The
Martial Artist and Middle age
A
personal observation
This
article was written to log some of my observations about Martial arts and
fighting, as you reach middle age or beyond. I think we need to personally keep
ourselves grounded and realise our strengths, weaknesses and
limitations and still not believe we are the ‘young guns’ of yesteryear.
We
need to maintain some dignity and respect without being looked on as an old has
been who is no longer relevant. The responsibility for maintaining our
credibility starts with us. There are enough assholes out there in the Martial
arts world without us joining them.
Every Martial Artist will someday have face that one
opponent that will finally beat them. He is the Ultimate warrior and he will
not be defeated even if you think you are a super killer Ninja Turtle or Chuck
Norris, Bruce Lee and Steven Seagal all rolled into one.
This opponent is a true badass and will get you that
is guaranteed. Who is he……..? ‘Old father time’. He always catches up with you
in the end.
I grew up with fighters and Martial artist such as
Bruce Lee, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Joe Lewis and Jim Kelly, to
name but a few. As great as these men where in their day they are sadly now
gone.
With the exception of Bruce Lee they all grew old and
finally faded away. People that as a young man I viewed as invincible.
The same can be said of the legendary fighters Lenny
McLean and Roy Shaw?
Other greats just invariable got older. Leonard,
Duran, Hagler, Hearns, Holmes,Tyson.Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Rickson Gracie.
The list goes on and on.
‘Every
dog has there day’ and has the capacity to become a legend
and go down in history but there is always a new model waiting in the wings.
That is a fact of life.
For people who
choose fighting as their occupation there is always a time limit on it. There
will be a brief window of opportunity to blaze a trail and be a Champion.
This will hold true for most sporting pursuits.
Now if you are for instance an actor you can go on and
on, as can a musician. They can still pursue the thing that is their passion
without losing to much in the way of your skills. Eg. (Robert De Niro or The
Rolling Stones).
Retiring isn’t an option unless they want to or their
health fails.
As fighters, we should except no matter how bitter a
pill it maybe to swallow that you will slow down, your fitness will wane, your
speed, power, reflexes and stamina will erode and there is fuck all you can do.
It won’t happen overnight and it may be quicker for some individuals compared
to others. But it will happen.
You can keep ‘Old father time at arm’s length’ but he
will finally catch you up.
So, it does still amaze me the amount of ‘Martial
Artists’ on Facebook and Youtube that still try to pass
themselves off as deadly killers and Ultimate Warriors and Power Rangers when
they have really gone past their sell by date.
They are at an age where they could know better and if
they came up the right route they would no longer have an ego to massage.
IF ONLY!
There are truly some crazy and deluded people out
there in the Martial Arts world. For every one genuine article, there are half
a dozen loony tunes.
Standing in front of a compliant opponent half your
age whilst smashing them all over the place and twisting them in knots just
doesn’t cut it. Either does just pointing, nodding or farting at them until
they fall over!
Real fighting is fucking horrible, particularly as you
age. It puts massive stress on your heart and lungs. It sends your blood
pressure rocketing. It can tire you rapidly and you will discover the
testosterone fuelled fire that used to burn like a furnace in your belly when
you were younger is now just a flicking flame.
If you are given the option of fighting or sitting on
the sofa with a nice cup of tea watching television. In all honesty, you would
probably choose the latter.
That is the reality of the situation. As a middle aged
Martial artist, you must ask yourself when did you last have a real fight or a
hard spar or roll that was balls to the wall?
I don’t mean a tip tap spar for 2 minutes or sitting
on your ass playing guard. I mean a fucking good tear up?
If you can say yes, I still do this daily, then I
salute you. But I bet no matter how good you are or where, it still left you
gasping for air like a fish out of water.
Then for the next week you are probably as stiff as a
board or maybe the old knees, back, neck or elbows are playing up again.
Putting on your socks becomes a major challenge as
does walking down the stairs.
Even if you train for self-defence unless you can
pre-emptively use the 3 second sniper option and blast your assailant off the
planet before he can make his move, it then it is going to be a fight. There will
be wrestling involved and possibly being smashed onto the floor. Punching,
headbutting and biting will be involved amongst other unpleasantness, that is
outside the world of the controlled combat arena. No stalling for points here
or moaning that it’s too rough or dangerous.
