Newbie in taekwondo need advice

[Jim7]

Hello

My name is jim 31 years old from Greece.

I always wanted to start a martial art and especially taekwondo since i was much younger , anyway i decided after many years at the age of 31 to give it a try because i have nothing to loose and i really want to try this art i always wanted so i said its no or never

I'm training in taekwondo wtf for 4 months now and i really love it , the feeling of doing something for yourself and to be dedicated to it and the energy i take is making me feel alive inside body and soul if you understand what i mean.

My teachers says im doing pretty good for 4 months and to keep trying and thats what i'm doing.

The problem is of course that i lack a lot of flexibility and because im not a kid anymore i know it wont be easy , i feel that if i had or have in the future better flexibility i will be able to execute the kicks and the techniques in general more easy and better.

I train almost every day in the dojo (4 or 5 times per week) so im working my flexibility with stretches every day , my question is my age forbiden to achive some day good flexibility as the others so i can do even beter (dont know if it matters but im 1.77 height and 68 kg) ?

I mean i have the will i try my best and will keep trying but i see and feel that the lack of flexibility doesnt let me to do the best i can.

I need your advice and want to listen everything i have to work to.

Y.G : I have my first exam for yellow stripe next month (im white belt now of course)

Thanks a lot

 

[Dirty Dog]

First if all, welcome to MT. And to Tae Kwon Do.

Your flexibility will improve if you continue to stretch and train. But give it time. It's not going to magically change overnight.
Patience, grasshopper...


Sent from an old fashioned 300 baud acoustic modem by whistling into the handset. Really.

 

[MAist25]

First of all, good for you for starting Taekwondo! A lot of adults are afraid to start something new, especially martial arts, so good on you for giving it a go. As for the flexibility, yea of course you aren't going to be flexible. If stretching is not something that's been in your daily routine for a long time, of course you are going to be starting at square one. Having patience and being persistent are the biggest keys to increasing your flexibility. Training Taekwondo alone will help you a lot, trust me. The best thing to do though is to stretch at home for around 30-45 minutes a day. Ask your instructor for advice, I'm sure he will be able to teach you some good stretches.

Make sure that you are warmed up when you stretch. Go for a jog, do some jumping jacks, etc. You will gain much more from your stretches if your muscles are warm. The last thing is to be patient and disciplined. It will take some time, especially at 31 years old, to become flexible. If you discipline yourself and make stretching a part of your daily routine on top of practicing Taekwondo, you will see great improvements within a year.

 

[ks - learning to fly]

...as I started TKD at the age of almost 40 - I can tell you that flexibility will come, but - as mentioned - it won't happen overnight, by magic and there's no trick...stretching is key!!
As often as I am able to, I'll arrive early to practice so I can stretch on my own before the warm-ups in class..Keep up the practice and - again, as mentioned previously - stay
disciplined!! I wish you the best of luck on your upcoming test!! I am currently training for my 2nd Degree Black Belt, so if I can do it - so can YOU!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jim7]

Thanks a lot for your advice , thats what i'm intend to do to work and train every day so i can become ever better.

 

[MAist25]

You're attitude is perfect. There is not quick-track to the martial arts. Just train hard and enjoy the journey, my friend.

 

[Jim7]

And you know what when i have bad days in dojo ( i mean with training that i feel i cant do anything right etc that day) i say to myself no i will never give up i will try harder again and again , if others can do it so can i

 

[skribs]

I will say that flexibility is probably one of the best things to work on, especially as a beginner. When I started, I couldn't do side kicks very well, and I quickly realized it had more to do with flexibility than my technique. Now that I've fixed the flexibility I've lost that excuse

Just remember not to overstretch. You don't want to hurt yourself.

 

[Jim7]

I have patience i will work and i hope someday to see better results

My teacher let me sparring with younger people (since im the oldest in there ) but most of my kicks doesnt reach the target ( the other opponent) , even he encourage me that im getting better etc i know i suck heheh but on the other had i know that i cant do everything right in 4.5 months that other do for years.

My teacher suggest to take part to a summer camp for 10 days that our school organise so i think i will give i a try

 

[Touch Of Death]

Hello

My name is jim 31 years old from Greece.

I always wanted to start a martial art and especially taekwondo since i was much younger , anyway i decided after many years at the age of 31 to give it a try because i have nothing to loose and i really want to try this art i always wanted so i said its no or never

I'm training in taekwondo wtf for 4 months now and i really love it , the feeling of doing something for yourself and to be dedicated to it and the energy i take is making me feel alive inside body and soul if you understand what i mean.

My teachers says im doing pretty good for 4 months and to keep trying and thats what i'm doing.

