How many of you long timers are...banged up a bit and sore?

[rhilllakefield]

Hi guys,

How many of you who have trained for over 10 years or so are a bit banged up?

\I recently took some time off for a shoulder injury at the age of 35 and couldn't believe how sore I got with the time off. I still did light weight training and went for walked, but my entire body stiffened up!

Any of you in the same boat from the years of training?

| have wondered many times if this is the best for our long term health.

[Karate4Life]

OSU!

It does not get easier the older we get, yes. My biggest problem is my right knee. I had surgery on it 1.5 years ago, and I still struggle with it. Before surgery I was in so much pain it was excruciating. It's much better now, but my right leg will never be back to normal. I'm sure that my knee problems were the result of damage that has accumulated over the years.

Anyway, I believe that many of us 40+ers have similar problems, regardless if they're martial artists or not. We just need to adapt our practice accordingly. When I was 20 I could jump up, do a perfect split in the air and land in a split position with a grin on my face - without warming up before of course. If I tried this now I'd be dead and you could scrape my remains from the floor. So, before I even attempt to do high kicks I need a lot of warming up, and once my system is running I can kick head height without a problem. This tells me to be more sensible during practice and to accept the limitations that time imposes on me. Further I have noticed that when I get injured I take a lot more time to heal up.

As for long-lasting damage, well, beside the knee issue there is none. Sure, I'm stiff and sore every now and then, and my elbows like to complain after weight lifting occasionally, but then I guess this holds for anyone who's crossed a certain age threshold.

Summing up I believe that training is good for us. However: Train hard, yes, but train even smarter. If we keep that in mind then I don't see a reason why Karate practice should be bad for us.

OSU!

[Archimoto]

Great question!!!

I started young and never took a break - except once for about a year due to a family crisis. In this regard I've been reaping the rewards of constant training: great flexibility, agility, strength, and good cardio. At the same time, from years of sparring, hard training, and competition I do have a couple of nagging injuries. From Muay Thai, having checked many baseball bat like kicks my shins can get a little sore or sensitive every now and then. And from a neck crank at a grappling tournament - my opponent got carried away - I have occasional soreness in my neck. The neck pain can sometimes be severe and in the past I would wonder if the training was worth it. I always concluded YES and continue training to this day and no longer ask the question when the pain rears it's ugly head.

As the proud father of three budding martial artists I intend to teach moderation in training. Of course, I expect they'll do exactly what I did when I was younger - ignore thoughts of moderation and simply go for it !!!

[sensei8]

This October, I'll have been in the MA, mainly, Shindokan, for 50 years. I must admit that I'm no longer the young man that I use to be; I tend to take longer to recuperate than I use to. That's to be expected as we become older, however, that doesn't mean that we have to like, just accept it.

[wagnerk]

Well, I've been training since 1998 and having problems, however found out that I have Sjogren's Syndrome. So not sure what is due to MA training and what is due to SS.

[ashworth]

after 18 years My body still seems to function adequately, knees click more than I would like, and my hip sometimes doesn't want to play ball. But doesn't hinder my training.

[wayneshin]

Don't forget the other side of the equation. I'm 51, been involved in karate consistently for 36 years. Like most I get some knee and hip pain, some mornings it hurts to get down the stairs etc however I am far more mobile and agile than most my age and most I know with similar age and length of training are the same.

[Rateh]

Been training 17 years. Only problem I have had is with my feet. I developed plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis in both feet because of being on my feet teaching barefoot for hours every night, and having naturally very flat feet and weak ankles. Did some physical therapy to develop arches and stronger ankles and I've been fine since.

[Nidan Melbourne]

I've trained for 13 years and the only issues i have are with my knees and my shoulders.

I receive treatment for them semi-regularly but also work out myself to strengthen them.

[andym]

I'm 54 and have been training for 40 years. Elbows and hips now giving a lot of trouble. Luckily my back and knees are OK. I hate holidays or going on course for work. If I don't train for a week, I start to stiffen up and get all sorts of aches and pains. That said, looking outside the martial arts, at those who did it with me and dropped out, or say lads I played rugby with, who all stopped around the age of 35. If , as most did, they stop all training (!) within 5 years all those injuries we'd picked up came back to haunt them. So, a question, is the constant training suppressing the effect of injuries ?

Now look out beyond those who train, to those who don't train. I work with loads of people far younger than myself, who continually complain about their aches and pains, how things aren't working properly inside them ! A better example my wife's knees and hips are causing her so much pain she may need surgery. The reasons for this, nothing - she has done nothing, no training or activity of any kind. It's just age.

So, we all age. We will all get aches and pains. May be they even interfere with what you can now do. The difference is how you can look back. If it's just age and you've done nothing, you look at the aches and pains and see nothing but the aches and pains and the age - and what they now stop you doing ! Me, I can look back at my aches and pains and say. 'Boy was it fun getting 'em !'