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40 - the year
of adulthood
Historically, in Asia, an adult was only considered to be fully grown when
they reached the
age of 41.
Everything done before that time was regarded as being in their
youth. Kind of takes the pressure off?
Is 50 the new 40?
With many modern people looking after their health, 50 may have become
the new 40.
There are more women having babies at an older age and many people
exercise well past their 50's.
This is good.
But how healthy are you personally?
What state are you in?
Reaching the age of 50 is good. But what condition are you in?
Are you fit or
fat?
Do you have back problems?
Knee problems?
Do you take any form of medication on a
regular basis?
Aging badly is nothing to be proud of.
You may want to get out of your big car, switch off
your fancy phone, your laptop (and all the other devices) and get off your
backside.
Before it is too late.
Sarcopenia
(muscle loss with aging)
Adults over the age of 50 lose approximately
1% of muscle mass each
year as a natural consequence of aging.
The only way to offset this is to engage in a
strength building regime that can
be sustained throughout your natural life.
Qigong, tai chi for health, tai chi for fitness and taijiquan
(supreme ultimate
fist) all qualify as ideal methods for
accomplishing this goal. However, daily practice is a must.
When we are young, we can
enjoy lots of external movement. When we are older, we become less active
and can't as easily enjoy large movements, speed, high impact, and quick
twisting of the muscles. Unfortunately, this is exactly the time our bodies
really need good exercise to maintain youthful energy and health. Most of
the exercise systems available in our society can't satisfy this need.
(Adam Hsu)
Conventional
training
As you grow older, hard-style
martial arts,
sport and conventional exercise become increasingly
difficult
to perform.
Many exercises promote muscle tension; resulting in a stiff neck and
immobile joints.
Injuries are common.
The slogan 'no pain, no gain' is often used
in conjunction with exercise. Being healthy sounds like an ordeal.
The drawbacks of exercise
Not all forms of exercise are necessarily
good for you. For example, running may improve
cardiovascular health but is also very hard on the
joints.
Lifting heavy weights can cause significant tension to accumulate and - if the
muscles are large enough - adversely affect the
skeleton. Most forms of exercise have
pros and cons; especially
sport.
A balanced approach?
For many people, their fitness regime does
not take into account agility,
mobility, relaxed
spontaneous movement, balance,
ambidextrous body use, joint
health, coordination,
emotional wellbeing or
psychological flexibility.
Often, injuries arise and bodies are
pushed too hard.
Strain is bad
Not everybody wants to sweat and strain their way to
fitness.
Conventional exercise has its drawbacks.
If you damage your body through goal-oriented exercise, you may have
to live with it for the rest of your life.
How
we move conveys energy and
youth – not how buff we are.
(Anne Elliott)
Care for your body
Internal martial arts training is different. It is not strenuous or
stressful.
You undertake regular training and let the mild exercise build up layers of
strength.
Instead of feeling tired, you feel energised and full of
vitality.
Mid-life crisis?
There is more to life than
working, buying goods, eating, sleeping, drinking alcohol and watching
TV.
You are more than this.
The internal martial arts require the student to expand their
horizons.
And to chill out...
Contemplation,
meditation, settled emotions and calmness of mind are all wonderful
additions to your life.
Instead of becoming the violent brute people often associate with the
martial arts, you become
relaxed and comfortable with yourself, and with those around you.
Martial arts training
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.
External martial arts
The external arts are certainly impressive,
effective and exciting - yet they usually harm your
health.
At some point you may be forced to retire.
Ideal form of exercise
According to the book The Blue Zones it is
important to think of exercise in terms of what you can reasonably do
long-term.
The ideal form of exercise is moderate enough that
you can do it for the rest of your life. It needs to be joint-friendly, provide
a gentle workout and be sustainable.
This sounds rather like taijiquan, doesn't it?
Internal martial arts
The internal arts are a lifetime’s work. You can start aged
50 and potentially still be
training for the rest of your life.
You do not need to quit once you are 50.
Martial arts are dangerous
The British Medical Association Guide To Sports Injuries states:
Combat sports such as boxing, judo, karate or kung fu make tough demands on the body; training is intense, and participation requires all-round fitness. Regardless of the fitness of the participants, however, the aggressive blows traded between opponents means that these sports always carry a serious risk of injury.
You must get fit
All martial arts require the student to be fit
for combat and taijiquan is no exception.
There are many lazy tai chi classes in the world.
This is naive in the extreme.
Cross-training tai chi
Our taijiquan students train: core strength, massage, leg
stretches, cardio work, yoga, qigong, neigong, form, partnered work, martial sets &
drills, combat and weapons.
The training is done carefully, gently - in a
controlled manner - without
exertion or strain.
Little & often
Tai chi advocates moderation; not taxing or
tiring the body.
Rather than train for a lengthy period of time, aim to
practice little & often.
20-30 minute increments, with rest breaks in-between is ideal.
Instead of
pushing your body hard and putting it under duress,
just do a little exercise.
Resting will keep your
concentration sharp and offset fatigue.
Motor learning
For many people, their fitness regime
does not take into account
'motor learning'.
Motor learning is about the process of using the body, rather than simply
exercising the body.
Agility,
mobility, relaxed
spontaneous movement, balance,
structure, alignment, biomechanics, efficiency,
ambidextrous body use, joint
health, coordination,
skill,
emotional wellbeing or
psychological flexibility.
Tai chi combines exercise with motor learning.
Learning a martial art
When learning a martial art there are
essentially 3 stages:
Physical fitness (intermediate)
Technical skill (experienced)
Combat (advanced)
Most students
want to do stage 3 but
flounder before they even
reach stage 1. The beginner's syllabus is an introductory grade. It
is not stage 1.
Tai chi for health
Faced with a major health crisis in the 1950's, the People's
Republic of China turned to Yang style taijiquan for a solution.
They wanted a form of exercise that could be
performed by students of all ages.
The simplest way to achieve this was to remove
the more demanding fitness component
and the kung fu (combat).
Most modern tai chi classes are
teaching an Art that an old person could cope
with... By definition this cannot
conceivably be a
martial art.
Dream
Many people who commence taijiquan practice
are essentially 'daydreamers'.
They have fanciful notions of becoming a
martial artist but entirely lack the grit
and determination required to accomplish the
task.
Instead of committing to a challenging regime
of on-going comprehensive,
rigorous training, the student is
contented with the
dream.
Martial
athlete
Combat is not easy and there is a risk of
injury if the student is
unfit. This is true of any
martial art.
To reach a high level of skill, the student
needs to take a lesson from sport.
They must become a martial athlete.
Intelligent combat
A well-balanced 50 year old usually recognises that they do not really want
to risk being injured in combat.
They are looking for something
milder and more intelligent.
Yes, they want
taijiquan skills, and they also want more. They want to feel fit, calm and
comfortable in their own body.
A good
class can offer a highly-stimulating training
experience without the risks associated with conventional martial arts
practice.
His ability to take adequate care of himself.
Not a hypochondriac or obsessed with his appearance, but not ignoring things
either.
With the result that he hardly ever needed medical attention,
or drugs or any sort of salve or ointment.
(Marcus Aurelius)
Page created 19 August 1994
Last updated
26 September 2018