jdinca
Master Black Belt
Hi, Stryder! Welcome to MT. This is actually my first post in about 9 months.
Where exactly are you studying Bok Fu? Are you in Castro Valley? I study Bok Fu Do under Grand Master Richard Lee in Alamo.
Let me give you my perspective, having not started my ma career until the ripe young age of 37. I was (and still am, to a certain point) envious of those who have not yet suffered the ravages of life (youth being wasted on the young, imo:boing2
. I will say that at 43, I'm in the best shape of my life with the most flexibility. Can I kick to the head? Yep, depending. Is it something I plan on doing if ever attacked? Dear god, I hope not, I would like to survive the encounter. When I was young, I could do a lot of things that I can no longer do. Instead of being disgruntled, I made the choice to excel at the things I can do. Getting my foot much above the waist is not something I excel at, but moving smoothly and fluidly is something I can do fairly well. I can't do a back flip, or any of those other silly things the young and healthy like to show off doing but I am fairly quick and am somewhat pleased with my ability to employ the "soft hand concept". No matter how hard we work out, we will start to lose certain abilities as the body ages. I guess the choice is whether to focus on regaining the abilities of our youth, or trying to hold off the ravages of age while focusing on perfecting those things that an ageing body can still do. The kick may still no longer go to the head but how is the overall quality of the kick compared to those who can kick to the head? Personally, I'd rather excel technically, and bring the attacker's head down to my belt level where I will happily show him just how good my belt high kick is.
Where exactly are you studying Bok Fu? Are you in Castro Valley? I study Bok Fu Do under Grand Master Richard Lee in Alamo.
Let me give you my perspective, having not started my ma career until the ripe young age of 37. I was (and still am, to a certain point) envious of those who have not yet suffered the ravages of life (youth being wasted on the young, imo:boing2
. I will say that at 43, I'm in the best shape of my life with the most flexibility. Can I kick to the head? Yep, depending. Is it something I plan on doing if ever attacked? Dear god, I hope not, I would like to survive the encounter. When I was young, I could do a lot of things that I can no longer do. Instead of being disgruntled, I made the choice to excel at the things I can do. Getting my foot much above the waist is not something I excel at, but moving smoothly and fluidly is something I can do fairly well. I can't do a back flip, or any of those other silly things the young and healthy like to show off doing but I am fairly quick and am somewhat pleased with my ability to employ the "soft hand concept". No matter how hard we work out, we will start to lose certain abilities as the body ages. I guess the choice is whether to focus on regaining the abilities of our youth, or trying to hold off the ravages of age while focusing on perfecting those things that an ageing body can still do. The kick may still no longer go to the head but how is the overall quality of the kick compared to those who can kick to the head? Personally, I'd rather excel technically, and bring the attacker's head down to my belt level where I will happily show him just how good my belt high kick is. 
