JazzKicker

^ This! ^ It's what's so inconsistent about traditional styles. You are taught and practice forms to perfection, then put on sparring gear and do something completely different. Nobody does a traditional high block or front stance when they spar. Conversely, lots of kicks, at least in Korean styles, never show up in forms. I don't overthink it, though. I like practicing forms.

Wow, in Internet time that's like one million years! Keep up the good work, and I'll try not to give you more

You can certainly improve your flexibility, but at an older age, it will take longer. It's easier to get injured and take longer to heal, so you have to be patient. I would encourage you to realistically look at your needs. I was more flexible in my 30's than now in my 50's, but I can still do head-level kicks. I don't do a lot of them, though, nor much jumping and spinning. I did that in my 30's, and a side-effect I didn't appreciate was I had back pain. Besides, those flashy kicks are more for exercise and agility than practicality.

Congrats on healing up and not making it worse (at least, after you wised up ) Your exercise data is great. What it suggests to me, though, is if your goal is to lose weight, that you increase the intensity a bit (to 6-700 cals/hr) and do some cardio. The other aspect, and from my experience, the more effective one in weight loss, is to work on diet. Doesn't mean you have to go on a diet, but being mindful of what, and when, you eat, can save you more calories than a trip to the gym.

Congrats, Swede! BTW Patrick, I think you meant January...since I was the honoree' of Dec.

I haven't been an instructor for a long time, never was a full-time one though I did undertake to be a personal trainer/specialist in martial arts conditioning. I decided I'd rather stay in the field I went to college for. However, I have a couple of friends who are full-time instructors, one in the boxing/MMA world, the other a karate guy who also does seminars internationally, and videos. I'm sure neither could care less whether the business world, etc. thinks they have a real job! I saw a recent post on Linked In about a guy helping a homeless man he kept seeing in Florida. The homeless person had had some kind of problem, ended up on the street but looking for work- even had a resume. On it, it indicated he was a 2nd Dan Tang Soo Do black belt, and had been self-employed as an instructor/trainer for several years. The view of many of the commentors was, they applauded trying to help the guy, etc. but none had anything favorable to say about his being an instructor. In fact, one even suggested his background was sketchy, and might be an indication he been in jail or had a substance problem. My point is, I don't think being a full-time martial artist is compatible with the corporate world!

Fitbits and the like are popular for running, etc. I've been using a Garmin Forerunner for that and general walking around. I found it very useful, so I thought I'd try wearing it for some solo practice, throwing kicks, doing forms. It confirmed with actual data what I expected, that I was getting an aerobic workout, though not quite as strenuous as my typical jogging pace. I think it's a useful tool for tracking your effort, and pushing you to train harder. I wouldn't recommend wearing one for sparring, of course!

I learned in my 20's, when I transitioned from college into a career, that it was easier to just stay in shape than to take time off, then come back. If you stick with it, as you age you'll be able to continue training at a pretty consistent high level. I did that into my 30's with TSD. Then, more because of opportunity and interest, I transitioned into Hapkido, picked up some Tai Chi. I got away from a more rigid style into more fluid movement. Interestingly, back pain that had bothered me (too much upright, high kicking) went away. In my 40's I got into MMA and JKD, and was probably in the best shape of my life. I learned about sports science and strength training. I didn't plan it this way, but for a middle-aged person it turned out to be the best approach But I was taking a beating, I remember asking my buddies, "Do you think we'll be doing this in our 50's?" Turns out, no, people faded away (myself included) and it's more a young man's game now. For my solo practice, the traditional stuff still works- but I pick & choose what I do- not many jump spin kicks!

There was a book title years ago, "Feel the Fear and do it Anyway". That's pretty much it. You may feel pretty wigged out emotionally, but your body does what it's trained to do, and you get through it. You did, and you got First place! I've always found the anxiety is worse before I get into it- once I'm in it, it melts away. I wish I could say Performance anxiety goes away, or that if you overcome it in one area of life, it diminishes in others. I'm also a jazz musician, and going to a jam session, playing with people I've never played with before, picking a song we all know (no knowing what I'm going to play ahead of time!), and playing well in front of an audience- yeah, THAT makes me nervous. But when you get through it and it comes out OK- that's a very rewarding feeling.

Thank you all, I'm surprised and humbled. My contributions are really a reflection of the thought provoking questions and curiosity of the community here.

Congrats on the accomplishment! Which organization? I remember my 3rd dan test, though it was nearly 25 years ago. It was quite a challenge, and they didn't tell you right away if you passed. I remember afterwards saying something like, "I don't care if I didn't pass, I'm never doing that again!"

Ask a friend to join you! It will make the training more fun, and easier with a partner your own size. As the only adult, once you progress to a certain point after a few months, it will probably get frustrating.

As they day, consult your doctor before undertaking an exercise program. Tai Chi might be a great art to try, especially if you can find a class that does the combative applications, more than just learning a form. I learned some Tai Chi in my 30's, before I really "needed" it, but I stuck with it as an addition to my practice.

I think you should give a man a fish first, to see if he likes it, before you waste time teaching him how to fish. In that same vein, people should have some taste for the combative arts, realize that they're going to get hit, thrown, etc.

The training purpose of repetition is twofold. One is simply conditioning exercise. The other is to ingrain technique into your subconscious, so you can do it without thinking. But you have to learn good form, or you'll be instilling bad habits. In the boxing example, sure, throwing a lot of punches could work, partly because boxing is scored by how many you land! But if you don't learn to keep your hands up between punches, you'll get knocked out. And if you don't learn to move efficiently, you'll get tired from that strategy, too.

