Treebranch Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 Just wondering what Martial Art an Elderly person could be effective in. Most Martial Arts require a lot of athleticism. What do think? "It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.""Lock em out or Knock em out" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delta1 Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 How elderly? Do they have physical or health problems? The easy, and best answer is Tai Chi Chuan. But many arts can be modified for elderly or 'handicaped' students. The two keys are the desire and will of the student to learn, and an instructor who is capable and willing to teach that type student. By the way, I'm almost elderly (50"s), and I study Kenpo and Tai Chi Chuan fa. I pay a little more for it when we work out hard or spar with contact, but I can still surprise the young bucks. Freedom isn't free! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treebranch Posted April 16, 2003 Author Share Posted April 16, 2003 Your not old, I mean 60 and 70's and yeah not in the best of health, but healthly enought to get around on their own. Is Tai Chu Chuan the fighting one or the exercise one? "It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.""Lock em out or Knock em out" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karate_woman Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 I would suggest T'ai Chi as well. I've tried Yang Style T'ai Chi and was taught by karate instructors who were also able to demonstrate the self defense aspect of T'ai Chi. I also met some Taoist T'ai Chi people who insisted T'ai Chi was not a martial art....that was an interesting argument (sigh). I mentioned it to the last T'ai Chi instructor I had and she advised that no, the Taoists don't consider it a martial art, even though the moves are obviously martial arts moves (they don't explain them). So I guess we were both right, sort of The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. -Lao-Tse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treebranch Posted April 16, 2003 Author Share Posted April 16, 2003 I would think that any style of Martial Arts that take the least amount of physical strength to do, is using body mechanics that are very natural and practical. I study Budo Taijutsu which have movements very similar to Tai Chi, it's roots probably lay there. The strikes are devistating, but not many people know of this, because you don't see people doing Tai Chi in movies or in tournaments. "It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.""Lock em out or Knock em out" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaju_influenced Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 Taichi foresure ,yang style is the health form of the art and then there is chen style which is more combative and there is also wu style taichi that involves alot of power kinda like the dragon I would say pure yang style for the great health benefits it brings with it. "Sweat more in the dojo,bleed less in the street"Kajukenbo fighters axiom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omnifinite Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 Tai Chi, Ba Gua, or some elements of Aikido (which are inspired in part by the previous arts anyway). Unfortunately those are also some of the arts that take the longest to get really good with. I don't know what the person's goals are, but even if they're never able to reach real proficiency there will be a ton of other benefits. 1st Dan HapkidoColored belts in Kempo and Jujitsu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delta1 Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 Tai Chi Chuan fa is the martial art. I do Yang style Tai Chi (Taiji) Chuan fa. They say that if you don't study it as a martial art, you get far less than half the health bennifits. And it is a fascinating and efective martial art. It does take about ten years to become proficient enough to use it to fight, and many people never get there at all. But, as they say, "It's the journey that matters". I highly recomend it for young or old. Freedom isn't free! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karateka_latino Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 Kyokushin karate, muay thai, Shootfighting, WTF Taekwondo,... lol I'm Just kidding.lol Aikido, Tai Chi, Xing Yi, Baguazhang, Some Karate and TKD schools have programs for seniors, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenStar Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 judo. seriously. my coach is 73. he started when he was in his thirties because his daughter was training in it also. (she's a black belt now also) he went on to be a 3 time national champ. He's still going strong. He can throw us, and he does groundwork with us, but of course, we don't throw him much. His ground work is fierce and he can kill us all at will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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