Changes in Training (?)

I've noticed quite a few members here are in your 40's at least.... reason why I created this group

 

I'm wondering if you're changing your approaches to training, and what
concessions you've made, if any, and what wisdom you might have to
share.

 

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Tae Kwon Do is practiced by 70 million people in 180 different countries. If everyone who studied Tae Kwon Do joined hands, they could form a line that would stretch around the globe 1.25 times!

I don't throw the jumping kicks as much as I used to. The spinning kicks either. I still train doing them, but in private. Bill Wallace has said, "People can be younger, stronger, & faster than you...but noone has to be sneakier than you."

I always keep a few "tricks" in my bag.

Honestly, I pay more attention to my body & stretch more as I've gotten older. Every time I think I'm "just too old" I look at folks like GM Jhoon Rhee & GM Lee, Hyung Kyu & I realize that I just need to be consistant in my training & take it slowly.

Iceman is on the right track.  Though I never learned all the high-flying kicks that TKD is so famous for, I have become quite comfortable with the spinning hook kick.  Every time I practice the kick I hear in the back of my head my old Shotokan Sensi yelling at me NOT to kick so high!  I like the fact that at my age and height, I am capabel of hitting 6'4" guys in the head.  That said, I probably wouldn't use it on the street.

In tournaments, I go for the body and limbs as opposed to the head.  Just something feels right about using power shots to drop my opponent's guard and make the head available to jabs and crosses!  Sure a really cool kick would look great on a video but why throw it and risk having my opponent dumb me on my rear end? 

Since I started TKD training when I was 43, I found I have to spend more time warming up and stretching then all of the younger students.  I also take much more time after class to stretch out.  I spend more time in the gym then most of the younger students.  Being older and definitly "battle tested" I fell I am much more relaxed then some of the younger competitors.  I spar with opponents from the late teens to mid-30's.  Many of them just want to pour on the speed and the power.  Since my background is in Karate (full contact, no protection) I have a pretty good defense.  I can conserve my energy better then most of them as well. 

If I had one bit of advice to younger students it is this:

Training should be fun, but serious.  Understand that your abilities have no meaning outside in the real world because very few people know what it means.  Knowing that you can withstand a beating and be in a position to survive is what really matters.  Sparring, therefore, should be about economy of energy interspersed with moments of explosive power.  The goal being to improve the effectiveness of your technique and defense.  Winning is great but surviving is a true reward. 

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Old enough to know better; Dumb enough to keep going!

Well, since I took off between 33 and 43 I notice a big difference in what my body does if I don't do a kick correctly.  The bigest tell-tell is my hips.  If I'm not completely warmed up and loose and try something like a jump spin hook kick it tends to push the hips too much (kinda feels like pulling a chicken wing apart).

As other folks said above the key is taking extra time to warm up and then pay attention to what your body tells you.

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I'm only as old as I act!

The one thing I've noticed is that I'm not able to do the jumps that well since it puts too much stress on the knees.  I have a very bad knee so I have to be careful with it.

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NEVER GIVE UP & learn one new thing each day!

I've found I have had to change training, one month till I take my black belt and I've torn a muscle in my shoulder. I'm concentrating on technique and leaving the power out, hoping that everything heals by grading time. It has had some benefits in that I am sorting out some technical things, that I had not noticed when I was moving quicker.

Holy COW, 

when i walk it sounds like popcorn.  My kids ask why i am sore, i tell them it was all the years of playing with out properly warming up.  I used to go from the car to the field or rink and just play.  I now spend each morning watching the sunrise trying to get one more 1/4 inch in the stretch. 


Hamstrings are the worst for me...

But i am going to the gym everyday, MWF family class, TTH late morning class.

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Still Runs with Scissors

warming up the hips is the biggest thing for me.  nest is convincing the knees to stop complaining!

I typically dont  jump too much but when I do, I count one molecule of air between me and the floor  as the jump.  ;-)   I live for days where I achieve several molecules of air!

 

I also tell my students that they may jump higher and spin faster than I do but theyd better have their guard up when they land because I will be there waiting on them, looking for that open spot  they always leave open!

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You can't talk your way out of what you've behaved yourself into. Steven Covey

I have found that I don't get out of the way nearly as fast as I should so I train differently for defense.  I will stay in and block with a cage block (elbow to knee) when I should have probably just moved out of the way.  I'm also getting pretty good at jamming a kick with the lead leg by pushing the hip of their kicking leg.  Two or three of those seem to frustrate people.  I throw less kicks but make them count more.  Using a boxers method I jab with the lead leg and bring power from the rear.  I do need to work relaxing and breathing because I will get excited and tense up as the hands and feet get going.  I think a lot of that is not getting to spar as much as I think that we should.  My knees stop me putting in the running that I feel like I need to do to build up cardio...any suggestions out there?

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Student of the Zero Chamber Power Kick