Staying with it--Taekwondo as you age

[StudentCarl]

Turning 48 this month, I'd like to continue with Taekwondo until I'm dead...so at least another 40 years. However I frequently hear that Taekwondo is for the young and is a martial art that requires more athleticism than most. It's already uncommon for me to have sparring opponents at tournaments who are older than me.

What do you find are the keys to maintaining your body, mind and spirt so you can be an active senior artist?

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Keep practicing. I think that one of the things that hurts many people as they age is the cessation of activity, whatever that activity may be. It is vital to remain active at every age.

That said, pay attention to your body and take into account that your recovery time from training and injury will be greater. Also, nutrition becomes more important as we age because our bodies lose the ability to compensate for all of the poor choices we make in our diets.

Daniel

 

[terryl965]

I can only echo what Daniels has said withone more thing, for me it has been about what is next seeting small goals for me with age. I believe this has help me stay focus, plus I left competing because not to many and started training for my personal growth.

 

[dancingalone]

Flexibility and suppleness is the key to avoiding injuries, particularly when you practice a martial art that is full of sudden, violent snapping actions. We all need to stretch and that goes beyond the usual leg stretches people focus on for high kicking. The back muscles which are often ignored also need attention.

Another key point for avoiding injury is to develop strength in the core which also has immediate dividends in the practice of tae kwon do.

 

[Manny]

Turning 48 this month, I'd like to continue with Taekwondo until I'm dead...so at least another 40 years. However I frequently hear that Taekwondo is for the young and is a martial art that requires more athleticism than most. It's already uncommon for me to have sparring opponents at tournaments who are older than me.

What do you find are the keys to maintaining your body, mind and spirt so you can be an active senior artist?

.

I am 43 and still doing TKD at my paces, when I was a teen I was like a tornado, quick and sometimes deadly jajajajaja, today I am like a 35 mph south wind jajajajaja.

Seriusly speaking, yes TKD is more suitable for the young people and requieres more athletism than other martial arts I think, however because we are +40 does not mean we can enjoy the MA inside TKD. Wha is the key for grown men like us to succed inside TKD? Not to push the envelope to far, listen to our bodies, we don't need to prove anything, just exercise, starting with a good warm up and stretchin and try to do our best at our age, TKD has many fields but olimpic sparring where wise people like you and myself can shine, like Ho Si Sul, poomsae, kyompa, etc,etc.

I almost forget, as we aging we ned more tome to rest and to heal, like Mr.Sullivan wrote.

Manny

 

[StudentCarl]

Flexibility and suppleness is the key to avoiding injuries, particularly when you practice a martial art that is full of sudden, violent snapping actions. We all need to stretch and that goes beyond the usual leg stretches people focus on for high kicking. The back muscles which are often ignored also need attention.

Another key point for avoiding injury is to develop strength in the core which also has immediate dividends in the practice of tae kwon do.

The other half of injury prevention that goes with stretching is warmup--getting your blood flowing. When you do that you raise your temperature and you can stretch further, not to mention that you're less likely to tear a warm muscle. I try to remember that it takes longer to warmup and stretch as I age--and plan the extra time.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Turning 48 this month, I'd like to continue with Taekwondo until I'm dead...so at least another 40 years. However I frequently hear that Taekwondo is for the young and is a martial art that requires more athleticism than most. It's already uncommon for me to have sparring opponents at tournaments who are older than me.

What do you find are the keys to maintaining your body, mind and spirt so you can be an active senior artist?

48? I think I can still remember being 48. The mind is the second thing to go. Can't remember the first thing.

Tips.
1. Good training shoes. Reduces effects of repeated impact.
2. Glucosamine Chondroiton helps with joint issues.
3. Happy Pills - Ibuprofen. If you have sore joints from training, take 1/2 hour before raining. (Ultra marathoner technique)
4. If you have sore joints after training. Ice ASAP You can by velcro wraps wuith pouchs for reuseable ice packs.
5. Minimize impact activites Do enough heavy bag and jumping reps to maintain or improve technique. Don't try to strengthen or condition with dozens of high impact repetitions.
6. See above for jumping as well. Jumping is OK but those landings....
7. Mind and spirit. Variety is the spice of life. Take courses and seminars when you can. Visit other gyms.

 

[dancingalone]

4
6. See above for jumping as well. Jumping is OK but those landings....

Anyone every heard of training jumping kicks on a trampoline? A guy I knew swears by the practice as easy on the joints. My initial reaction was that the rebounding changes things up too much for it to be a practical training aid, but he sure thought it was a great idea.

