[Bloodybirds]

Ladies and Gentlemen, yesterday I was part of a martial arts demo with another senior brother's school at the Houston International festival this week and next honoring China this year. It was very crowded and many of the CMA schools in the area will be demoing the next two weeks. Well, Sunday we had three scheduled demos and I participated in two of them. The first one was a 30 minute internal demo and we each did different tai chi, hsing i, or ba gua forms and then did tai chi gim, tai chi saber, etc. Not too taxing but in the spring heat still invigorating. But, at the second demo it was all kung fu. I performed a ying jow eagle claw form, a nine bird Wudan Shaolin form, and a weapon form..

Well, my friends, sure no problem during the demo, love the adrenalin rush....LOL.

But, woke up this morning and I am sore! This 48 year old body can still move but I have to admit the recovery time ain't what it used to be!! Even with the current consistent training, one can feel the difference. Now I begin to see why all the old masters gradually migrated entirely to the internal arts by their 40s-50s while teaching kung fu. As one of my masters told me last year, "teach kung fu and practice tai chi!"

It is still very fun to be able to fight a kung fu form with spirit, but I notice now even with proper qigong during the performance and proper movement, the body now gives you answers to unasked questions!

Sooo...for those who are right now going through the "no pain, no gain" stage that I did in my teens, 20s, and 30s to experience the true body training, toughening, etc., it does come back to kick you! My Shaolin master has told me before if his abbot in Hong Kong told him at age 43 he had to come back to train the old way again and go through the Hell again, he would just kill himself! I feel the same way about him. I think one is meant to only go through that type of training once.

When I watch all the guys in MMA or UFC and their current training, I know eventually they will be unable to do that. I recognize that Randy Couture at 43 is an anomaoly, but I bet you he would tell you that it is much tougher now for him to get his body prepared for a contest! Would be an interesting conversation.

In any event, to you younguns, enjoy your high leaps, your suicide flips, your multiple high kicks, etc., for that will evolve eventually into efficient fighting of 10 seconods or less and get out of there!

Just my opinion! Go for it! I enjoy the hard training still, but now it is to keep my skills up and to get a good workout and live longer, and still protect my family!

[voodue]

Hahaha! That is what I tell the young bucks in capoeira. I always say capoeira is a young persons art. When you get older you usually stop flipping and start thinking! hahaha The one beautiful thing is the music of capoeira. When we get older instead of gravitating to an internal style we go to the music. You can be 90 and still sing your ass off! Anyway its good to hear you still can hang with the young punks hahaha I'm only 36 but feel 56 because of college football. I just started Inayan Eskrima and feel reinvigorated. I've found my "old" art. The older I get the better I will become in the art. I'm looking forward to growing old with this FMA.

[zefff]

Mabuhay Bro!!!

[Bloodybirds]

I was married to a Filipino for 8 years and have two wonderful kids in NJ, while I am in Texas. I must tell you, though I did not train in the Filipino arts, my ex wife was once accosted in Dallas by a guy while she had our then baby son, right after we moved back to my home from NYC and Hong Kong, and cut the guy 36 times with her hidden bali songs. It was then I found out that Bisayan women are raised with those....LOL! It sure gave me incentive to train harder in my 18 weapons....LOL! By the way, great ladies but their mothers are usually Dragons! LOL!

Wow, at 36 I was still competing, fighting, and felt great...then knee surgery, shoulder surgery, hernia surgery, etc. All from the arts. Well, to my young brethern, enjoy the absence of gravity while you can. As my master here in Houston is fond of saying, "Now, wait until they land, then hit 'em!" In all seriousness, I must say with all the aches, etc from all these years of training at 48 I know I am still in better shape than most my age, and as a by product have never smoked, done drugs, and have about a glass of red wine a week. Soooo....this stuff is life long habit forming! I guess it is a good addiction...LOL!

[voodue]

Originally Posted by Bloodybirds

I was married to a Filipino for 8 years and have two wonderful kids in NJ, while I am in Texas. I must tell you, though I did not train in the Filipino arts, my ex wife was once accosted in Dallas by a guy while she had our then baby son, right after we moved back to my home from NYC and Hong Kong, and cut the guy 36 times with her hidden bali songs. It was then I found out that Bisayan women are raised with those....LOL! It sure gave me incentive to train harder in my 18 weapons....LOL! By the way, great ladies but their mothers are usually Dragons! LOL!

Wow, at 36 I was still competing, fighting, and felt great...then knee surgery, shoulder surgery, hernia surgery, etc. All from the arts. Well, to my young brethern, enjoy the absence of gravity while you can. As my master here in Houston is fond of saying, "Now, wait until they land, then hit 'em!" In all seriousness, I must say with all the aches, etc from all these years of training at 48 I know I am still in better shape than most my age, and as a by product have never smoked, done drugs, and have about a glass of red wine a week. Soooo....this stuff is life long habit forming! I guess it is a good addiction...LOL!

I understand about the Asian women! My wife is Chinese and she scares me when she get angry! I feel for you with the surgeries too! I've had 5 knee surgeries in the past 12 years. The last one was a major one and hopefully the last! That was a patella realignment were they detach the patella tendon and reattach it with screws. ouch! Anyway its always good to hear the generation before me still training hard. Its an inspiration for me to know that I might be able to achieve that too!