Over 40?
He who knows when he has got enough is rich.
(Lao Tzu)
Aging is inevitable
Life passes by so quickly and before you realise it, you are 40 years
old.
So what?
Should we be concerned about getting older?
Is 40 a significant age?
What you think about aging is your own business. However, you cannot ignore your
physical body.
You may feel like a 20 year old, but you are not 20 anymore.
It is important to accept your age.
Aging brings with it certain considerations, concerns and limitations.
Starting anew
If you are 40 (or over) and starting a martial arts class for the first
time, be careful.
You are not as resilient as you once were.
Injuries, bumps and bruises will not heal as fast as they once did.
And getting up off the floor may be somewhat harder than it was 20 years ago.
Don't be macho.
Choose wisely
When training in the martial arts, you need to take your age into
account.
It is a major factor.
If you are 40, it is unwise to undertake a system that relies upon strength,
speed and fitness.
(i) External
The external arts (karate, ju jitsu, judo, kickboxing, Thai boxing...) favour
the young person.
Strength, speed and aggression will work to the young person's advantage.
You may find it intimidating (and demoralising) to be fighting a younger, fitter
adversary.
No matter how hard you train, your age will remain a negative factor.
The risk of injury cannot be ignored.
(ii) Internal
Tai chi favours the older student.
The subtle skills of the art require a mature, disciplined, patient mind.
You focus upon physics, the application of pressure, sensitivity, rhythm,
timing, balance and intention.
Instead of wearing yourself out, you feel energised, relaxed and confident.
You have a low risk of injury in tai chi, although bumps and bruises will occur
in a self defence class.
(iii) Fighting?
The word 'fighting' has the connotation of reciprocity: two people trading
blows. Taking turns.
It is legally perceived as being mutually agreed upon combat.
Both parties are involved in the
conflict.
Fighting usually involves emotion, stubbornness, pride and the desire to get
your point across/have your way.
(iv) Self defence
Tai chi is about self defence, not fighting.
Self defence is not the same as fighting. You have only one aim in
self defence: escape without
injury.
It is not about winning awards and trophies or gaining a belt.
It is not about looking cool or impressing anyone.
In self defence you do only what you have to do and you leave immediately.
Kicking, striking & being thrown
(i) Kicking
Many martial artists suffer from back injuries caused by kicking too
high.
Perhaps the individual has failed to warm-up and stretch properly? Or their
form is poor and the body use unsound?
Who can say?
Yet injuries from kicking are common.
As you get older, injuring your back is not a good idea.
You lack the suppleness of a 20 year old.
Injure your back when you are 40 and you may be paying for it for the rest of
your life.
(ii) Joints
Striking thin air or hard pads can cause joint injury.
It is a question of physics.
Using power but not hitting anything with it means that external tension will
keep much of the force trapped in your own body.
This can jar the joints quite severely.
Hitting pads, bags and people - and then pushing upon impact - causes
adverse feedback that has a deleterious effect.
Look at Newton's third law of motion?
Most external arts strike this way.
(iii) Being thrown
A number of martial arts neutralise their opponents by throwing them to the
ground.
This is a tried and tested highly-effective way of deterring an attacker.
It can be surprising, and it is usually painful.
It is also very hard on the body.
The older you get, the longer it takes you to get up off the floor.
Keeping going
Hard style
martial arts have a time stamp attached.
You can do them for a certain number of years and then you really start to pay.
Adverse impact work and high kicks can damage your back and your knees.
The external arts are certainly impressive, effective and exciting - but they
usually harm your
health.
Tai chi is a lifetime’s work. You can start aged 40 and potentially still be
training for the rest of your
life.
You do not need to quit once you are 50.
Tai chi is not dependent upon conventional muscle strength.
Limitations
Tai chi pays close attention to how you are using your body.
If you are feeling discomfort, it is possible to adjust what you are doing and
solve the problem.
People do suffer from injuries and illness as they age. And these limitations
cannot be
ignored. Much of the deterioration is the
normal and acceptable outcome of growing older.
