JazzKicker

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.

Before a workout last night I was chatting with my longtime friend and coach. He's a full-time martial artist, and the most popular programs at his gym now are boxing and MMA. There's still a small contingent, including myself, of guys who come for JKD sessions and occasional seminars, but his comment was the interest, and overall market, has changed. Seminars, even with "big names" like Dan Inosanto, don't draw the crowds they used to. The martial arts pioneers, like him, Chuck Norris, and those before them, are in their 70's or long deceased. The more traditional arts, with their subtleties, training methods, and techniques, are not being handed down directly anymore. My friend blamed things like YouTube, that people are going to this for knowledge and instruction now, and that by the time our kids are grown, much will be lost (in a sea of 3 minute videos and mis-information). That made me think, though my friend is by no means a traditionalist, he may be right.

A very thought provoking question. The "leaving the dojo for the last time" part of the question frames the question as if, at some point when you no longer go to a physical place, it's over. Thing is, anywhere can be a dojo. Martial art is something you carry around inside you. I could say, though, that I regret that as the years go by, it's been harder to have a dojo home to nurture my training. I kind of regret that when I was involved in traditional karate, I didn't have the experiences of getting a master's belt and having my own school. But the flip side of that, my most satisfying memories, is when I stepped off that path, to a club in my town that became a home for many years, where my skills grew and broadened considerably, I made long term friends, got in great shape. One door closes, another opens.

I'm not sure if this is tongue in cheek or a misunderstanding For the avoidance of doubt, I believe board breaking to be The single most ridiculous aspect of the traditional martial arts culture. Pyjamas. OK, strange, but I get it. It's loose fitting and it's a uniform that takes away any class or gender divides by making everyone look kind of the same. Coloured belts that somehow mean a certain level of skill or understanding? Another bizarre notion but OK, it helps both fellow students and instructors understand roughly how far along you are at a glance. Screaming at nobody while you kick things air? Yeah okay but there is science to back the rapid exhalation as you perform a technique, and kicking thin air without falling over has value seeing as when you try to kick an actual opponent, he will want to move and counter and you still want to keep your balance. Bowing and speaking Japanese / Korean to a westerner who speaks the same native language as you and it's not Korean or Japanese? OK. Erm. Yes. OK, it's a cultural thing I guess, and besides, you never know, you might actually one day work with a Korean or Japanese instructor I guess. Breaking small pieces of soft pine that are being held still for you, as a means of demonstrating how hard you are. ....... erm. .... sorry, got nothing lol. He was playing along with your riff. We get that you're finding some of the trappings and activities in TSD silly. Your feminist principles are admirable, I just don't think you'll get very far with that in such a traditional association. They have 10s of thousands of black belts already. I think your best option is to take your own test and not concern yourself with someone else's, female or not.

Unless you practice old school bareknuckle style, Western boxing is a bad example for hand conditioning. Most famously, Mike Tyson broke his wrist when he got into a bareknuckle scrap with someone. Hand conditioning can indeed cause permanent debilatation long term if you overdo it. Most of us modern, soft people want to do other things with our hands besides punch hard objects, like tapping computer keyboards. A lot of those Okinawan masters (Funakoshi nonwithstanding) didn't live that long by our standards- 60's was old age, so they likely didn't deal with decades of arthritis, etc.

As long as you keep paying, I doubt your instructor will care what your reason for training is! If you decide you're just in it for fitness, that's perfectly valid, and with WTSDA style, that's probably the best thing you can get out of it (besides the social factor you enjoy). Truthfully, there are better, more efficient ways to stay fit if you just want to burn calories, do cardio, keep flexible, and build muscle strength. The thing I end up missing is, nothing else also engages the mind, coordination, and range of motion like punching, kicking, forms.

Most karate/TKD etc. training seems to be done in group classes, especially for kids. Then there's black belt classes, or informal groups or training partners. How many of you, though, if you had the time and money, would want to do private lessons? Would you want to train with someone "famous", like Dan Inosanto? Or just get personal attention from you instructor? I can imagine where someone who is wealthy, or a celebrity (or both!), or just a busy executive, might want to do that.