am i to old

[Mimir]

Oh yeah, welcome to Martial Talk!

 

[Muwubu16858]

Take your time...Work on your technique, make it sharp, precise, and effective. If you work hard, rank will show for it later, but the main idea is to strive for unison of Body, Mind and Spirit in training.

 

[Manny]

Yes, I am old (41 in 2 weeks). When I started in TKD I was 16, all I wanted was to learn a MA to know how to defend myself, in the beggining the only thing I wanted to do was to learn and to improve technique, as the time pased by I love to train so obtaining my first degree black belt was natural.

I recall those years when all I want to do was to be as good as Marvelous Super Star Chuck Norris, he was my main role to emulate.

Well now I'm almost 41 and firsth degree black belt still, I quit TKD by almost 18 years and ... believe I'm to old to think in the 9th degree black belt, maybe I will die afther obtain such a high rank but..... I'am not thinking in obtaining such a high rank, I am still wanting to improve my technikes, improve my performance, improvining my healt, improving in the MA aspect of my TKD, tha's my positive way of thinking instead of wanting a higer rank.

Maybe I will get my second degree black belt and will be still improving and maybe will get a third degree black belt some day.. or not.. who knows?

Start yourself easy, you are too young and plenty of hormons, train hard and dilegenlty and see how upon time you will earn your colored belts till you get the black one and go on, that's simple my young frind.

Manny

 

[Deaf Smith]

Sub,

You might die in your sleep tonght. Or get killed in a car wreck tomorrow.

While it's good to plan ahead, I wouldn't plan that far.

Just take one day at a time. Learn at least a little bit each time you practice. Do that and in time you will see much more and understand what direction you want to go.

Cause one thing I can say is, priorities come and go, they change as you get older and for most of us it's "to old to soon, to wise to late."

And it's aways been like that.

Deaf

 

[IcemanSK]

Sub,

You might die in your sleep tonght. Or get killed in a car wreck tomorrow.

While it's good to plan ahead, I wouldn't plan that far.

Just take one day at a time. Learn at least a little bit each time you practice. Do that and in time you will see much more and understand what direction you want to go.

Cause one thing I can say is, priorities come and go, they change as you get older and for most of us it's "to old to soon, to wise to late."

And it's aways been like that.

Deaf

While I completely agree in principle with Deaf on this, I will say that it's never too early to start saving for retirement.....I'm just sayin'.

 

[Cirdan]

One piece of advice: choose your school for quality rater than how quick you can get the belts. There is often an inverse relationship betwen how fast you can get to dan rank and the quality of the school in question....
(15 months?? do the math and see how many hours are put in for each colored belt grading!)

Train steadily and progress will be yours. If you rush you might miss some important things along the path.

 

[Deaf Smith]

While I completely agree in principle with Deaf on this, I will say that it's never too early to start saving for retirement.....I'm just sayin'.

Just don't buy stocks.

Deaf

 

[terryl965]

Quality and time is the most important factor one has, never loose it.

 

[DMcHenry]

I started when I was too old too - when I was 18. I agree with all the other posters here, just start training and make it a life long journey, reaching each step, one at a time. It is all possible, but you have to start first.

In the past 33 years I've accomplished more than I ever thought I would. It was never my goal, but I just never quit.

18 is definitely NOT too late to start training.

Good luck,
Mac

 

[exile]

I started when I was 56. I'm 61 now. I'm testing for Shodan this autumn, but my ambition has nothing to do with belt rank level. All I want is this: if someone describes an attacking scenario to me—the physical build of the would-be assailant, the evironment in which the attack takes place and what the attacker does to initiate the attack—then I can visualize precisely and effortlessly how to respond with a set of moves imposing forced responses on that attacker which inexorably take him out the fight, like a forced mate in chess—and know that I was physically capable of implementing that CQ SD solution. If I can get to that point, I really couldn't care less what belt rank I wind up at. Focus on content, not trophies, and you'll never go wrong.

 

[Mimir]

I started when I was too old too - when I was 18. I agree with all the other posters here, just start training and make it a life long journey, reaching each step, one at a time. It is all possible, but you have to start first.

In the past 33 years I've accomplished more than I ever thought I would. It was never my goal, but I just never quit.

18 is definitely NOT too late to start training.

Good luck,
Mac

One of the things that Grandmaster Sell has always said is that a blackbelt is a white belt who never quit. And a Master is a blackbelt who never quit.

 

[Kwan Jang]

Exile,
Good luck on your first dan test under Allen Shirley. Back to the thread topic, for myself, I feel it's good to set your long term goals high, but it's not really about rank. I'll go up to 7th when my instructor tells me to and I plan to keep training as long as I'm breathing, but I'm far more concerned about learning, sharing and growing then how many stripes are on my belt.

 

[exile]

I'm far more concerned about learning, sharing and growing then how many stripes are on my belt.

And my sense is, the people who actually go furthest are the ones who look on the process of studying the MAs in just that way.

External success is sort of a by-product of doing things you really enjoy for their own sake at increasingly deep levels. I think it's a mistake to aim for it directly. It'll come when it comes, if you become good at something you really love.