I trained at a boxing club for a while that is in an former (golf) driving range building. Strange layout, long skinny building with an overgrown backyard.

Not my instructor, but a fellow black belt instructor at a school I trained at. I never figured out why the chief instructor put up with him. This guy was nasty, not at all kind to the little kids he taught. He smoked in the school, and for a while he was even living in the women's changing room. He was a rough ghetto guy, supposedly a "private investigator". The last straw for me was going to change, opening a locker, and finding he had left a pistol, unsecured, on the shelf. I complained, but the CI never did anything about it. The guy was in poor health, probably homeless, and 25 years later, likely long dead.

Doing rounds on a heavy bag is probably the best solo exercise you can do to complement martial arts, as it's the closest. Doing kata, or course, is important for both skills and conditioning. Running is can be versatile, too, if you program it. Start off at an easy pace and distance and build up a base, then work on speed/shorter distance in one session, longer and slower in another. Intervals are very good when you're first starting, jog a few minutes, then walk, etc. Your school sounds more competitive and clique-ish than a fun environment. The guys "buying extra lessons" may be jerks about rubbing it in, but if they really are putting in extra time and paying for it they're presumably earning their rank. Try to take the long view and realize that taking a month or more off is no big deal. There are plenty of things in real life more important than a karate belt. Just about everything, actually. One of my old instructors used to say "See me know, or see me later" about people who came and went. What he meant was, you have to show up and be dedicated to make progress, but if you can't, don't make excuses, just come back when you can.

Martial arts are very diverse, so the point is different for whichever one you are participating in. The answer for aikido is not the same as for Olympic TKD. The great thing about that diversity is for whatever the priority of the individual is, there's a martial art that's a good fit. As an individual, my definition of the "point" is, the benefits you get out of it. The usual ones are fitness, self-defense, self-discipline, etc. When people get more involved there's social aspects: making friends, competition, status from rank, participation in an organization. For me personally, the point has changed considerably over the many years I've trained. I've had a lot of different experiences, tried different styles. The most important point for me at this point in life is maintaining physical and mental health.

I threw away my old white with black trim TSD uniforms when I downsized and moved a few years ago. I hadn't worn them in years aside from occasional backyard practice, didn't know anyone who would want used karate jackets, figured ebay was a waste of time. I kept all my black belts, though, but haven't had a colored one in 30 years. A couple of years ago, I did buy a plain black top, I still kind of enjoy wearing one now and again.

Which things are not important depends on which martial art and who the students are. I was going to say uniforms are not important, but then I thought of judo and jiu-jitsu. Bowing, yelling "Yes Sir", reciting dojo creeds, etc. is all nonsense. But then I thought of teaching little kids discipline and respect. And after all, most of the participants in MA any more are kids. Learning weapons like nunchaku, tonfa, sword, sai, is pointless from a practical point of view, since it's difficult and generally illegal to carry them. I still like to fool around with 'chucks sometimes, and I've used them to do some pruning in my garden!

If you get an education you will have much more to offer in helping people, however you end up doing it. Part of the college experience is broadening, being exposed to new ideas, subjects, and meeting new people. Even a couple of years at a community college will help a lot. I'm an engineer, but about 15 years ago I felt my career had plateaued in terms of boredom and opportunities. Having been a part-time unpaid karate instructor, I studied to be a personal trainer with a specialist in martial arts conditioning cert. I didn't succeed in changing my career, but I learned a lot. Besides learning about the body, modern training methods, I learned that I didn't like the gym environment that much, that I wasn't good at getting clients (not really a people person), and competing against a perky exercise science major for a $15/hr part time job wasn't for me.

I trained in Shito-Ryu when I first started martial arts in the early 80's. My instructor was the real deal, from Japan. Nobody did 92 katas, that's for sure. The 5 basic Pinan ones were the same as Shotokan and, I later found, Tang Soo Do. Bassai, Naihanchi, Chinto were dan katas I remember doing then. I'm suppose there were a few more advanced ones like Kunsanku, Ro Hai, etc. but certainly not 92!

I was quite a ways into my martial arts training before I gave any thought to history or origins. Karate was an in-the-moment physical activity, and history wasn't readily available, anyway. Substitute another sport, like bicycle racing- would it matter if your coach knew who won the Tour de France in 1950 something? Or what kind of bike he rode? I do think there is value in researching to re-discover techniques or whole systems, rather than the ancestor-worship of lineage. I was already a 2nd dan in Tang Soo Do when a ryukyu kempo instructor friend pointed me towards the origins and deeper applications of the forms I did. It certainly changed my perspective! I've also ran into posers both on the web and in real life, who can talk a lot about history and lineage- but don't really have skills.

What I was sort of getting at is, there is, or was, often more to traditional systems, technique wise, than is fully appreciated and taught, in the pick & choose world of today. So styles have become more specialized, less comprehensive, than they were. Instead we get modern blends with "the punches of boxing, kicks of karate, grappling of BJJ", etc. I think the filtering started long before the internet age, it's just accelerating now- and that filtering occurs because of both popularity and sport application. There was a time TKD looked a lot more like karate, for example. Judo had atemi waza, striking techniques, but they are not taught in sport judo. And conversely, old school karate had throws, joint locks, etc. Now, yes, if you have the inclination you can research on the Internet and find this information- but good luck learning it first-hand.