I started martial arts training in my late teens and all of the people I came into contact with were relatively young. My kung fu teacher was probably in her early 40s, which I thought was ancient at the time. But the rest of us were just kids. I hadn't really experienced an "older" martial arts teacher until we moved to Colorado. I had several karate teachers at that time, two of whom were in their late 50s and their bodies and movements represented a lifetime of injuries and hard training. Years later in Japan, I studied aikido with all sorts of people, including some guys in their 70s who vividly remembered training under the art's founder, Morihei Ueshiba; he died in 1969. Similar to my elder karate teachers, these men did not practice with the same vigor and, well, testosterone that a lot of us did. But their technique was solid and graceful.
It's tough being an aging athlete and/or martial artist. You know what you're capable of, but your body simply can't match the demands...and the ego. I think this is one of the reasons that people stop training or are hesitant to pick it up again. Too many injuries, too many calories, and too much arthritis. Arthritis is no joke; I used to listen to older physical therapy patients whine and complain about their aching joints and fatigue, blaming it on "the Arthur." Yeah well...that shit is real. Most of my friends and family know that I've been putting off total hip surgery for a while now for various reasons. If I sit in a hard chair for a long time, I limp so badly that it looks like I'm pulling my left leg out of thick mud with every step. The, never really quite healed broken ribs, (thank you, Jon Fukushima), remind me that certain grappling moves are to be avoided. My "horse stance" looks more like I'm riding a tall bicycle these days. And my right shoulder and elbow joints get really pissed when I do any kind of overhead press. And the winter fatigue...dude. Yeah..aging is not for the feint of heart.
I'd like to think I hang pretty well with all of my younger students who have yet to see the other side of 50. I can still "bring the pain" during kihon (basics), still do the push-ups, the ab work, etc. What I struggle with mostly is taking falls and kicks above the waste. I simply lack the pain tolerance and mobility. I used to be the "fall guy." One of my favorite bits during martial arts demonstrations was jumping and rolling over four or five students in a row. I taught technical throws that left my training partner hanging in the air so long, he or she could have coffee on the way down to the mat. I had a couple fairly devastating kicks, my favorites being a "sleeper" roundhouse to the face and a spinning side thrust. Those days are long gone. Even if and when I get a new hip, surgeons don't like the idea of a patient purposely falling and jamming the new prosthetic femur into a man-made hip socket. And...I can't run anymore. That's been a tough one.
But now I see what kept some of those older guys going. If you keep at this long enough or have the courage to start or pick it up again, your art reflects the changes in your body in a very positive way. You learn, for example, that you don't need to be able punch a hole through the universe; you just need to be accurate and precise. And because you've done thousands and thousands of reps over many years, your body finally understands things like centering, expansion, contraction and breathing far better than it did before. Moving off the line of attack is second nature. You really don't need to pick someone up over your head and body slam them when a simple sweep will do. And kata, if you practice it, takes on an entirely different meaning. I can't run anymore, but I can spend an hour going through our 21 kata at full speed and power and I feel just as fatigued as I used to running three miles at a good clip. I spend far more time and effort on weight training (free weights, baby), and proper technique...the basics. Most importantly, I think, the laundry list of injuries and the reality of getting older has tempered my ego. I don't need to win anymore. I don't need to be better than everybody anymore. My strength is in my weakness...and weakness lies in strength.
If you're an older karate guy like me, I feel your pain. But now is the time to ramp it up. Don't take it easy and don't quit. Keep training and you'll see a whole new world open up to you, paths that you never considered. It's all about the journey.
Dave Magliano
Tatsu Dojo
Jissenkan Budo
Dojo Cho
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