baronbvp

Last night I looked at Tai Chi, Qigong, Power Yoga, Pilates, Hatha Yoga, and Kundalini Yoga material on the internet and looked to see where classes in those are given around here. Trouble is, I think I would be bored in any of these. Right now I still plan to stay in Muay Thai and start BJJ, but I will keep a close eye on how I'm doing. I don't mind getting hit, and a little pain once in awhile keeps you honest in serious arts, but reality is reality. I can't do a side kick to save my life, and it hurts to try. I would probably never use on in a real fight, so I simply won't train them any more. Getting old sucks, but as my dad says, it beats the alternative.

You don't want to strain your groin. Make sure you stretch it well once you've warmed up, but before the bulk of the class starts. Two good static stretches: 1. Bend down in a semi-squat, what I call the stinkbug position. Feet are shoulder width apart. Place your palms on the floor and your elbows against the insides of your thighs just above the knee. Squat down a little more and spread apart your thighs with your arms. I do this one all the time during class since you can do it so easily. 2. Sit on the floor with the soles of your feet together. Bent forward over your feet and feel the stretch. Alternatively, push down lightly on your knees with your elbows. Dynamic stretching is what you are doing when kicking. Be careful not to pull anything by doing too much, going too far, and doing it for too long.

I could outfight some of the younger black belts at my old shorin ryu dojo, but I would never presume to let someone declare me a black belt equivalent, even if it was a kata thing. No way, no how. You have to earn that baby. The old guys would have knocked me out in a second.

This is such a great thread, I figured I'd resurrect it. I am 45 and currently taking Muay Thai. I am planning to add BJJ next month. However, with some pretty good mileage accruing on my achy body and stretching becoming part of my daily regimen, I'm thinking of going in a different direction. Perhaps eliminating the full contact and not starting a new art where my joints take abuse is wiser. I'm actually considering switching at some point to Tai Chi and taking up fencing again. I know fencing isn't classic kobudo, but I already know how to do it and there is a fencing place right near here. Anybody else have thoughts about themselves aging in their own art?

I searched the archives for "pain" and this article popped up. H-I-larious! Very well done, and so true. I can't stop laughing. Ow, my abs.

Roger that! My wife's sister is a Beaver. Bet you guys got tired of that James Kim story...

If you can lift the front of a car......I'd say you're the big winner so far.

Lighter workout today following training yesterday: 5 min warmup on elliptical Superset machine bench and lat pulldowns: 70x12, 90x10, 110x8, 50x10 Clean and jerk 45x15 Curling bar 50x10 Dumbbell curls 30x15 ea side Triceps pushdown 50x10 Decline situps: 50, then 25 w/25 lb dumbbell Close grip machine bench 80x12 Leg press 100x10 Calf raise 100x20 Glute kickbacks 30x20x2 ea side Floor ab work with 5 lb ankle weights ea side S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g!!

I just figured out I have trochanteric bursitis in my left hip. I have been researching why I have pain in my left hip at the outside of the top of my thigh bone. It hurts when I sleep on my side. I have it a small bit in my right hip as well, but I sleep on my left side most of the time and the pressure makes it worse. I am 45 years old. I spent most of the last 23 years strapped into ejection seats, twisting under G during dogfights and sitting for hours over brown desert and ocean. I also slept on crappy Navy racks, stood on steel decks, and walked up and down steel ladders on aircraft carriers, so this has been a long time developing. Oh, and I also fell hard on my left hip and ruptured my spleen while skateboarding in 1975 (think Dogtown and Z-Boys). This condition bothers me when I do MA. It makes it very painful to do side kicks, round kicks above low level, and generally any motion that involves raising my hip to the side or moving my leg other than forward or back. Front kicks don't bother me, nor do back kicks. I have rather tight musculature in my hips, groin, and legs, so I stretch all the time. That helps. I am very careful to stretch my back and neck also due to all the twisting under G so I don't become immobile as I get older. I've been hacking the MA program, but I wouldn't mind reducing the pain. I currently do Muay Thai and am planning to start BJJ next month, but I have also considered switching to straight boxing to avoid the kicks. I may also take fencing back up instead. Does anyone experience similar pain in their hips, butt, or thighs? If so, how do you modify your technique or cope with it to avoid ceasing MA training? I'm looking at getting a Sleep Number bed, too.

