How did we get so old???

[bill miller]

Could I get in the ring with my 25-year old self and hold my own? Yes, if I could get around the rules.

There is a wonderful technique for this! Look over to your opponents corner, bug your eyes out in wonder and say,"Look! it's Lady GaGa!!", or, you can just run! RUN AWAY!!, ala Monty Python.

 

[bill miller]

In my case, I started training at age 46. I didn't have any illusions about being young in the martial arts to begin with. I was quite fat as well. However, by the time I hit my early 50s, I was feeling much better. I was never going to be competitive with those younger than me, but my body was doing what I asked of it.

Now I'm in my 60s. Things are just flat wearing out. My knees are full of arthritis. I have a high pain threshold, they don't hurt (doctor says they should), but they don't do what I tell them always either. My right shoulder is coming undone, punching air sometimes makes it pop out. My diabetes-caused neuropathy is making me walk funny, as my gait is messed up. I'm either foot-slapping or toe-dragging as I walk sometimes, and walking more than a block is murder.

My heart is angry with me, and afib is no joke. Standing up can make me feel like passing out. Doctor says it won't get better - terrific.

Still, I'll keep training somehow. Maybe it's time to start writing.

Bill, I understand. I also have afib, but is under control with meds, and the rest of my 72 year old body creaks and moans as well. You might want to consider finding a Tai Chi class, and doing a bit of cross training. It always helped me, and let me keep training in my KDK system well past my prime. Good luck, brother, and keep the faith.

 

[bill miller]

I'm the Designated Scapegoat now?

No, Dog. I just looked out back and the goat is still there!

 

[isshinryuronin]

It's easy to figure out what caused mine. Ultimately, it's chemo. I was on cisplatin for 9 months, which is known to cause neuropathies. I'm off that, but the stuff I am on now (massive doses of Lanreotide-LAR) suppresses insulin production. So diabetes. Which adds to the neuropathies. Oddles of fun. But the statistics say I should have died 6 years ago. And I'm not only still alive, I'm still working full time. Neuopathy sucks, but it's a fair trade.

Life throws a lot of punches. Some we can slip, evade, or block, but plenty get thru. Being strong enough to take the hit, or knowing how to roll with the punch let's us stay in the fight. Eventually we all lose, but at least we can beat the point spread and still score a win. (My 2022 New Year resolution is to use fewer metaphors, but like cutting back on donuts, I doubt I'll keep it.)

Happy New Year to all (especially us old guys who face challenges yet somehow keep going).

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Bill, I understand. I also have afib, but is under control with meds, and the rest of my 72 year old body creaks and moans as well. You might want to consider finding a Tai Chi class, and doing a bit of cross training. It always helped me, and let me keep training in my KDK system well past my prime. Good luck, brother, and keep the faith.

I would like to. No Tai Chi near me, unfortunately.

 

[Oily Dragon]

I would like to. No Tai Chi near me, unfortunately.

Oh ****.

See, I can never keep up. I thought I made this thread for @bill miller.

It was meant for @Bill Mattocks (but credit to @JowGaWolf)

You can fast forward to the end of the thread, there are great seated exercises there for neuropathy patients. But they work for anyone really, so I guess I made the thread for all of you.

Shaolinquan Qigong for Health and Fitness

I want to share with you one of the best documentaries I have ever witnessed, because it ties together a lot of different themes that should appeal to everyone here. This is a real Shaolin fighting monk's training, captured on film a couple years ago. What I take away from watching this...

www.martialtalk.com

 

[JowGaWolf]

@Bill Mattocks made a comment in another thread about age catching up. It got me thinking. How the heck did I get so old? It just doesn't seem possible. In my mind, nobody ages.

View attachment 27834

This is Izzy (L) and Paddy (R), demonstrating a partner stretch for one of my books. They'd been training for a year or so when this was taken. In my mind, this is still them. But in reality, they are both black belts and college students. Izzy is finishing her Freshman year and Paddy her Junior. Amazing young women. But how did they grow up? And when did I get so old?

I don't get old. I just get worn lol like a comfortable leather jacket that no longer feels like card board. lol

 

[JowGaWolf]

My heart is angry with me, and afib is no joke. Standing up can make me feel like passing out. Doctor says it won't get better - terrific.

Not old just worn. If you think of how long the heart beats, the lungs work, the joints work, and the organs work.. things just wear down like any mechanical part. But if you could repair the tissue damage then you wouldn't feel worn and you wouldn't look old.

Not old just worn.

 

[Steve]

Not old just worn. If you think of how long the heart beats, the lungs work, the joints work, and the organs work.. things just wear down like any mechanical part. But if you could repair the tissue damage then you wouldn't feel worn and you wouldn't look old.

Not old just worn.

Broken in.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Broken in.

ha ha ha. that too. Broken in sounds like being married lol.

Before marriage

After marriage.
Remember when you didn't do something for your wife. Of course you don't. But don't worry. She'll remind you about it in about 2 months about something that happen 30 years ago. And eventually you'll learn to be quiet during certain conversations so she doesn't bring it up. This horse didn't learn and she's been on his back forever about it. ha ha ha

Just in case my wife sees this. IT'S A JOKE!!. She just walked in ha ha ha. click save close window lol

 

[Cynik75]

I am 46 y.o. Yesterday I was rolling with 18 y.o. girl and my conclusion is: year after year, the teenagers are faster

 

[JowGaWolf]

I am 46 y.o. Yesterday I was rolling with 18 y.o. girl and my conclusion is: year after year, the teenagers are faster

ha ha ha.. that's why old dudes (old fighters) learn to be tricky with their fighting lol.

 

[bill miller]

ha ha ha.. that's why old dudes (old fighters) learn to be tricky with their fighting lol.

A good technique for just such a scenario is told hold up the latest I-phone! When they start hyperventilating, knock the crap out of them!

 

[dvcochran]

A good technique for just such a scenario is told hold up the latest I-phone! When they start hyperventilating, knock the crap out of them!

Still happily using my iPhone 6. Am thinking about getting an SE just for the faster wifi.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Still happily using my iPhone 6. Am thinking about getting an SE just for the faster wifi.

I made that upgrade after I destroyed the screen on the 6.

 

[bill miller]

I made that upgrade after I destroyed the screen on the 6.

I have a flip phone..nuff said.

 

[dvcochran]

I made that upgrade after I destroyed the screen on the 6.

I like the size of both phones. I do a good amount of program changes from my phone. There are two programs I have sporadic trouble accessing. I think it is more about the 3G and pinging the necessary server than anything else.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I have a flip phone..nuff said.

While I’d love to have my old Startac, I wouldn’t give up my smartphone. Too much is made possible.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Still happily using my iPhone 6. Am thinking about getting an SE just for the faster wifi.

I don't have a cell phone. I don't want anybody to be able to find me.

It's good to be "not young any more". I don't have to work 8 to 5. I also have all the time in the world to sit on the beach and think about

- Who am I?
- Why am I here?
- Why it is me?