UnderGround Forum >> Serious Question for older Martial Artists -

I can empathize with you, OP. I am 41, and I am starting to wear down. I teach 3 times a week (Kajukenbo), and I am finding it harder and harder to keep pace with the young uns. Admittedly, I am not in the best shape I could be in. Whenever we spar, I am pretty much only looking to counter, whereas before I would set things up with a more aggressive offense....I am also more focused on my breathing now, which I guess is a good thing. My hips and knees also hurt after kicking pad sessions or judo randori. And my shoulders are trashed, too. I find that stretching on my own time outside of classes helps a little, and I have my kids walk on my back 2-3 times week. I figure it will be better to be a broken old man who participated in life than a spectator full of regrets.

imo, age does a few things, most of which can be nullified with the right behaviors. Primarily, you will require more recovery time in the form of sleep. In the general population you always hear people talking about how they need less sleep as they get older. Well for someone who's training it's the opposite. You will start actually needing that full 8 hours sleep and likely more.

Another thing is stiffness. This one just comes with the territory. I am always stiff (that's what she said).

One thing age brings that cannot be reversed is the compiling of injuries. If you're 24 and have been training since your teens, you might have blown out your MCL once...but when you're older you've blown that as well as your LCL 4 times each...on each leg. They never heal 100% and all these kinds of things pile up.

But alas, unless it's crippling, it's not worth worrying about unless you have a vagina.

So primarily it comes down to great diet and enough sleep. Also I always recommend training through injuries, even if you're only rolling at 10%...at least you're still warming up, stretching and breaking a sweat. It's always the guys that get hurt and take 2 months off, who then come back and immediately get re-injured in the first week back because they are so out of shape and rusty.

But yeah, if you are getting older, still partying, eating like shit, and not getting enough sleep, you will definitely start a rapid decline and just age like a mofo or just fall apart.

KneeToFaceKO - try and a vote up to op. Old man strength ftw!

...for me its more about the energy levels. i won't lie and say that my diet is good, becasue its not!! and that is something i really need to get a grip of.

Funny you should say that...as you get older, your energy levels are tied to diet. It's not so much that eating certain things will give you energy, it's that eating the wrong things will bog you down, tax your system, and rob you of energy.

In your youth, you can eat a double Whopper, a milkshake, a half pound of dirt, and chase it down with bourbon, and your body will magically process that shit and you'll abound with nonstop energy. As you get older, that particular magic goes away and you have to actually avoid the foods that steal your energy.

KneeToFaceKO - 

KneeToFaceKO - try and a vote up to op. Old man strength ftw!

TTT NOT TRY.....DAMN PHONE

Moke - 

...for me its more about the energy levels. i won't lie and say that my diet is good, becasue its not!! and that is something i really need to get a grip of.

 

Funny you should say that...as you get older, your energy levels are tied to diet. It's not so much that eating certain things will give you energy, it's that eating the wrong things will bog you down, tax your system, and rob you of energy.

In your youth, you can eat a double Whopper, a milkshake, a half pound of dirt, and chase it down with bourbon, and your body will magically process that shit and you'll abound with nonstop energy. As you get older, that particular magic goes away and you have to actually avoid the foods that steal your energy.

 

Frog-Jitsu -  You guys give me motivation :)

Mr Howard -
Strength Training- This was a big issue for me after I turned 50. I lost some strength, but my muscle endurance took a real beating. I had to completely change my strength training program and add in more lifting. Due to time constraints this ate into my training time, but I felt it was a necessary evil. If you are interested I can send you some of the routines. There was/is a guy on the Strength and Conditioning Forum named Taku who posted some great workouts. At your age this may not be an issue yet.

I'm in a holding pattern waiting for the urge for tai chi to kick in.