I don't know - is it a Kia or a Hummer?

I just started and I'm 45. I love it! Bring on full contact.

Are you actually injuring it with contact, or is it merely tightening up with the stretching and use? My groin and hips tighten up a few hours afterward and are tight the next day. I stretch a lot. I've been lifting weights for a few years and it seems to have tightened up my skinny bird legs quite a bit. My lower body flexibility sucks but I keep stretching. I'm a believer there.

Evaluate every fighter in their era and leave it at that.

I'm 45 and I just started Muay Thai last month. I love it! The pace is high but that's what I wanted in an MA. It's a great workout but nothing you can't handle. Next month I will add BJJ. I got tired of doing kata and not sparring enough in shorin ryu karate. Kickboxing suits me better. Full contact means full contact eventually, but you won't do that for awhile. In a class, first you'll warm up. Then you'll work on punches, kicks, footwork, and defense. Elbows and knees come later, along with the clinch. You will work form in the mirror, then against pads, then against the heavy bag, and maybe eventually light to medium contact with a partner. If you don't like it once the sparring contact gets heavy, you can drop it, but I suspect by then you'll be looking forward to it. Just make sure you get a good mouthpiece like the ones from Brain Pad and boil it to fit. Get a groin protector and wear it EVERY class. You never know when someone will miss and get too close to the goodies. Good luck! You're going to have fun.

I must go to different bars than you guys. I never get in fights. You'd be amazed how buying a guy and his buddies a beer can diffuse a situation.

Good stuff. I don't see a knife though.

Lordtariel, I see you and daizyblackbelt are both from Oregon. My wife's a Duck from Albany, intensely interested in basketball right now. Tonight you guys lost to Arizona - bummer. (I'm a Trojan.) Where are you two from?

Well, I certainly get ornery...

There's hope! Thanks lordtariel.

This is a good thread. I'd like to try some of these.

These are apparently very popular, from Five Elements. It is the old Converse patent remanufactured under a new label. http://www.valleymartialarts.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=180 Here's the thread: http://www.karateforums.com/ma-shoes-vt26060-10.html

I can't imagine not being totally on guard in any one of those situations. That's one reason I don't hang out with those people.

I've been looking at some MA shoes that I would wear only there. That's about all I could get away with in MT, if I can even do that.

I started judo as a young pup, since a "friend" of mine was bullying me in school. Turned out he was in my judo class and did it there too. Gave it up after he rolled me up in a judo mat and almost suffocated me. I wrestled and fenced for a year in high school. In college I joined one of my friends' shotokan/judo club. (Early MMA!) After that, various sparring with friends and acquaintances, military combat arts, knife and gun fighting, etc in the Navy. It was too hard to stay committed with as much deploying and moving as I did. Watching Muay Thai fighters in Thailand on several deployments and seeing Royce Gracie own early UFC taught me that MT and BJJ rule the new day. Shorin Ryu is the style I trained in most recently and I guess most extensively. It taught me that I am too old to spend all my dojo time on kata and simple group exercises, that I prefer to spar over dance, and that I like to kickbox. I liked karate, though, and would go back to that dojo if I could. I would just spar even more. Now I take Muay Thai and will add BJJ next month. I'm 45 and loving life! Hope to get good at one of these styles someday.

There are many great thoughts here. I am intrigued by the life focus it would place on a person to basically be a full-time martial arts student. I'm not sure how valuable a degree it would be, especially a Tai Chi degree. I would not pay my child's tuition to get such a degree. But I wouldn't mind doing it myself, if I could get four years off work. They should add some other arts as has been said, like grappling. Maybe even an MMA focus for those hoping to compete and eventually teach. Or a Sports Therapy minor. The business side is important. A MA dojo is traditionally a very low margin business as I'm sure many of you can attest.