# Weight and age



## MaMaD (Aug 23, 2016)

*hello everyone. first of all, its nice to see a lot of people doing what u are doing (MA). i'am glad to found this community.

i have 2 question and i'll be thankful if u guys help me out.

1- iam 24 years old. i started wushu sanda (sanshou) this week and i have some doubt about my foresight, about what should i plan for. the thing is one year or 1.5 year later from now, most likely i'll go for duty and stuff for 21 month (maximum). so after that i'll be like 27 / 28 years old. i would like to progress and participate in competitions. provincial or national competitions or any other competitions that i be able to compete in. 

my question is: should i try super hard in this one year and see how much i can progress Or should i just kind if chill out, learn technique slowly and focus on three years from now?


2- my weight is 110 kg. not muscle   (idk why but i have weak arms and hands compared to my friends)
as regards i'am new to MA, should i lose weight Or just try to make my body more muscular and plan for heavy weight matches?

excuse my bad English

(i know its yakking but just to be clean, the reason that i started training is my interest in MA and i felt i need some physical activity. i did train boxing and wrestling when i was a lot younger but i was not interested in those two).*


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## Xue Sheng (Aug 23, 2016)

IMO, over training is the sure path to injury and then you can't train. Also 27/28 is not too old. I would train to the level the teacher/trainer is asking for the time you have. Go for 21 months and come back and train more. Train super hard and you could end up super hurt and not be able to train at all.


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## MaMaD (Aug 23, 2016)

Xue Sheng said:


> IMO, over training is the sure path to injury and then you can't train. Also 27/28 is not too old. I would train to the level the teacher/trainer is asking for the time you have. Go for 21 months and come back and train more. Train super hard and you could end up super hurt and not be able to train at all.



Good advise, thank you,  but the thing that i didn't understand is how over training cause injury? i mean how normal training have lower chance for being injured? i know body need to recover after exercise but i don't know how it will lead to injury.


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## Buka (Aug 24, 2016)

Welcome to MartialTalk, MaMaD. Hope you enjoy it.

Best advice I can give - go have fun, enjoy your training. Everything else usually takes care of itself in a fine way.


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## Midnight-shadow (Aug 24, 2016)

I'm with Buka on this: the key is to have fun while training. Some people on focus on their results in competitions and about pushing themselves as hard and fast as possible. These are the people that typically burn themselves out and quit first, as well as getting the most injuries from training too hard. Also, have you thought about which degree of Sanda to compete in? I don't know how things work where you are but in my area we have 2 kinds of Sanda competition: Full Contact and Semi Contact. Full contact is MMA style and allows you to hit as hard as you like, grapple and win by knock-outs and submissions. Semi-contact is a bit less intense in that you can only do strikes and take-downs, and you can be disqualified for using excessive force (i.e. if you knock your opponent out you will be disqualified).

Remember that while you are away on duty you will be training your body quite hard, so use the time before that to get fitter and stronger, but don't push yourself so much that you go away for your duty and collapse from injuries in your first week.


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## MaMaD (Aug 24, 2016)

*Thank you guys for respond. *



Midnight-shadow said:


> I'm with Buka on this: the key is to have fun while training. Some people on focus on their results in competitions and about pushing themselves as hard and fast as possible. These are the people that typically burn themselves out and quit first, as well as getting the most injuries from training too hard. Also, have you thought about which degree of Sanda to compete in? I don't know how things work where you are but in my area we have 2 kinds of Sanda competition: Full Contact and Semi Contact. Full contact is MMA style and allows you to hit as hard as you like, grapple and win by knock-outs and submissions. Semi-contact is a bit less intense in that you can only do strikes and take-downs, and you can be disqualified for using excessive force (i.e. if you knock your opponent out you will be disqualified).
> 
> Remember that while you are away on duty you will be training your body quite hard, so use the time before that to get fitter and stronger, but don't push yourself so much that you go away for your duty and collapse from injuries in your first week.