That fire of fear and survival might blaze for a short
while but it will start to go out a lot more quickly than it used to and you
will be in trouble.
As you age if you are forced to engage in combat you
need to get it over with fucking fast.
Do you train for this option? I do. Playing for points
was never my game. When you need to finish playing for points is not the way to
go.
Are you still physical fit enough to go longer than 90
seconds? What about 2 minute?5? 10? Is your body still conditioned for these
full contact rigours? Do you want it to be?
It will take an exceptional individual over the age of
50 to do this (I know a few, but they are certainly in the minority).
How often these days do you to go up against a young,
strong and capable opponent?
When did you last put your ass and reputation on the
line?
But if in your head,
you still think you are a legend in your own lunch time you will come up short in the real world and then you will be in big
fucking trouble.
I am 55 years of age and I have trained like a beast
since I was a boy. A year or so ago I decided to enter a NAGA (North American
Grappling Association) competition. I wanted to do this as one last test in the
combat arena after coming back from an injury that had curtailed my training
for a year or so.
I fought in the Masters Executive division over 50’s (no
gi) against a guy around my age who was a competent BJJ blue belt from 10th
planet Jujutsu.
We fought for the championship belt and it went the
distance and I lost by a judge’s single point. The round was one continuous 6
minutes long. All submissions allowed. I am still in reasonable shape for my
age and I done ok but I was still blowing out of my ass afterwards because of
the intensity of the fight. It was so much tougher than 10 or 20 years ago.
It might be ok to ‘sandbag’ a few lesser grades and
novices to boost your ego and get away with it but beyond that it is going to
be fucking tough. Unless you are doing this every day then you are on the
slippery slope.
That also holds true if you want to defeat a ‘smack head’
armed with a knife or a baseball bat on the streets.
We were all the ‘New
Boys’ at one time or another but you have also got to keep things real and
not hide behind your belts grades or status.
Teaching with a humbleness and an acceptance is the
key. Bring in a younger and more willing person to help and assist your
coaching is a great idea rather than fooling yourself that you are still
superman and know it all.
If somebody comes to me to learn jujutsu and wants me
to teach them a flying armbar. I am going to get one of my sons in to show that
kind of shit.
If they want me to show them how to kick somebody in
the head. I will tell them I can do that but lie on the floor first!
I am cool with that. I know a lot of stuff but I don’t
know it all and I am also big enough to know there are others that know some
stuff better than me. That is fine.
I personally don’t want to fight or spar anyone ever
again. I have done it to death. I have lost that fire that made me do these
things but I can still use my experience to coach and teach even if I don’t
physically get a buzz out of doing it myself at a level I would like to.
Don’t get me
wrong I am far from ready for the scrap heap and if somebody in the real world
pokes this ‘old lion’ enough he can still bite. But when you fought at a decent
level it is hard to except that that isn’t you anymore.
At a certain age, you look in the mirror every morning
and begin to see your Dad staring back at you not that young buck of
yesteryear.
Sometimes you get out of bed and shuffle to the
bathroom and think what would my students think of me if they saw me now!
These days I train for what I think I might need now.
If it comes to a street confrontation I have no doubt
if I can’t talk it down or escape, then I resort to the pre-emptive knockout
shot. I train for that daily and I am still fucking good at it, even if I say
so myself.
I really don’t want to be rolling around on the
ground. After all I am a Granddad for God’s sake.
If it goes there I will do what I must do to choke the
fucker out but the outcome can now become much more unpredictable and you will
begin to tire if you don’t finish it fast.
Also, you must keep in mind most people fuelled up on
violence can be resilient bastards.
In the words of the legendary American football coach Vince
Lombardi, ‘Tiredness makes cowards of us
all.’
When we are fresh we think, we can take on King Kong
and his brother. When we are gasping for breath and our arms and legs feel like
jelly and our asshole is twitching, suddenly it is a different matter and most
of us at that point couldn’t beat an egg and are looking for the comfort and
safety of the womb.
Also, don’t forget there is no tap out or reprieve out
on the street. The reality is you could be fucking dead!
A 16-stone rugger player fuelled on 10 pints of Thatchers, can be hard work for even the
best of us!