 

[jim777]

I started at 44 I think I'll stop worrying about rank once I get to Shodan, but until them I will think about that a lot. I've got 2 years in, and with any luck only 2 1/2 more years or so to go until I can test for Shodan. (A bit worried about jumping spinning back kicks at 50, but still determined to do whatever it takes!) I think there is a bit of a feeling of accomplishment that comes at Shodan that allows you to relax a bit and spend more time looking at the why's to the techniques and not just the how's, that you often avoid to a degree while you consumed with focusing on the constant kyu rank upgrade cycle (as it were )
I'm looking forward to having the leisure to explore what I know at Shodan, and to assisting in the teaching of the white belts as well. I really am extremely lucky to have such ridiculously great instructors (including Kaicho Nakamura in Seido).

Shodan Day is going to be a very good day indeed, all physical pain aside :lol:

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Exile,
Good luck on your first dan test under Allen Shirley. Back to the thread topic, for myself, I feel it's good to set your long term goals high, but it's not really about rank. I'll go up to 7th when my instructor tells me to and I plan to keep training as long as I'm breathing, but I'm far more concerned about learning, sharing and growing then how many stripes are on my belt.

Well said! And do we even need stripes on our belt anyway?

Daniel

 

[TKDHermit]

Well said! And do we even need stripes on our belt anyway?

Daniel

For us[Singapore Taekwondo Federation ppl], it's optional. Generally the younger generation/s are the ones with rank stripes. The older generations like at master level don't have stripes generally. just their name on one end and club name/singapore taekwondo federation in chinese on the other.

When I get my 1st Dan in about a year and a couple months time, I'll probably only want to get my name embroidered on one end and empty on the other. Probably only when I reach 3rd or 4th Dan will I change belt with stripes, but if my black belt is a gift[usually it's just we buy ourselves, no ceremonies and such here] from a close friend[or girlfriend if I have one by then], then I'll not change it, if its plain I'll just send it for embroidery of my name and that's it.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

We have stripes on our belts, but that is how GM Kim does it. Each black belt that I have earned under his teaching (Ildan & Yidan Kumdo, Ildan Taekwondo) and any that I earn in the future I will treasure as a part of my MA history.

But personally, my name on one side and the school's name on the other will suffice. Its less costly and less ostentateous. The belt doesn't change color, so why replace it?

Daniel

 

[TKDHermit]

We have stripes on our belts, but that is how GM Kim does it. Each black belt that I have earned under his teaching (Ildan & Yidan Kumdo, Ildan Taekwondo) and any that I earn in the future I will treasure as a part of my MA history.

But personally, my name on one side and the school's name on the other will suffice. Its less costly and less ostentateous. The belt doesn't change color, so why replace it?

Daniel

Exactly, some of my clubmates who are yudanja change belts for every Dan rank because they don't know how to plan in advance. I mean even if they want to have rank stripes, why not choose to leave space for additional stripes later on -.- . And their belts are not just [name][stripe]. Theirs are like. FULL OF CHARACTERS [in chinese], World Taekwondo Federation + Singapore Taekwondo Federation on 1 end, Chinese name + rank stripe on the other. All characters in chinese, I'll bet those belts cost at least SGD$60 each. The embroideries alone cost $40+ $50+.

I choose not to put the STF name in Chinese because I don't represent that organization at all. If I enter local tournaments, I will be representing my own club. If I enter international tournaments, I will be representing the country, either way, not the Federation, so I choose to omit it [8 chinese characters, 1 is $3.] And there's no chinese name for my club so I'll just leave it blank, in case I change clubs in future anyway. Wouldn't make sense to have my name in chinese and club name in english.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Exactly, some of my clubmates who are yudanja change belts for every Dan rank because they don't know how to plan in advance. I mean even if they want to have rank stripes, why not choose to leave space for additional stripes later on -.- . And their belts are not just [name][stripe]. Theirs are like. FULL OF CHARACTERS [in chinese], World Taekwondo Federation + Singapore Taekwondo Federation on 1 end, Chinese name + rank stripe on the other. All characters in chinese, I'll bet those belts cost at least SGD$60 each. The embroideries alone cost $40+ $50+.

Ours are like that. I have three black belts, two first dan belts, one second dan. I can't wear the two first dan belts interchangeably, however, because one says Korean Traditional Kumdo and the school name in Korean on one side with my name in Korean on the other, while my other first dan belt says the same with World Taekwondo Federation replacing Korean Traditional Kumdo. Both have a single gold stripe, my second dan kumdo belt having two gold stripes.

I'd have been happy to save GM Kim the trouble of ordering the extra belt and just reused my first dan kumdo belt when I earned my first dan in taekwondo. Its the same school, after all.

If I ever open my own dojang/dojo, I'll simply stick with the student's name on one side and the school name on the other, no stripes needed.

Daniel

 

[Deaf Smith]

I started when I was 56. I'm 61 now.

And here I thought having started at 21 in Nacogodoches (SFA) I started late!

Well done Exile!

The only time it's to late guys is when your dead.

Deaf