The problem is of course that i lack a lot of flexibility and because im not a kid anymore i know it wont be easy , i feel that if i had or have in the future better flexibility i will be able to execute the kicks and the techniques in general more easy and better.

I train almost every day in the dojo (4 or 5 times per week) so im working my flexibility with stretches every day , my question is my age forbiden to achive some day good flexibility as the others so i can do even beter (dont know if it matters but im 1.77 height and 68 kg) ?

I mean i have the will i try my best and will keep trying but i see and feel that the lack of flexibility doesnt let me to do the best i can.

I need your advice and want to listen everything i have to work to.

Y.G : I have my first exam for yellow stripe next month (im white belt now of course)

Thanks a lot

If you seriously work on stretching, I see no reason why you can't. You might need a few years to, but you might surprise yourself sooner than that.

 

[Jim7]

Today was the day of my 1st exam , we did some poomse , selfdefense paterns and some kicks, at the end we broke some boards , mine was nerio chagi and i broke it easy
Finally i passed my exams for my white with a yellow stripe but instead of that they gave me a whole yellow belt , they said its because of my dedication an training to hard these months.

I'm happy yes that i got my belt but that doesnt mean anything itself , i will train harder and i know that thats the start of a great journey

 

[MAist25]

Great job, keep it up! Getting that first new belt is the best feeling in the world.

 

[Balrog]

Hello

My name is jim 31 years old from Greece.

I always wanted to start a martial art and especially taekwondo since i was much younger , anyway i decided after many years at the age of 31 to give it a try because i have nothing to loose and i really want to try this art i always wanted so i said its no or never

I'm training in taekwondo wtf for 4 months now and i really love it , the feeling of doing something for yourself and to be dedicated to it and the energy i take is making me feel alive inside body and soul if you understand what i mean.

My teachers says im doing pretty good for 4 months and to keep trying and thats what i'm doing.

The problem is of course that i lack a lot of flexibility and because im not a kid anymore i know it wont be easy , i feel that if i had or have in the future better flexibility i will be able to execute the kicks and the techniques in general more easy and better.

I train almost every day in the dojo (4 or 5 times per week) so im working my flexibility with stretches every day , my question is my age forbiden to achive some day good flexibility as the others so i can do even beter (dont know if it matters but im 1.77 height and 68 kg) ?

It doesn't matter. Keep training, keep trying to improve, keep doing your best. So what if you can only kick waist high? Make that kick be awesome! Let the 14 years olds do the scorpion kicks. You just keep this mantra in mind: do it better today than you did it yesterday. You'll do fine.

 

[Jim7]

Today my dojang closed for summer vacation and will open again in 25 of august.
We discussed a little with my instructor and told me and i'm doing pretty good , also suggested me to join them to a summer camp my dojong organise for 10 days, i have decided to go because i want to train and learn more and i think it will be a good experience

Except that he told me that it will be good to join the competitive team and i could compete to some tournaments at color belts.

Im very happy he told me that and it will be a good experience as well, but still i think im not good enough for a tournaments even if its an easy one but maybe the instructon knows better than me . I was thinking is it possible to that age (32) to be able to compete / try on a tournament ? i thought that those stuff was for younger people only ...

Anyway i will keep traing and learn as much as i can , these days my dojang will be closed i will do my daily stretching in my house to be in good shape until my dojang will open again.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Today my dojang closed for summer vacation and will open again in 25 of august.
We discussed a little with my instructor and told me and i'm doing pretty good , also suggested me to join them to a summer camp my dojong organise for 10 days, i have decided to go because i want to train and learn more and i think it will be a good experience

Except that he told me that it will be good to join the competitive team and i could compete to some tournaments at color belts.

Have fun at camp...

Im very happy he told me that and it will be a good experience as well, but still i think im not good enough for a tournaments even if its an easy one but maybe the instructon knows better than me . I was thinking is it possible to that age (32) to be able to compete / try on a tournament ? i thought that those stuff was for younger people only ...

Tournaments are divided into classes based on age, gender, rank and (sometimes) size. At local tournaments, it's not uncommon for classes to be combined in order to have enough people to compete. For example, in the last tournament I competed in, there were no age brackets for the weapons sparring or power breaking categories, other than "adults & kids", and since I was the only entry in the Geriatric Black Belt (50+) class, I fought in the 30-40 year old BB class instead.

Tournaments (for the most part) are just for fun. It's not like the outcome really matters. Go. Fight. Have fun.

 

[Instructor]

Many of my students are retirees and when they come in are about as flexible as oak. After a year of training most are very flexible! Just keep practicing and stretching and be patient.

 

[Balrog]

Many of my students are retirees and when they come in are about as flexible as oak.

Heh. I'm gonna borrow that phrase, my friend. It fits me perfectly and it will be repeated in all stretching exercises from now on.