In my last post I discussed the huge health problem that falling represents for seniors, in particular those 65 and older. And I discussed the potential benefits of martial-arts training, among them the ability to build leg strength and improve balance -- two key factors in healthy, fall-free aging.
This led us to an important and practical question: what would the ideal senior-friendly martial arts school look like? So today's post is an exercise in thinking out loud -- or perhaps dreaming -- about the perfect training hall for martial artists of a certain age. If the school of my dreams exists, I haven't found it. My online searches have led me to schools that mention "adults of any age" and a couple that specifically advertise classes for folks 50 and over, but I haven't found one that exists solely to serve senior citizens.
Let me say up front that I understand why most schools are eager to serve students of any age -- from small children to teens to seniors. The broader the market, the greater the potential to attract students and turn a profit. And right now in America there's a vast opportunity for martial-arts instructors to generate a profit by teaching children. Look, if you don't turn a profit, you end up closing the doors. Very few instructors get rich teaching martial arts, so I applaud all those who manage to keep the enterprise afloat by serving the age groups that are available to them.
But if you could find a dream school for seniors, what would it look like? Here are some of the things I would want:
1. A minimum age of 50 or 55 for all students. In the best case, I would like to see a 50-59 group and a 60+ group. Believe me, there's a big difference between 55 and 65. I've lived them both. And if the school had enough students 70 and older, I'd have another group just for them.
2. Classes would be offered in mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and early evening. Asking most seniors to participate in martial-arts training early in the day would be a mistake; and many, if not most, seniors are not able to handle serious workouts in the late evening. 7:00 p.m. is too late for most of us for a variety of reasons.
3. The instructors would ideally be seniors themselves, because to anyone else the phrase aging process is probably no more than an abstract concept. If you're 60 or 70, aging process has real meaning. You truly understand that, for example, your "high kicks" are closer to the ground than they once were.
4. The program would focus heavily on gentle stretching, balance, forms, and basic self-defense techniques. Sparring? Maybe not. Breaking boards and bricks? Definitely not. This doesn't mean that seniors can't break a board or brick; it simply means that requiring everyone to prove his or her ability in this area is inviting injured egos and broken bones.
5. The head instructor would personally interview each prospective student to explain how this senior-friendly school will differ from traditional martial-arts schools, to understand what the student hopes to gain from the training, and to make sure that the student has been cleared for training by his or her physician.
Well, that's just five short items on what could certainly be a much more exhaustive list. And, as I said at the top, this is my dream school rather than a school I expect to find anytime soon. In terms of the real world, I'd settle for a school that incorporates as many of these components as possible. Simply offering a seniors-only class once or twice a week would be a huge step forward for most of the schools I've looked at online. That's because most schools define an "adult class" as 18 and over. Someone who is, say, 68 does not need to train alongside someone who is 18.
Do you belong to a senior-friendly school? If so, tell me about it, and I'll gladly help spread the word.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Leg strength and balance
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the number one cause of injury death among Americans 65 and over. Falls are also the leading cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma. And among older adults falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries as well as fractures of the spine, hip, forearm, leg, ankle, pelvis, upper arm, and hand.
Now there are lots of reasons why older adults may fall, including medications, faulty vision, cluttered living spaces, and the like. Yet one of the most common reasons is something that's very much under our control: poor leg strength. But there's more. According to the physical therapist who has managed to keep my body parts intact throughout the first half of 2012, leg strength and balance are virtually two sides of the same coin. Work on one, and you're improving the other. And even if balance deteriorates with age, you can compensate to a large extent by keeping your legs in top condition.
If you're a martial artist you already know that leg strength and balance are essential ingredients of your training. But if you have never participated in the martial arts, maybe it's time to consider the powerful health benefits that can come with the study of taekwondo, karate, kung fu, or basically any martial art you can name. Very early in my own training an instructor once said that a martial artist should have better balance on one foot than everyone else has on two. Well, I think that's a bit of a stretch, but the underlying sentiment is sound. The martial arts train you to remain upright and under control.
