Can MMA be an art for life?

[Kirves]

Inspired by the other poll started before this, but slightly different in focus. Some people feel MMA is only for the young and when you grow old, you have to quit practicing it. How many of you feel this is true? And why is that? What kind of age do you feel is "too old"?

[falcon3624]

My class does BJJ and we cross train in MT. We have a guy that is like 55 or 56yrs. old in there. That's not that old but he is pretty fast and agile. It's all about how well you take care of your body.

[BadgerFu57]

I am sure you could modify your training for you age. Mixed Martial Arts, is just that, Mixed. It doesn't literally have to be Muay Thai. They could do aerobic kickboxing and aikido. Everybody has their thing. MMA doesn't have to be competitive. And if it's not competitive, who is to say how you are to train?

So long as you are accomplishing your goals,
e.g. fitness, weight-loss, self-defense, stress relief, feeling tough, lol....

In all honesty, I don't think one art is better for self-defense than another though some are more geared for it. A lot of it comes down to the practicioner. A guy who goes to BJJ once a week isn't going to be as proficient as a guy who does Tae Kwon Do five times a week (so long as the TKD knows the actual techniques to use on the street, lol). Self-defense is more than the art, it's the artist. And all of the arts are capable of fitness, weight-loss, stress relief, etc.

I would say not everyone cares about being a bad@$$, especially older people, so an art like Aikido will be stress relieving while teaching some joint manipulation. So what if an aikido-ka can't fend off 4 armed attackers. At least he will be peaceful about it.

And btw, I doubt most people could fend off 4 armed attackers. I think Rickson Gracie would be hard pressed.

[falcon3624]

Originally posted by BadgerFu57
And btw, I doubt most people could fend off 4 armed attackers. I think Rickson Gracie would be hard pressed.

When I think about fighting 4 guys at a time I don't think about any Gracie. It is hard enough to fight 4 people standing let alone laying on your back

[Tom Yum]

It depends on your condition going into the MMA program.

If you're over 50, not active, live a sedentary lifestyle and want to do martial arts I think MMA is probably not the best choice. I would opt for an internal martial art, phillipino MA, Krav Maga or Hapkido.

If you're over 50 and have 10+ recent years experience in the martial arts or have been active in the recent past in rigorous excercise like rowing, bicycling, mountain climbing or weight training then MMA could be a good choice.

Another concern is if you've done a lot of hard sparring over a period of years and while you maybe comfortable with fight pressure, you want to go easier on your body. In this case any traditional martial art would suffice.

[Kirves]

My point was not about starting at 50. I meant starting at 20 or 30 and then continuing for the rest of the life. Of course tournaments are quite out of guestion when you're 50, but training at the local MMA club, can I still follow it?

And of course MMA can mean mixing anything, like Aikido and Taijiquan. But I was really referring to the stuff they teach at the common MMA/NHB/ValeTudo/SW clubs everywhere. I don't think many of them teach Aikido mixed with Taiji... I didn't mean mixing it up yourself, but joining an MMA gym and training there. And we all know what kind of stuff they commonly train and do there.

[Tom Yum]

It surely doesn't hurt to train there while you can. Even if you do it recreationally, you can get in great shape and learn some no nonsense self-defense.

Let's say that you study boxing and jujitsu for 4 years and get a couple of amateur fights under your belt. Then you move to attend grad school or change jobs and cannot find an MMA school in your area.

Whichever school you end up in, you will have the benefit of having good experience which you can keep alongside your new training.

[Thai Bri]

I think you can carry on, but you have to modify the training. Go for skill and guile rather than brute force. Make your training as efficient and focussed as possible, rather than just rolling around or banging a bag all day long.

And, when you get into your 50s, 60s and even 70s, you will have to rely on the respect from your training partners to play a skill game, rather than an overtly physical game with you. There is still much to be learned when not going all out.

I always think that its a shame that so many who were at the top of their game give it all up when they pass their best. They end up like real old fat bastards, instead of people who could still be way above average fitness/fighting ability regardless of their age.

[cakegirl]

Terve Kirves,

Helio Gracie is - what - 90-odd years old now? I think he would tell you that you can start young and keep going when you're old.

~Cakegirl

[falcon3624]

Yea, he probably would tell you that, but then he is going to challenge you and try to beat your ass. I am starting to think that Helio is getting senile in his old age.

[Tom Yum]

Can you compete in full contact NHB/MMA into your old age?

Its not a good idea.

But BJJ is not necessarily NHB fighting. You CAN practice BJJ into your old age as Helio does, but I wouldn't recommend boxing or muay thai.

[Old Fat Kenpoka]

Middle age is not old age.

A few people can do MMA in their mid or late 40's. Some people can do BJJ in their late 50's. Very few can still roll hard in their 60's. But, by the mid or late 60's it's probably time for most of us to take up Tai Chi. That gives me about 25 more years for BJJ training.

[smith&wesson]

When you are over 60 it is not so much interesting what your trainer says. It is more interesting what your doctor says

[Old Fat Kenpoka]

Sometimes you shouldn't listen to your doctor.

Do you think any competent doctor would ever tell a patient over 60 that it is okay to train MMA with a bunch of psycho 25-year olds?

----------------

You know what my orthopedist told me when I was 21 and blew out my knee in Karate class?

"Why don't you quit Karate and take up swimming? Nobody ever tears their knee swimming."

You know what my response was: "Yeah, well nobody every drowns in Karate class!"

Anyway, he was a great doctor and saved my brothers legs after he was run over by a car and had 28 fractures in all of his leg bones (including both femurs).

[Kirves]

Re: Sometimes you shouldn't listen to your doctor.

Originally posted by Old Fat Kenpoka
Do you think any competent doctor would ever tell a patient over 60 that it is okay to train MMA with a bunch of psycho 25-year olds?

Don't you think there's going to be a lot of 60 year old MMA hobbyists around at that time, so you don't have to train with psycho 25-year olds?