You are unwise to ignore your body and force it to pretend that its 20 years old again.
A 'no pain, no gain' attitude will only lead to suffering.
Go easy on yourself. Do not put yourself under pressure or duress. What would
be the point?
Wear & tear
A 40 year old has accumulated a lifetime of bad physical habits.
The joints are often over-worked. The body is unbalanced. A person stoops or
slouches.
This is common.
Tai chi work to improve your awareness, so that you can start to correct bad
habits of body usage.
The material gently re-trains your body to move differently, to use less strength, to
rely upon the physics.
There is consequently less wear and tear.
Being realistic
Facing up to your age can be a bit hard if you have an ego.
A well-balanced 40 year old usually recognises that they do not really want to
undergo violent combat.
They are looking for something milder.
Yes, they want self defence skills, but they also want more. They want to feel
fit, calm and comfortable in their own body.
A good tai chi class can offer self defence without the risks associated with the
external arts.
Fear
Macho behaviour usually stems from fear.
At the heart of aggression is the need to present a
strong external
image.
When you are
hurt, you pretend
that it did not hurt.
When you are
upset, you hide
your feelings.
You cultivate and maintain a stoic image of indifference.
This is not healthy.
You are who you are.
You are the age that you are.
Your feelings are real. The pain is real. Your age is real.
Pretending is dangerous.
Tai chi for health
Trained
correctly, tai chi should significantly improve
your health.
You may not think that health is important, but how often do you expect to be
using your combat skills?
Health comes first.
Everything else is secondary.
We teach a very comprehensive curriculum that exercises your body in a wide
variety of ways.
Everything from self-massage to stretching is addressed.
Strength-building
Tai chi was designed to cultivate an unusual kind of
strength, which is very different to what you may think of as being
strength.
The muscles stay loose and relaxed, and avoid tension.
Yet, your body gets much stronger.
Instead of doing sudden, extreme amounts of work, your body undertakes milder
training.
As you grow stronger and more capable, the training moves with you, challenging
your body without straining it.
Functional tai chi
If you want to learn tai chi, your training should include:
Chin na
- cavity press
- sealing the breath
- dividing the muscle
- misplacing the bones
Conditioning exercises
- seasoning the body to combat
- strengthening joints, bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments
Countering punches, kicks and grapples
- solo attacker
- multiple attackers
Countering a knife
Energy work (qigong)
Escapes
- from a wide variety of holds, locks and situations
Floor work
Form application
Gangs/multiple opponents
Internal power
- neigong
- reeling silk
Self defence
Striking
- fa jing
- using body weight
- striking bags, target pads and people
- punch, palm, finger, elbow, shoulder, knee, kick
Weaponry
- sticks, knives, swords
- improvised weapons
- modern weaponry (rather than ancient)
The training must be varied.
Pushing hands, form and form application is not enough.
Although set patterns and drills are an acceptable training method, they
should only represent a small portion of the actual practice.
Unpredictability, surprise and disadvantage need to be addressed thoroughly
and regularly.
Self defence
Self defence training need not be brutal or unpleasant.
It can be a fun, creative journey with many insights and unexpected
breakthroughs.
Much of the initial training is concerned with composure, sensitivity and
good body use.
A working knowledge of basic physics and body mechanics is cultivated.
Once you have remembered how to
play, you realise how the self defence
skills can be applied to conflict management in everyday life.
Do what you can
You may reach a point when you have gone as far up the grades as you
want to go.
The prospect of more sophisticated, physically demanding work may not appeal
to you.
This is fine.
You are welcome to stay at your present grade and keep on training.
Your mind
People often find that their mind struggles with complex material as
they age.
This can be a significant impediment when learning a martial art.
The answer lies with patience and practice.
The older you are, the more regularly you need to practice.
Little and often is best.
More to life than money
The philosophical side of tai chi suits the older mind.
You have lived a little, and you can look back and contemplate.
What you explore in the tai chi has
context, it can be applied to the fabric of your life.
There is more to life than money.
Instead of having a mid-life crisis, learn tai chi. Do something practical.
Page created 4 July 1999