurance I think my speed would improve. We usually spar for 3 two minute sessions and then take a 60 second breather. At the end of the first set I'm usually a gonner. The upside is that I'm not really afraid of getting hurt anymore and the young guys still are. A little intimidation seems to back them off a bit. Jon
The younger ones have more energy but can't usually manage it well... maybe it's just the way I do it, but I do better against them than against another guy closer to my age who is patient like me. the more energy they put into it the sooner my opening will come. I'm 39 BTW.
Hanging on to the number twenty! I'm 42 soon to be 43 and I do very well sparring younger people. I still look at like being twenty!! the difference is I need around twenty minutes of streching, another twenty minutes of warm-ups and when I'm finished about twenty ice bags!!! Another difference I've noticed is when I was twenty I only needed around twenty hours to heal a sprain. Now it takes around Twenty Days!!! I plan on holding on to twenty as long as I can!!!
Any old guys out there there? I'm 51..Been training on and off since the early 80's. No I don't have the speed or indurance of the younger people. But unlike alot of them I can take a hit or 2 and if they slip up and I get inside the fight ends..Don't fight harder fight smarter...
As a freestyle instructor I relly on being fast. So at 40 I've moved over to teaching kickboxing instead and left the energetic stuff to my 17 year old daughter i'd rather move slow like the sound of thunder and enjoy myself than move like lightning, because as we know lightning only lasts for a split second However thunder keeps rumbling on.
Well, for me it is a matter of conditioning I believe. I've not been to the dojo very regularly and my home workouts have slacked off a bit as well. I've found an affiliated school that practices the "old school" style of American karate that I'm used to, more western-boxing mentality and less dancing around in a side stance. I've noticed that the older (and very well respected) 4th degree+ black belts fight in a more forward stance and don't waste energy. So I guess I'm in good company if they spar the way I think I should be sparring. Anyway, thanks for being brave enough to chime in.
Bammx2, Funny, I almost went into the Marines after highschool. I was 5'11" and 145lbs at the time - they would've kicked my butt. I regret it now because I would've been in Kuwait/Iraq during our first visit w/ Saddam. If circumstances change for the worse in the next couple of years I'm going to chuck the career and go Ranger. Jon
If I would have stayed in the first time..... I would be retiring next year! IF...and I mean IF...I re-enlist, My drills are gonna be old enough to be my kids! But I did have one friend who made Rangers at 40! Hooaa!
Hi there. I see that you are studying Karate and Kenpo. Karate is very foreign to me, I am a beginner in Kung Fu, but Kenpo has some princliples in common although as I understand it begins with a focus on Karate or a karate-like subset of styles and techniques. There are many kung-fu martial arts which place an emphasis on getting the opponent to waste energy on futile strikes against a fluid opponent. With this approach, the attacking opponent needs more strength and stamina than you do. At the time that you take advantage of your opponents overcommitted strike or lack of balance or position, to perform a strategic counterattack, you should be benefitting from the exhaustion of your opponent, however slight. I think it is valuable to spar in a linear and stamina intensive style such as Karate in order to condition your body for what that requires, bearing in mind that when it comes time to use the skills in real life it might be following emotional upset or a frenzied sprint. You should spar while pretending that your opponent is faster and stronger than you, and possibly deranged or drugged, armed, or about to be joined by a group of attackers. Clinch and groundwork intensive sparring sessions shoud be punctuated by sessions where going to ground or any entanglement (a wrist grab which lasts over a second, for example) are studiously avoided so that when faced with multiple attackers, the student has committed to reflex some alternative methods which will prevent them from being prone to their opponents allies. But I would recommend that you also spend time sparring using methods that require a minimum of stamina. Pretend that you are sick and tire far more easily, and develop the skill of at least not getting hit or entangled with your opponents, even if they are so skilled that it would require a more realistic expenditure of effort to effectively bypass their guard.