*i think its full contact. because there was a provincial competition last week. a fighter threw a kick and his opponent was not able to continue the match and the kicker guy won. idk if this mean its full contact. only thing i knew was that there is a pro style (allow strike with knee / no protective clothing) and an amateur style (no knee allowed and have protective clothing). most competition i saw in internet was amateur style.
in all sanshou competitions here we have to wear protective cloth and no knee but i'am not sure about full or semi contact.

Actually knee not allowed in any MA competition here because its dangerous and stuff. my couch said that when i asked him about pro style.*


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## Xue Sheng (Aug 24, 2016)

MaMaD said:


> Good advise, thank you,  but the thing that i didn't understand is how over training cause injury? i mean how normal training have lower chance for being injured? i know body need to recover after exercise but i don't know how it will lead to injury.



You said it, your body needs recovery time. Don't give it the recovery time it needs and it will let you know.


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## JR 137 (Aug 24, 2016)

Regarding overtraining and injury...

Any time you exercise (or even move), your body breaks down.  Muscles tear, bones break.  That's at a microscopic level though.  Your body heals itself and becomes stronger.  For instance, weightlifters tear up the muscles they're training.  The muscles repair themselves stronger than they were beforehand to prevent them from tearing again.  This is how we get stronger and increase muscle mass and bone density.

If someone does too much, there's too much tearing, causing a longer recovery time or worse, too much tearing.  If one doesn't rest adequately between training sessions, the body hasn't healed enough and the newly added stress to the body will cause injury far easier.

Everyone recovers/heals at a different rate, so there's no universal formula of how much to train that everyone fits into.  A better conditioned athlete will recover quicker than a deconditioned person.

Listen to your body.  Pushing through tightness and soreness is fine, within reason.  Pushing through actual pain isn't.  The more you work out, the better you'll know your body; how hard to push, when to push, and when to back off. 

Buka's post is right on.  Just enjoy training.  The short term and long term stuff will take care of itself.  Take your training seriously, but don't get caught up in how long you have and where you should be in your training by that point.


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## Midnight-shadow (Aug 24, 2016)

The biggest problem people have with training Martial Arts (especially any form of kick-boxing like Sanda) is over-stretching in an attempt to brute force the flexibility needed to perform the head-high kicks. Kicking someone in the head is one of the easiest ways to score points in Sanda if you are flexible enough, but a lot of people try and gain that flexibility too quickly. It can take years to be able to kick someone in the head, so take it slow. As JR 137 said, listen to your body. Discomfort during stretching is fine, but pain isn't. Learn the difference and don't push your body too hard.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Aug 24, 2016)

Buka said:


> go have fun,...


There are so much fun that you can get from MA training that you just can't get it from anywhere else. For example,

- Your opponent tries very hard to hit you but his fists and his legs cannot land on your body.
- You can use the same move to take your opponent down 7 times in a role.
- ...

You will smile in your dream for the next 3 night that even money can't buy this kind of fun for you.

Let's use weight lifting for example. If the maximum amount of weight that you can lift is x lb, you should work on x - 10 lb instead. This way, when you look at your weight, you will think about the "fun" that you had when you lift your x - 10 lb instead of think about the "pain" that you had when you lift x lb.

If you keep lifting

- x lb, you may quit it some day.
- x - 10 lb, you may keep it through your old age.


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## MaMaD (Aug 24, 2016)

Midnight-shadow said:


> The biggest problem people have with training Martial Arts (especially any form of kick-boxing like Sanda) is over-stretching in an attempt to brute force the flexibility needed to perform the head-high kicks. Kicking someone in the head is one of the easiest ways to score points in Sanda if you are flexible enough, but a lot of people try and gain that flexibility too quickly. It can take years to be able to kick someone in the head, so take it slow. As JR 137 said, listen to your body. Discomfort during stretching is fine, but pain isn't. Learn the difference and don't push your body too hard.



actually i'am worried now. we train 2hr, 3days a week and one of this days is specific for stretching and the coach push us very hard. probably i'll tell him about this. 

