Just curious. I look at a lot of 'combatants' demonstrating this or that weapon or system or art. Talk a lot about Aikido or Karate or Aikido. This or that knife. Broadsword or longsword. Etc. I'm nearly 70, still alert, moderate strength, still smart and savvy. Still ride my motorbike. But still, I'm in the last quarter of my life. I wear glasses and have a tremor. What do I use? What do I do?
BTW, that goes for folks in wheelchairs or who have various disabilities. Give some thought to this, folks. Not the quick, snappy, snarky answer. Don't just tell me, "Oh God, geezer, just roll over and die." Not all of us are at the prime of our lives, nor young nor flexible.
If you are trying to defend yourself you get a shotgun. If you are looking for fun and exercise anything will do. The main thing is to shop around and find a group you like training with. The people are more important than the style, imho.
My favorite martial arts schools have been the ones with people who I would want to hang out with even if we were doing something other than martial arts. You learn more when you are having fun. You keep coming back too, which is the only way to get good.
You adjust your martial arts practice to your body. Young or old, healthyor infirm, you always do. I'm "mid-life" now so I don't heal like I used to. Minor injuries which would be gone in a day or two when I was young will last for a week or two now. I have had to adjust my "competition" type martial arts accordingly. You don't have to stop doing martial arts, you just have to adjust how you do them.
Some of you old farts might enjoy this How Our Fighting Styles Change As We Grow Older in Martial Artsby Rick Kirkham. I hear many young martial artists pose the question how will my martial artschange as I got older. Having started martial arts at 14 and being 48 as I write this I believe I can shed some light on the question....
I'm heading towards seventy myself but unfortunately I'm not able to walk around with a shotgun or even a handgun as the police seem to frown on such practices, though I would certainly keep one at home if allowed
In the kung fu system that I study (the Beggars Art) my late sifu Tan Siew Cheng used to categorize some of the techniques as old man methods these were soft methods, moves that didn't require large amounts of strength to make work. In reality many systems have such techniques and my advice would be to make sure you have a few 'soft' techniques up your sleeve. On the other hand I remember reading some research results (can't remember the source) which showed that old (retired) boxers retained a surprisingly large amount of their former punching power and reaction speed so don't sell yourself short. Pick a system that you think will suit your purpose and go for it.
As for wheelchair bound or crutch using students and other disabled people it will obviously be much harder for them but even so they can still learn a few things to use in a self-defence situation, I know because I have taught disabled people in the past. Yes, the odds are stacked against them but I take the view it's better to have a few moves than none at all. Other than that, as the man said, enjoy yourself
You adjust your martial arts practice to your body. Young or old, healthy or infirm, you always do. I'm "mid-life" now so I don't heal like I used to. Minor injuries which would be gone in a day or two when I was young will last for a week or twonow. I have had to adjust my "competition" type martial arts accordingly. You don't have to stop doing martial arts, you just have to adjust how you do them.
Just a little heads up Adam, my comments about the police were meant to be joking but unfortunately the smilies. I included haven't shown up in my reply, don't know why!
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