I have always been a realist with my training. I never
wanted to be a big fish in a small pond. I actively sought out the big sharks
to swim with, learn from them and to keep me humble and grounded. I have beaten
people and been beaten. I have handed people their asses and they have handed
me mind.
This way I am not living in some deluded bubble like
some of the people I see on the Internet.
If you haven’t tasted defeat, then you haven’t done
anything!
As Mike Tyson once said. ’Everybody has a plan until they are punched in the face.’
When the shit hits the fan for one of the ‘Old Lions’, grades, belts, certificates
and status will mean fuck all, you will bleed just like a ‘mere mortal.’
It will be even worse if you are a ‘paper tiger!’
As you get older you need to get smarter.
Martial arts are not some magical force field around
you that makes you bullet proof. If trained
correctly it can give you an edge. How much of an edge will depend on how often
you train and the quality of your training?
Fighting is for young men make no doubt about it. When
you become older being punched in the face, kicked in the nuts or having your
arms twisted off isn’t so appealing any more. Neither is being thrown all over
the place.
I don’t relish the thought of some big fat fucker with
bad breath lying on top of me sweating, farting and trying to bite my ear off
or pull my head off my shoulders. Fuck that for a game of soldiers.
Wrestling with the duvet becomes a better option!
It’s no disgrace. If you have done this sort of thing
for a great deal of your life, challenged your fears and put your ass on the
line then it doesn’t mean you must drag that shit around with you to the grave.
Forget all the Macho bullshit and get smart. Where does the ‘my dick is bigger
than your dick’ crap end?
If you have tested yourself in any combat arena
whether it is the controlled one or the pavement you will have answered all the
questions about yourself. You will know your strengths and weaknesses and you
will have tasted victory and defeat and learnt to live with it.
Your ego will
have been well and truly crushed somewhere along the way with your bollocks.
You have nothing to prove. The record says so. You
will always have that fighter’s mentally.
It is only
these deluded ‘Bruce Lee’ wannabe’s that keep posting their shit on the web
that have a point to prove. Most of them couldn’t fight sleep.
If all this deadly one touch and no touch pressure
point stuff works ,then get in the cage and prove it. If it works I will be the
first to shake your hand (Or not, if I am going to collapse).
Nobody is invincible. There is always somebody tougher
out there or more dangerous. Note that tough and dangerous are two different
things. (But that can wait for another day).
Many can have a great fight in their heads and still
believe they have what it takes to beat a skilled, fit and hungry opponent.
Their knowledge comes from watching to many films and reading bullshit. They
are dangerously living in Ivory towers.
I have news for you guys as much as I would love it
Jack Bauer and Jack Reacher aren’t real. Jack Daniels is real. So is Jack shit.
Batman, Jason Bourne and all the characters Jason
Strachan play are fictional. So, stop modelling yourselves on them.
While we are on the subject all you would-be Rambo’s
disarming a knife or gun isn’t fucking easy and most of you would probably shit
yourself if it was real. Stop living in a fantasy world.
As a professional Martial arts instructor, you have a
duty to be honest with your students and teach it right. Bullshit or ego
shouldn’t come into it.
In the competitive arena time, will eventually decide
your fate.
The street is different. As you get older you need to
develop more guile and cunning to win. You won’t be fighting fair or having a
‘straightener’. Do you really want to have to resort to a 3-minute all-out war
were the stakes could be your life and if you survive there will be bits of you missing? I know I don’t. I like my bits
where they are.
This is all coming from a man who has tested himself
in every arena and believes in his art.
What about the untested would be ninja that hasn’t? How
will they fare?
I love Martial Arts and I have spent a big part of my
life in them, but they have also been guilty of spawning some of the biggest
assholes on the planet, preaching total and utter bullshit.
The reality check is that you are not the man you were
at 20 that you are at 40 and not the man at 40 when you are 60 and so on………
I am not suggesting that you give it all up as you get
older I am just suggesting you look at things with sense and good judgement and
not carry on living with false hopes and believes.
To all my veteran Martial arts brothers and sisters
that I call my friends please let’s keep on keeping it real. Amen.
Please keep an eye out this year for my new updated
and complete Autobiography ‘When we were
warriors’ due to be published very soon.