Thank you guys. i learned a lot in this 2 days from ppl in this forum.


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## MaMaD (Aug 24, 2016)

Kung Fu Wang said:


> There are so much fun that you can get from MA training that you just can't get it from anywhere else. For example,
> 
> - Your opponent tries very hard to hit you but his fists and his legs cannot land on your body.
> - You can use the same move to take your opponent down 7 times in a role.
> ...



dude, i cant understand English very well and i didn't got ur point in last paragraph


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## KenpoMaster805 (Aug 24, 2016)

HI MaMaD dont worry about your age your still young your only 24 years old and just follow what your instructor tells ya to do and its gonna be fun and exciting and Train at your own phase and just practice over and over until you get it and you will get the technique eventually dont be hard on your self and you said you be having duty and stuff for 21 months its 12 plus 9 months so its a year you be atleast 25 or26 on that time and you still can compete I started competing at Yellow Belt and ive been competing ever since its fun i like it dont be hard on your self dont train hard or you get injury just do it on your own phase


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## Kung Fu Wang (Aug 24, 2016)

MaMaD said:


> dude, i cant understand English very well and i didn't got ur point in last paragraph


If you

- "enjoy" your training, you will train through your old age.
- "don't" enjoy your training (such as to push yourself too hard), you will quit one day.


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## JR 137 (Aug 25, 2016)

MaMaD said:


> actually i'am worried now. we train 2hr, 3days a week and one of this days is specific for stretching and the coach push us very hard. probably i'll tell him about this.
> 
> Thank you guys. i learned a lot in this 2 days from ppl in this forum.



I wouldn't worry too much.  Your coach should have experience with beginners and know proper progression.  Stretching for 2 hours is fine for a beginner, so long as it's done properly (and you don't have medical contraindications).  If he/she is a rational person, the instructor won't expect nor demand you'll be able to keep up with the students who've been there longer.  It's no different than any other aspects of your training; he/she wouldn't expect you to keep up with the advanced students in sparring either.


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## Gerry Seymour (Aug 25, 2016)

Xue Sheng said:


> You said it, your body needs recovery time. Don't give it the recovery time it needs and it will let you know.


And the harder you train (at least early in your training) the longer the recovery time needed.


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## Gerry Seymour (Aug 25, 2016)

KenpoMaster805 said:


> HI MaMaD dont worry about your age your still young your only 24 years old and just follow what your instructor tells ya to do and its gonna be fun and exciting and Train at your own phase and just practice over and over until you get it and you will get the technique eventually dont be hard on your self and you said you be having duty and stuff for 21 months its 12 plus 9 months so its a year you be atleast 25 or26 on that time and you still can compete I started competing at Yellow Belt and ive been competing ever since its fun i like it dont be hard on your self dont train hard or you get injury just do it on your own phase


Wow. Punctuation, please.


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## KangTsai (Aug 25, 2016)

Xue Sheng said:


> IMO, over training is the sure path to injury and then you can't train. Also 27/28 is not too old. I would train to the level the teacher/trainer is asking for the time you have. Go for 21 months and come back and train more. Train super hard and you could end up super hurt and not be able to train at all.


I think focusing on technique and fitness comes WAY before competition.


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## MaMaD (Aug 25, 2016)

KenpoMaster805 said:


> HI MaMaD dont worry about your age your still young your only 24 years old and just follow what your instructor tells ya to do and its gonna be fun and exciting and Train at your own phase and just practice over and over until you get it and you will get the technique eventually dont be hard on your self and you said you be having duty and stuff for 21 months its 12 plus 9 months so its a year you be atleast 25 or26 on that time and you still can compete I started competing at Yellow Belt and ive been competing ever since its fun i like it dont be hard on your self dont train hard or you get injury just do it on your own phase



Thank you.
i mean, one or two year after now i'll go for 21mounth


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