Martial Arts anyone?

[Parkers]

Just wondering, are there any other senior citizens out there still practicing Karate or a martial art? Retired for the second time and soon to be 61, I practice Shotokan Karate 2 nights a week at a local dojo and I walk 3 miles a day. Yea, I know it sounds sort of dorky... no make that really dorky, for an old fart to take karate, but dorky as it may seem, I knew it was the best and fastest way to return to reasonably good health after many years of smoking, drinking, no exercise, no sleep and a high stress job (I still drink a little ). My motivation was that I desperately needed to engage in some sort of vigorous exercise and you absolutely won't find better exercise than a martial art, JMHO. Gym is just too boring. I learned Wado-Ryu style karate back in the early 70's in college (earned a Nidan). I hit the reset button about 3 years ago when my health took a nose dive thanks to all those bad habits. My health has now improved and I am hoping to get back a few of those 10 years they say you lose from smoking... dorky or not. Just wondering if there are other senior martial artist out there?

[DSL417]

Think it is great...not dorky. I'm 61 and still use many of the exercises for stretching that I used in Tae Kwon Do (1st Degree BB earned when I was 41). Just haven't been able to find a DoJo I was comfortable with the last several years, or I'd take it back up.

Enjoy...

[ebprod]

Hi Phil,

My wife and I teach Shotokan for a living. We have been teaching together since 1979, but we both started training in the early 70's. Here is a link to our dojo- Midwest Karate Assn of St Paul Homepage. We also sell a series of instructional DVDs at Shotokan Karate Training DVDs from E/B Productions, JKA style

-Joel and Anita

[Parkers]

Originally Posted by ebprod

Hi Phil,

My wife and I teach Shotokan for a living. We have been teaching together since 1979, but we both started training in the early 70's. Here is a link to our dojo- Midwest Karate Assn of St Paul Homepage. We also sell a series of instructional DVDs at Shotokan Karate Training DVDs from E/B Productions, JKA style

-Joel and Anita

Thanks for the link to your homepage. I will definitely spend more time checking out your DVDs. If you were training in the early 70's, I am sure you remember sparring without the benefit of all the safety gear we have now. Things have really changed in 40 years. I learned from a very traditional Japanese Shihan and his instructors who did not recognize or teach techniques that are standard techniques today. The classes then were very formal. Drill, drill, drill for hours and hours. Today, classes are very informal, as is the dress. I must say, I like some of the old ways better. Still great exercise no matter what. It was really no problem for me to switch from Wado-ryu to Shotokan. Almost the same. I never expected to find other martial artists in this forum. Perhaps there are others?

[ebprod]

Hi Phil,

We still teach Shotokan in the traditional way. We are completely non-contact- we don't use any padding and rely on control and focus with our sparring drills. I think you would find our classes very familiar with the way you were taught originally.

The biggest difference today is in the amount of kids in the classes. In our dojo we try to teach the kids in separate classes, but we often mix the adults and kids. It's not unusual to have an age range from 7 - 72 years old. We have many students in the 55-65 year range.

We took our motorhome to St Louis two weeks ago for the National Tournament. We spent some time exploring Missouri and Southern Illinois since them, and we are finally on our way home today.

If you have any questions about your training, feel free to contact us.

-Joel and Anita

[Parkers]

Now if I can only find a place to train this winter in the Bushnell or Ocala, Florida area where we will be snowbirds. Perhaps Shihan Joel or Shihan Anita would consider moving to a warmer climate, at least for the winter months?