 

[puunui]

.Seriusly speaking, yes TKD is more suitable for the young people and requieres more athletism than other martial arts I think

I disagree with that statement. I think Taekwondo was designed to be practiced by people of all ages. You may focus on different aspects at different parts of the journey, but I believe there is no reason why you cannot be throwing hard kicks into your 70s and beyond.

About ten years ago, I realized that knee snap based kicks was not conducive to life long training. So I set about to change my kicking to emphasize more hip turn instead of knee snap. I got it now to the point where I believe I can kick until I am way up there. I feel absolutely no pain in my knees or joints after a hard practice, and for the most part, I am not sore the next day. But I did take extra precautions from when I was young to not only take care of my bones and joints, but to strengthen them as well. I see a lot of my friends and seniors with all kinds of issues and they are having a hard time.

I also focus more on poomsae than I did when I was younger. I think it is natural to do so. That is one of the reasons why I don't get all bent out of shape if this or that guy is Kukkiwon certified and doesn't do the Taeguek poomsae for example. We have a lifetime to learn these things; it doesn't have to be today.

I don't believe that you have to do everything at all times in order to be a complete Taekwondoin. For example, if you want to focus on tournaments, the do that. If you want to stop poomsae, then stop. If you want to focus on self defense, then focus on that. I think if you try to do everything at all times, you can burn out. I rather have a student who practices a specialized portion and then switch to a different area than a student who does everything and then quits. Different ranks or levels in the military are assigned different jobs, and I don't see why we cannot take that approach with our martial arts practice. A you progress, then you can focus on a different aspects of Taekwondo.

 

[puunui]

1. Good training shoes. Reduces effects of repeated impact.

Do you wear shoes when you train on the mat?

2. Glucosamine Chondroiton helps with joint issues.
3. Happy Pills - Ibuprofen. If you have sore joints from training, take 1/2 hour before raining. (Ultra marathoner technique)
4. If you have sore joints after training. Ice ASAP You can by velcro wraps wuith pouchs for reuseable ice packs.

I hope I never have to take you up on your advice on this stuff. I try not to take any sort of medications, prescription or over the counter, if I can help it. I used to take glucosamine, but stopped. Maybe I should start up again.

 

[dowan50]

I recommend the following.
diet:
Eat something red, onions, garlic at least three times a week for prostate.
Try Alfalfa 500 mg 1-3 up to 3 times a day. Lubricates all joints by assisting the liver.
at least 64 ounces total a day good water 15 minutes minimum before you eat.
Reduce red meat and processed foods. Eat more fish at least 3 times a week.
Ginseng tea 2-3 times a day warm not hot plus possibly red dot good for Gastrointestinal and cardiovascular system.
Don't guess if your over 45 have your blood work done in detail there are people who look great and and thin and drop dead all the time, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar some times is genetic and will do real damage over time if not controlled.

Training:
I totally agree with it should change over time based on age, need and particular focus. However conditioning should change based on age. Longer warm ups and non linear stretching 45 minutes three times a week just for you. I do not agree with hard impact landings and excessive quantity of fast snapping kicks should change to a better balance Isometric kicks which still develops muscle strength. Self defense is more about good balance and being able to hit very specific areas and transition to small circle fighting close in to take advantage of opportunities.

Over 50 anything can be healed but will take longer you cannot afford to play nice won't say how another forum.

 

[andyjeffries]

I hope I never have to take you up on your advice on this stuff. I try not to take any sort of medications, prescription or over the counter, if I can help it. I used to take glucosamine, but stopped. Maybe I should start up again.

A lot of doctors over here are negative about Glucosamine as it is a non-medicine and they say it has no scientific backing.

I have a torn meniscus (MRI next Wednesday to confirm, then hopefully arthroscopy after then) and have been taking Glucosamine 2000mg for about 4 months and I have to say, my knee is LOADS better. It's not to the point where I 100% trust it, but I'm easily able to kick again with both legs (6 months ago I'd have to stop walking every 5 minutes on my way to work nearly in tears with the pain).

Anyway, so I feel I had good success with Glucosamine and it's likely to be something I take forever now. But I ask you - why were you taking it and why do you think you maybe should start up again?

 

[andyjeffries]

I also focus more on poomsae than I did when I was younger. I think it is natural to do so.

I used to hate Poomsae 10 years ago. I did them, but never enjoyed them and if a few of us got together we'd just do sparring drills and sparring. I often thought about starting up a Sport Taekwondo club, where we'd just do sport training, but enough poomsae/technical stuff to pass tests. I'm so glad I didn't. 10 years later I love poomsae - can't get enough of them.

I'm not that old (IMO) but I feel a lot older than I did 10 years ago, so maybe it is an age thing.

That is one of the reasons why I don't get all bent out of shape if this or that guy is Kukkiwon certified and doesn't do the Taeguek poomsae for example. We have a lifetime to learn these things; it doesn't have to be today.