Every kick you execute strengthens both the kicking leg and the supporting leg, but it also forces you to remain upright in a rather odd position. The more you train, the less odd the kicking position feels. And at some point you may find yourself executing spinning kicks, which naturally ratchet up the need for balance. After all, you can't execute a spinning kick properly if you fall down every time you try, right?
So if aging well is a high priority for you, either get active or stay active in the martial arts. Scout out schools in your area, and find a senior-friendly environment in which to train. What to look for in a "senior-friendly" martial arts school will be the topic of our next post.
In the meantime, for more information on the problem of falls among older Americans, visit www.cdc.gov.
Now there are lots of reasons why older adults may fall, including medications, faulty vision, cluttered living spaces, and the like. Yet one of the most common reasons is something that's very much under our control: poor leg strength. But there's more. According to the physical therapist who has managed to keep my body parts intact throughout the first half of 2012, leg strength and balance are virtually two sides of the same coin. Work on one, and you're improving the other. And even if balance deteriorates with age, you can compensate to a large extent by keeping your legs in top condition.
If you're a martial artist you already know that leg strength and balance are essential ingredients of your training. But if you have never participated in the martial arts, maybe it's time to consider the powerful health benefits that can come with the study of taekwondo, karate, kung fu, or basically any martial art you can name. Very early in my own training an instructor once said that a martial artist should have better balance on one foot than everyone else has on two. Well, I think that's a bit of a stretch, but the underlying sentiment is sound. The martial arts train you to remain upright and under control.
Every kick you execute strengthens both the kicking leg and the supporting leg, but it also forces you to remain upright in a rather odd position. The more you train, the less odd the kicking position feels. And at some point you may find yourself executing spinning kicks, which naturally ratchet up the need for balance. After all, you can't execute a spinning kick properly if you fall down every time you try, right?
So if aging well is a high priority for you, either get active or stay active in the martial arts. Scout out schools in your area, and find a senior-friendly environment in which to train. What to look for in a "senior-friendly" martial arts school will be the topic of our next post.
In the meantime, for more information on the problem of falls among older Americans, visit www.cdc.gov.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
A "total package" workout
I don't know whether anyone has conducted a scientific inquiry into why people take up martial-arts training, but my gut tells me that "self defense" would be the most common answer. It's certainly the reason I began studying taekwondo more than 40 years ago, and the self-defense aspect is still important to me. But today the primary attraction is that in terms of efficient exercise, taekwondo is a "total package" workout.
A complete martial-arts training session checks off just about every box on your fitness checklist. Strength training? Absolutely. Push-ups, sit-ups, and explosive repetitions of hand strikes, blocks, and kicks are highly effective in building a powerful body. Flexibility? You bet. Few training programs place as much emphasis on full-body flexibility as the martial arts. Aerobics? I've never run a marathon, but I've experienced martial-arts training sessions that gave a pretty good imitation of what a marathon must feel like. In a well-run school your heart rate gets up and stays up. Balance? It's really tough to deliver an effective front kick if you fall down every time you do so. So your instructor will spend a great deal of time working on how to maintain balance while delivering strikes with maximum power. Symmetry? Training just one side of your body can lead to problems like muscle-strength imbalance. With the martial arts, you work both the left and right, front and back of your body from head to toe. Even though you will likely be more proficient with one side than the other, the training requires you to give equal attention to left and right movements.
For senior martial artists there's another important health consideration that's certainly worth mentioning. Brain training? As you progress through the ranks, you place greater and greater demands on your brain -- learning countless individual techniques; learning complex forms; and learning about the history of your particular martial art. The martial arts will work your brain in a way that most exercise programs simply cannot approach.
The best part of martial-arts training is that you can participate at any age. Your workout at, say, age 70 won't be as intense as it was at 25. But you can tailor the training to whatever limitations might come with aging.
So rest assured that if you haven't begun martial-arts training, it's not too late.
We're looking for senior-friendly martial arts schools that we can tell other readers about. If you know of such a school, please let us know, and we'll help spread the word.
