Martial Arts for the Over 40 Crowd

[bushido_man96]

I'm glad this article was bumped. I am approaching the 40 crowd, and I've found that I don't move as well or warm up as quickly as I used to. I've also found that the family schedule has affected my training time more and more, so I have to take different approaches to training. I've read the book by Sang H. Kim, and its a good one, and one I'll probably be re-reading in the next few years.

[sensei8]

Well...I'll take my 40 year old body over my 56 year old body. I'll trade with you Brian!!

[bushido_man96]

Hehe, if only we could find the fabled fountain of youth!

[Comericus]

I hit the ground a lot harder now.

I started in the UFAF when I was 40. I found a school for my son (who was 5 at the time), but I think it was really an excuse for me to join. Now we have something we do together (despite the separate adult and kids classes). Two years later, I don't think about fitness so much as performance, which was a great way to trick myself into pursuing fitness.

I had also been wondering if I could even hit someone if I had to. So much of human interaction is a veiled physical threat that never materializes. It's almost all an empty threat. Instead, it's about our idea that we build up about ourselves; whether we can handle ourselves if we need to. I found all about my limitations pretty quickly. (fighting is hard work, man...)

Now I feel better, move better, and my blood stats are all in line (they were getting up there). I think the best thing about martial arts for me is that the goal is to perfect the self, not training to win a game. Losing and winning are useless distractions.

That being said, I'm starting to hit the tournaments...