Fighting ability- I there a limit?

[Nevinyrral]

Hello everyone.

I wanted to hear your opinions on fighting ability.

Do you think there is a limit to someones potential, or can I fighter continue growing indefinately?

I personally believe each fighter has a ceiling to his combat abilities and once he reaches it, he can only train to stay at his best as long as he can, but slowly with time he will drop in ability.

Anyway what are your thoughts?

Osu

[sensei8]

Do you think there is a limit to someones potential, or can I fighter continue growing indefinitely?

Yes, there's a limit to someone's potential!! No, a fighter can't continue growing indefinitely!!

In short, none of us can stay at our most effective physical peak forever. Age catches up to everyone whether one likes it or not.

Accepting that, well, that's an entirely different thing.

[Wastelander]

I would agree. Not everyone has the same limitations, of course, but the human body has rules by which is develops, and there is only so much progress one can make before the body starts to degrade. There are tons of variables that go into that, of course, but I would say that is a pretty well-understood expectation in combat sports.

[bushido_man96]

I agree as well. As in any form of human achievement, there exists the law of diminishing returns. Some people, based on genetics, have higher ceilings than others that aren't so lucky.

But, in order to reach that potential, the combination of genetics and hard work have a huge affect.

[DarthPenguin]

Yeah i agree too.

If not, and assuming that people could improve indefinitely then Lennox Lewis would still be world heavyweight champ and GSP would still be UFC WW champ (he still trains like a machine!).

If there was no ceiling or limit then in most sports that have a masters division they would be viewed as the real champ!

[tallgeese]

Absolutely agree. Everyone has a ceiling. Either due to physical parameters, training time, recovery, etc. or just due to age. There's a curve to all of this.

[username18526]

Are we talking about physical fighting ability or technique knowledge and execution ability?

I'll admit that I'm not at my peak of performance physically, but in terms of knowledge and wisdom, I'm still a very absorbent sponge with plenty of disk space left. It shows when I spar during classes that I am more disciplined and have a variety of tools in my arsenal.

[Nevinyrral]

Are we talking about physical fighting ability or technique knowledge and execution ability?

I'll admit that I'm not at my peak of performance physically, but in terms of knowledge and wisdom, I'm still a very absorbent sponge with plenty of disk space left. It shows when I spar during classes that I am more disciplined and have a variety of tools in my arsenal.

Good point. While it is possible to learn a lot of new techniques during our lifespan, will they be effective. Or will we be even able to keep performing them correctly.

Also if our physical ability declines there will come a time when less skilled fighter will simply overpower us with brute strenght.

So after a time what we learn might only be beneficial for teaching next generations.

[bushido_man96]

Are we talking about physical fighting ability or technique knowledge and execution ability?

I'll admit that I'm not at my peak of performance physically, but in terms of knowledge and wisdom, I'm still a very absorbent sponge with plenty of disk space left. It shows when I spar during classes that I am more disciplined and have a variety of tools in my arsenal.

Good point. While it is possible to learn a lot of new techniques during our lifespan, will they be effective. Or will we be even able to keep performing them correctly.

Also if our physical ability declines there will come a time when less skilled fighter will simply overpower us with brute strenght.

So after a time what we learn might only be beneficial for teaching next generations.

This is the ebb and flow of all things in life, really. We pass through a physical prime, our peak, after some time which things begin to taper off and decline (the rate of that decline can be slowed, but not typically reversed). At that point, we have to decide if we retire, or if we have the ability to start passing our knowledge along to the next generation.

[sensei8]

Knowledge and experience won't allow you to remain at your most physical peak like one would like to, therefore, limitations begin to sour ones effectiveness one way or another. It's nothing to be ashamed of at all.

My effectiveness has started to wain due to my current medical conditions. Sure, my knowledge and experience remain with me, however, I've had to do some serious retraining, especially in my transitioning which is key to the core of Shindokan.

No matter what I'm facing, I'm still on the floor.