A complete martial-arts training session checks off just about every box on your fitness checklist. Strength training? Absolutely. Push-ups, sit-ups, and explosive repetitions of hand strikes, blocks, and kicks are highly effective in building a powerful body. Flexibility? You bet. Few training programs place as much emphasis on full-body flexibility as the martial arts. Aerobics? I've never run a marathon, but I've experienced martial-arts training sessions that gave a pretty good imitation of what a marathon must feel like. In a well-run school your heart rate gets up and stays up. Balance? It's really tough to deliver an effective front kick if you fall down every time you do so. So your instructor will spend a great deal of time working on how to maintain balance while delivering strikes with maximum power. Symmetry? Training just one side of your body can lead to problems like muscle-strength imbalance. With the martial arts, you work both the left and right, front and back of your body from head to toe. Even though you will likely be more proficient with one side than the other, the training requires you to give equal attention to left and right movements.
For senior martial artists there's another important health consideration that's certainly worth mentioning. Brain training? As you progress through the ranks, you place greater and greater demands on your brain -- learning countless individual techniques; learning complex forms; and learning about the history of your particular martial art. The martial arts will work your brain in a way that most exercise programs simply cannot approach.
The best part of martial-arts training is that you can participate at any age. Your workout at, say, age 70 won't be as intense as it was at 25. But you can tailor the training to whatever limitations might come with aging.
So rest assured that if you haven't begun martial-arts training, it's not too late.
We're looking for senior-friendly martial arts schools that we can tell other readers about. If you know of such a school, please let us know, and we'll help spread the word.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Overcoming back pain
Today's topic is slightly off the point of martial-arts training for seniors, but it's something worth examining. Let's face it: one of the main reasons older athletes give up a sport is "back problems." So if we can overcome the back issues, perhaps we can all get off the couch and back into training.
Here in America we've been taught in countless ways -- often through TV commercials or by doctors who don't look deeply enough into our symptoms -- to believe that we're suffering an epidemic of fragile, out-of-kilter backs that are ready to "go out" if we even think about sports after a certain age. While it's certainly true that millions of Americans suffer from debilitating back pain [and for a long time I was one of them], it's absolutely not true that all back pain should be a reason to give up sports.
The book that changed my thinking -- and my life, to be more precise -- is Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection by John E. Sarno, M.D. A friend of mine recommended the book nearly 20 years ago, when I had such extreme lower back pain that I could hardly walk across the street. He told me that the book had worked a small miracle in his life and that maybe I'd find it useful.
Here's a true story: a got on a plane in Hartford, CT, barely able to walk. While flying to Florida I read Dr. Sarno's book from cover to cover; it's a slender, very readable paperback first published in 1991. By the time I got off the plane in Florida, I was walking normally and was able to return to my normal exercise routines. No drugs. No surgery. No physical therapy. And no special exercises.
Early in the book Dr. Sarno makes it clear that if an MRI or X-rays have shown that you are suffering from a true physical problem, his book may not be the right answer. But for the rest of us -- and perhaps most of us -- the problem is not actually physical but mental. Okay, the pain is physical. Lower-back pain is sometimes excruciating. But the fundamental cause, Sarno says, is mental. To make a long story short, he indicates that the subconscious mind creates the pain in order to keep us from examining conflicts in our lives. We're not talking about the simple stress of daily living. We're talking about inner conflicts that we need to recognize and resolve; once we do that, we defeat the subconscious mind's ability to create lower-back pain.
Yes, this sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Get rid of back pain just by changing the way you think! But I now keep two copies of Healing Back Pain on my bookshelf: one for me to reread every now and then, and one to lend to family and friends who are experiencing either back pain or other painful symptoms that in Sarno's view are triggered by the same basic mind/body phenomenon. The phrase "Read the book" comes up quite often in my family. Whenever someone talks about back pain, shoulder pain, or even migraines and heart palpitations, I say, "Read the book." And everyone knows which book I'm talking about.
