What age do you stop sparring?

[SPX]

Yeah, I guess I'd draw a line between a 50 or 60 year old who has been sedentary for the last several years and is just starting TKD and a 50 or 60 year old who has stayed active and has been doing TKD for over a decade.

 

[Tez3]

LOL at those who think 60 is old! Many of those 60 year olds have been doing martial arts for more than a decade, try four decades and counting.

 

[MariaK]

Last week we had an intra-school sparring competition and I won the first place (adult colored belt division). I'm 40 years old and had to spar a 22 year old girl in finals. We were of approximeately the same height/weight and started at the same time. So, I guess if you have not started tkd as a child then it does not matter too much whether you began in your mid 20s or 40s - the difference in sparring would not be that much.

 

[miguksaram]

Master Cole posted this in another thread:



And I thought it made an interesting topic, so rather than take that thread off-topic I've started a new one.

I'm 37 and spar fairly irregularly (due to having a bad knee, knee op, recovery) and now it's likely to be less so because I've left the club I learnt at am "going it alone". I've found a nearby 4th Dan that I'm going to meet up with about once per month so I'm sure we'll do a bit then.

So, while sparring is a lot less prominent in my Taekwondo life than it was in my early 20s (I hated poomsae back then, but now I love them!), I don't think I'll ever want to stop completely.

What about everyone else? Do people generally stop sparring at a particular age/rank? Is this just something personal to Master Cole?

I believe it is a personal preference. Some people like to fight as often as they can. I am still competing in sparring competition at age 41. Last month at the AKA Grands there were 3 people who were in the 50 and over division sparring. So it is just a matter of choice.