am i to old

[exile]

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

Dead right, DS.

It may be a cliché, but if it is, it's only because it's true: the MAs, if you pursue them devotedly, can really take years off your chronological age. A middle-aged or post-middle aged practitioner will become far more limber, more agile, and—this is crucial!—much better balanced than they were before they started. Balance is a complex mind/body capability which normally starts declining in most adults' early forties, and begins to drop off the edge of the world after 50 or thereabouts. And that's when things get rough—all those falls and broken hips, eh? But after half a decade of TKD, I have better balance than I ever did, even when I was a ski-racer in my 20s.

We have to get away from this whole idea that there's only so wide a window during which you can do certain things. You just need to mobilize the will and desire to do them. That's really the main obstacle, for most of us, I think. It's not that we're 'old', but rather that we're... tired, and often don't have the heart to make the effort.

 

[terryl965]

It is funny about rank I stayed a 3rd for 21 years and the only reason I went to 4th was my GM ask me too so I could get KKW certificates since he is around 78 now. If not for that I would still be a 3rd and still training, the stripe means nothing to me and if you know my GM he does not even have a stripe on his belt and he does not care about them. Too many people put to much into them anyway. Lets go train and have fun.

 

[Deaf Smith]

It is funny about rank I stayed a 3rd for 21 years and the only reason I went to 4th was my GM ask me too so I could get KKW certificates since he is around 78 now. If not for that I would still be a 3rd and still training, the stripe means nothing to me and if you know my GM he does not even have a stripe on his belt and he does not care about them. Too many people put to much into them anyway. Lets go train and have fun.

Terry,

That's what happened to me. I had the 5th dan waved in front of my nose and sure enough, my ego just could not resist.

Yea they put way to much into them. I love to work out and just have fun with the others, white belt on up. Nothing funner than to run the class into the ground along with me as we kick and punch like mad.

And exile,

It has DEFINATLY taken years off me. In a little while I'll hit 54 (very little while!!) and I'm more fit than any of the guys where I work, reguardless of age.

Deaf

 

[terryl965]

Terry,

That's what happened to me. I had the 5th dan waved in front of my nose and sure enough, my ego just could not resist.

Yea they put way to much into them. I love to work out and just have fun with the others, white belt on up. Nothing funner than to run the class into the ground along with me as we kick and punch like mad.

And exile,

It has DEFINATLY taken years off me. In a little while I'll hit 54 (very little while!!) and I'm more fit than any of the guys where I work, reguardless of age.

Deaf

I agree completely

 

[Lynne]

Our Grandmaster is 57 and was just promoted to 9th Dan (Tang Soo Do) by Grandmaster Stumpf. However, GM received his cho dan in a year while stationed in Korea. His contributions to Tang Soo Do have been immense. I imagine 57 is rather young to receive 9th Dan. Isn't 9th Dan an unusual rank anyway?

Gee...I'll be ecstatic if I can complete my next board requirement for 3rd gup in November. Doesn't take much to make me happy.

I do have my eye on Cho Dan because I want to teach. I'm not sure where MA will take me after Cho Dan.

 

[TKDHermit]

lol i've been teaching since 8th geup. more of helping out. but yea -.- it's practically teaching them [my own grade] right from the start - duno wher all the other yudanja went. my senior [qualified coach, but not the head coach] asked me to teach coz i was the oldest among the others who were the same grade as me there [ the others are really just kids -.-] and because i knew my forms [eh. i learn in advance frm videos online coz i know i cant count on the other ppl there to teach. they can hardly handle themselves. only a few can]. going for my 4th geup next sunday. i wudnt wanna teach a whole class though. a handful of students can already be a handful [>_>].

anyway on topic, i completed 10th n 9th geup at age 10. after which i think my flame died out, so i stopped, only came back at age of 17, last year, at 8th geup. I was wondering if it as too late for me to start back in order to become a national level player. But i don't care. All i've to do is keep training, if I can't keep up with the speed, I'll try some other strategy on the arena that will allow me to land hits even if I'm not of quality speed. Not planning to compete in sparring tournaments until 3 years later[ 2010 to 2012 september ill be serving the army, compulsory for all males in singapore, ill be using that chance to condition my body as well, hopefully ill be able to attend training on sundays when im booked out]. So yea it's not too late.

 

[granfire]

Our Grandmaster is 57 and was just promoted to 9th Dan (Tang Soo Do) by Grandmaster Stumpf. However, GM received his cho dan in a year while stationed in Korea. His contributions to Tang Soo Do have been immense. I imagine 57 is rather young to receive 9th Dan. Isn't 9th Dan an unusual rank anyway?

Gee...I'll be ecstatic if I can complete my next board requirement for 3rd gup in November. Doesn't take much to make me happy.

I do have my eye on Cho Dan because I want to teach. I'm not sure where MA will take me after Cho Dan.

I don't think there are a lot of them around.

 

[Deaf Smith]

and if you know my GM he does not even have a stripe on his belt and he does not care about them.

Now that's a concept! I tried that but my GM asked me if my new belt was not to my likeing (hint hint....) so I started wearing the 5 striper in class.

When I workout outside class I wear gym clothes and martial arts shoes. No belt, no uniform, no rank.

Deaf

 

[DMcHenry]

It's pretty normal in TSD for only 1-3 dans to have stripes, and my HKD instructor and most of the dans I deal with I can't think of any of them who normally wear a belt with stripes on them.

I myself have never worn a belt with rank stripes, not including what we use as a 'master' blet that has a red strip through the length of the belt.

I have given many of my students an option of rank stripes or not - given a choice they opt for the stripes.

I have met a few who will have rank stripes on both sides of their belt, which I find interesting. For example, a 3rd dan having 3 stripes on each end of his belt, to me looking like 6 stripes total. To each his own.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I have given many of my students an option of rank stripes or not - given a choice they opt for the stripes.

I wish that I had had that option. The certificate and card is fine; I don't need a fancy new belt with each advancement. It just takes up space. My name on one end and the schools name on the other is perfectly appropriate. The students and staff all know what rank you are, and if they don't, your technique and maturity will show without the need for stripes.

Daniel

 

[phatbway]

Started TKD @ 47, now Blue belt..any questions?