Most of us don't need to fear lifting, twisting, punching, or kicking. For most of us back pain isn't a physical ailment. It's an unpleasant trick that the subconscious mind plays on us. To learn why and how the mind does this and why we are able to eliminate the problem from our lives, read the book.
Healing Back Pain may be your way back into training. If you do read the book and find that it works a small miracle in your life, please let us know so that we can share your story.
Here in America we've been taught in countless ways -- often through TV commercials or by doctors who don't look deeply enough into our symptoms -- to believe that we're suffering an epidemic of fragile, out-of-kilter backs that are ready to "go out" if we even think about sports after a certain age. While it's certainly true that millions of Americans suffer from debilitating back pain [and for a long time I was one of them], it's absolutely not true that all back pain should be a reason to give up sports.
The book that changed my thinking -- and my life, to be more precise -- is Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection by John E. Sarno, M.D. A friend of mine recommended the book nearly 20 years ago, when I had such extreme lower back pain that I could hardly walk across the street. He told me that the book had worked a small miracle in his life and that maybe I'd find it useful.
Here's a true story: a got on a plane in Hartford, CT, barely able to walk. While flying to Florida I read Dr. Sarno's book from cover to cover; it's a slender, very readable paperback first published in 1991. By the time I got off the plane in Florida, I was walking normally and was able to return to my normal exercise routines. No drugs. No surgery. No physical therapy. And no special exercises.
Early in the book Dr. Sarno makes it clear that if an MRI or X-rays have shown that you are suffering from a true physical problem, his book may not be the right answer. But for the rest of us -- and perhaps most of us -- the problem is not actually physical but mental. Okay, the pain is physical. Lower-back pain is sometimes excruciating. But the fundamental cause, Sarno says, is mental. To make a long story short, he indicates that the subconscious mind creates the pain in order to keep us from examining conflicts in our lives. We're not talking about the simple stress of daily living. We're talking about inner conflicts that we need to recognize and resolve; once we do that, we defeat the subconscious mind's ability to create lower-back pain.
Yes, this sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Get rid of back pain just by changing the way you think! But I now keep two copies of Healing Back Pain on my bookshelf: one for me to reread every now and then, and one to lend to family and friends who are experiencing either back pain or other painful symptoms that in Sarno's view are triggered by the same basic mind/body phenomenon. The phrase "Read the book" comes up quite often in my family. Whenever someone talks about back pain, shoulder pain, or even migraines and heart palpitations, I say, "Read the book." And everyone knows which book I'm talking about.
Most of us don't need to fear lifting, twisting, punching, or kicking. For most of us back pain isn't a physical ailment. It's an unpleasant trick that the subconscious mind plays on us. To learn why and how the mind does this and why we are able to eliminate the problem from our lives, read the book.
Healing Back Pain may be your way back into training. If you do read the book and find that it works a small miracle in your life, please let us know so that we can share your story.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Training alone
One of the major strengths of martial-arts training is that you can experience real-life fighting situations by practicing your "forms." Forms come by various names, according to your martial-arts style, but they all feature an imagined battle with multiple opponents. As you progress from one rank to the next, you learn new forms, each highly choreographed to incorporate additional offensive and defensive techniques and combinations of techniques. And by the time you have mastered let's say 10 or 12 forms, you will have established "muscle memory" of a rather large arsenal of important kicks, strikes, and blocks.
In addition, you will have learned how one technique can flow naturally into another. For example, you learn how a left high block moves naturally into a right middle punch, or how after executing a double open-hand block to the left you can swing your body 180 degrees into a double side kick. Because each form follows a pattern of moves that you must execute properly and in strict sequence, you are continually benefiting from the wisdom of the masters who created these forms as a means of assuring that every student of a particular martial-arts style has learned the fundamentals properly. In this way, as an example, a student who has learned Taekwondo form Koryo while studying in Korea will execute the moves in the same way as a student who learned the form from a qualified instructor in Texas or Minnesota.
Although the full body of training that you experience in your school may vary greatly from what someone learns in another school of the same style, what doesn't change is the forms. These are established by that style's highest governing body and are standard from one school to the next.