I disagree with this though, I think people should practice all areas of the art throughout their Taekwondo life. They may prefer one area over another, but to not do one part of the art would feel like not speaking to one of your children

 

[ralphmcpherson]

A lot of doctors over here are negative about Glucosamine as it is a non-medicine and they say it has no scientific backing.

I have a torn meniscus (MRI next Wednesday to confirm, then hopefully arthroscopy after then) and have been taking Glucosamine 2000mg for about 4 months and I have to say, my knee is LOADS better. It's not to the point where I 100% trust it, but I'm easily able to kick again with both legs (6 months ago I'd have to stop walking every 5 minutes on my way to work nearly in tears with the pain).

Anyway, so I feel I had good success with Glucosamine and it's likely to be something I take forever now. But I ask you - why were you taking it and why do you think you maybe should start up again?

I, too, have only positive things to say about glucosamine. I do a lot of middle distance running and can tell the difference when Im not taking it. I even give it to my dog (on vets advice) and it works a treat as he is a german shepherd and they can get bad hips. I have changed my philosophy somewhat when it comes to training as I get older (I am 36). When I go on holidays or at the end of the year when our club stops training for a month over the christmas/new years period, I would always make sure I kept the training up in my own time so as not to sieze up while having a break. The last two times Ive had a break, however, i have made a point of doing very little except for light stretching here and there. For me the result is I come back feeling great, no niggling injuries and generally feel heaps better physically. I tend to be a bit lacking in the flexibility department at first but that only lasts about a week. As Ive gotten older I have felt the importance of giving the body a complete break once or twice a year to freshen up and it has worked wonders for me.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Do you wear shoes when you train on the mat?



.

Depends on the mat. Some soft or have a surface making the pivot very difficult resulting on too much torque on the joints. Typicaly such a surface in itself provides shock absorption which substitute for the shoes.

 

[puunui]

Anyway, so I feel I had good success with Glucosamine and it's likely to be something I take forever now. But I ask you - why were you taking it and why do you think you maybe should start up again?

I took it for prevention of injuries and perhaps to strengthen my joints. I stopped because I couldn't feel the difference and got lazy taking all those pills. But now I am starting to take supplements again, so why not add another in there.

 

[puunui]

Depends on the mat. Some soft or have a surface making the pivot very difficult resulting on too much torque on the joints. Typicaly such a surface in itself provides shock absorption which substitute for the shoes.

I was on a long flight and my friend next to me was reading a book, I think it was called Born to Run. The hypothesis of the book was that man was made to walk barefoot, that the foot is a complex body part made up of many different bones which allows us to travel better barefoot. The book I believe says that the invention or popularization of running shoes led to a great increase in running, but also it led to a great increase in injuries because shoes takes away the natural function of the foot by making it one piece so to speak, rather than a multi piece walking implement. Or something like that.

For a while there, I really liked that Adidas kicking shoes and would wear them all over the place. I never really trained in them though, and feel better training barefoot. But I generally train on mats so shoes aren't really an issue anyway.

 

[andyjeffries]

The book I believe says that the invention or popularization of running shoes led to a great increase in running, but also it led to a great increase in injuries because shoes takes away the natural function of the foot by making it one piece so to speak, rather than a multi piece walking implement. Or something like that.

I absolutely believe this. I haven't read that book, but have read a number of articles over the years that said the same sort of thing and I always have a lot weaker feet/ankles when I train in shoes.

For a while there, I really liked that Adidas kicking shoes and would wear them all over the place. I never really trained in them though, and feel better training barefoot. But I generally train on mats so shoes aren't really an issue anyway.

We train on wooden floors and I never* wear shoes. I also hate getting blisters and in the past when I wore shoes then went back to bare feet my toes would rip up. Again, that hasn't been a problem for the past 3 years since I went barefoot only.

* Very rarely, if I'm teaching somewhere away from our normal dojang and the floor is freezing I might, but if I'm actually training rather than 100% teaching or at "home" then never.

 

[bluewaveschool]

I have several students that wear socks, because their parents are scared they'll get athletes foot from the wood floor (wtf?), I just laugh when they start to slide. One adult that was wearing socks quit after he threw a kick sparring and his other foot slide out from underneath him. We weren't allowed to wear socks back in the day, but it's another rule that was changed while I was gone and now people are too stubborn to change back.

 

[chrispillertkd]

Wearing socks without shoes while training is an accident waiting to happen. And by that I mean lawsuit. At least the one guy quit when he fell. Someone's going to fall, hit their head and sue.

If they're worried about athletes foot they should invest in some kicking shoes. That way they get to wear their socks and not slide, fall and hurt themselves.

Pax,

Chris