If you have never studied the martial arts, you need to begin in the company of a trained instructor who will teach you the basics and introduce you to his or her style's forms. You will learn the forms in the proper sequence as you move from, let's say, white belt to black belt, and you will be required to master the individual techniques. Once you know the forms -- if, for instance, you have learned the forms in a martial-arts school but must now practice on your own -- you don't need a training partner in order to engage in "hand to hand" combat. By practicing your forms diligently, you are preparing yourself for self-defense in the real world.
In the April 18th post about "Inspiration" you'll find a link to a black-belt form demonstrated by Taekwondo Grandmaster Kyu Hyung Lee. You'll see what a form should look like when executed by someone who has devoted his life to the martial arts.
In addition, you will have learned how one technique can flow naturally into another. For example, you learn how a left high block moves naturally into a right middle punch, or how after executing a double open-hand block to the left you can swing your body 180 degrees into a double side kick. Because each form follows a pattern of moves that you must execute properly and in strict sequence, you are continually benefiting from the wisdom of the masters who created these forms as a means of assuring that every student of a particular martial-arts style has learned the fundamentals properly. In this way, as an example, a student who has learned Taekwondo form Koryo while studying in Korea will execute the moves in the same way as a student who learned the form from a qualified instructor in Texas or Minnesota.
Although the full body of training that you experience in your school may vary greatly from what someone learns in another school of the same style, what doesn't change is the forms. These are established by that style's highest governing body and are standard from one school to the next.
If you have never studied the martial arts, you need to begin in the company of a trained instructor who will teach you the basics and introduce you to his or her style's forms. You will learn the forms in the proper sequence as you move from, let's say, white belt to black belt, and you will be required to master the individual techniques. Once you know the forms -- if, for instance, you have learned the forms in a martial-arts school but must now practice on your own -- you don't need a training partner in order to engage in "hand to hand" combat. By practicing your forms diligently, you are preparing yourself for self-defense in the real world.
In the April 18th post about "Inspiration" you'll find a link to a black-belt form demonstrated by Taekwondo Grandmaster Kyu Hyung Lee. You'll see what a form should look like when executed by someone who has devoted his life to the martial arts.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Spotlight on: A senior-friendly school
Although most readers of "Seniors in the Martial Arts" are New Jersey residents, we're always happy to acknowledge the efforts of senior-friendly martial arts schools elsewhere in the U.S. Today the spotlight is on High Kicks Taekwon-Do up in Rochester, New Hampshire. The school is operated by head instructor Gary L. Arkerson, a 3rd-degree black belt certified by the International Taekwon-Do Federation. He aims to have the school accessible to "people of all athletic abilities," and he gets high marks when it comes to accommodating seniors.
First, he offers a seniors-only [55+] class every Tuesday from 10:00-11:00 a.m. Here you have two wins: seniors can train in the company of folks who understand that age often brings with it some physical limitations; and the class is held in the morning, a major plus since many senior citizens can't tolerate intense workouts at night. Second, seniors can participate in a Saturday "all adults" morning class that runs from 10:00-11:00. Better still, the Saturday class actually kicks off at 9:30 with a half hour "stretching and balancing" session. And get this: visitors can attend the Saturday stretching and balancing session for free. Talk about friendly.
Even if you don't live in New Hampshire, you should check out this school's website. The training hall is a knockout, as you'll see when you reach the homepage. The website's motto is, "A Black Belt is a White Belt who never quit." The NEVER QUIT idea is one that we wholeheartedly endorse. www.highkickstkd.com
Two thumbs up to Gary L. Arkerson and High Kicks Taekwon-Do in Rochester, N.H. If you know of other senior-friendly schools, please let us know. We'll try to help spread the word.
First, he offers a seniors-only [55+] class every Tuesday from 10:00-11:00 a.m. Here you have two wins: seniors can train in the company of folks who understand that age often brings with it some physical limitations; and the class is held in the morning, a major plus since many senior citizens can't tolerate intense workouts at night. Second, seniors can participate in a Saturday "all adults" morning class that runs from 10:00-11:00. Better still, the Saturday class actually kicks off at 9:30 with a half hour "stretching and balancing" session. And get this: visitors can attend the Saturday stretching and balancing session for free. Talk about friendly.
Even if you don't live in New Hampshire, you should check out this school's website. The training hall is a knockout, as you'll see when you reach the homepage. The website's motto is, "A Black Belt is a White Belt who never quit." The NEVER QUIT idea is one that we wholeheartedly endorse. www.highkickstkd.com
Two thumbs up to Gary L. Arkerson and High Kicks Taekwon-Do in Rochester, N.H. If you know of other senior-friendly schools, please let us know. We'll try to help spread the word.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
The "Duh" Stretch
Back around 1971 I was unceremoniously introduced to what I would now call the "Duh Stretch." I was in a martial-arts class sitting on the floor with my legs spread as wide as I could get them. Every few seconds I would lean forward and attempt to pull myself forward, stretching the groin and hamstring muscles. An assistant instructor, who thought he knew a lot more than he actually did, came up behind me and without asking if I wanted some help just pushed me down from my upper back. Well, I did go lower, but I tore a hamstring muscle in the process.
Ever since then I have considered stretching to be a solitary activity. I believe in static stretching: you extend a given stretch to the point of your personal limit, then hold that position for roughly 30 seconds. Holding the stretch for less than 30 seconds may not increase your flexibility over time, while holding the stretch for more than 30 seconds can possibly damage the muscle in question. So it looks as though the proper length of holding the stretch is about 30 seconds according to all the scientific literature I have been able to find online.
The next logical question is, "Should I stretch before or after exercise?" The best answer seems to be the following: do a serious range-of-motion warm-up for at least 5 minutes -- riding a stationary bike if you plan to stretch your legs, for instance -- and then stretch gently. Then go gently into your martial-arts routine; keep the kicks and punches light at first, and gradually build up intensity. Finally, do your serious stretching after the full workout, when your body is completely warmed up. You'll notice two things in this bit of advice: 1. the word gently is key; you score no extra points for injuring yourself by playing Bruce Lee during the warm-up phase. 2. You need to invest a fair amount of time to stretching each time you train. How often you train is a function of many things: how old you are; what sort of shape you're in at the time; whether you still work outside the home, and such. As always, the best answer is do all you can with what you've got. If you're 60 or 70, your flexibility won't be what it was at age 25. That's just how it works, folks. But your flexibility at 60 or 70 can be radically better than that of someone who spends 14 hours a day in front of the television set.
Ever since then I have considered stretching to be a solitary activity. I believe in static stretching: you extend a given stretch to the point of your personal limit, then hold that position for roughly 30 seconds. Holding the stretch for less than 30 seconds may not increase your flexibility over time, while holding the stretch for more than 30 seconds can possibly damage the muscle in question. So it looks as though the proper length of holding the stretch is about 30 seconds according to all the scientific literature I have been able to find online.
The next logical question is, "Should I stretch before or after exercise?" The best answer seems to be the following: do a serious range-of-motion warm-up for at least 5 minutes -- riding a stationary bike if you plan to stretch your legs, for instance -- and then stretch gently. Then go gently into your martial-arts routine; keep the kicks and punches light at first, and gradually build up intensity. Finally, do your serious stretching after the full workout, when your body is completely warmed up. You'll notice two things in this bit of advice: 1. the word gently is key; you score no extra points for injuring yourself by playing Bruce Lee during the warm-up phase. 2. You need to invest a fair amount of time to stretching each time you train. How often you train is a function of many things: how old you are; what sort of shape you're in at the time; whether you still work outside the home, and such. As always, the best answer is do all you can with what you've got. If you're 60 or 70, your flexibility won't be what it was at age 25. That's just how it works, folks. But your flexibility at 60 or 70 can be radically better than that of someone who spends 14 hours a day in front of the television set.
Do you know a senior-friendly martial-arts school in your area? A school that welcomes senior citizens and recognizes their common training limitations? Let us know about the school, and we'll gladly tell others about it in this blog.
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