As my 4th year anniversary of training at temple approaches, I have been reflecting lately on what these 4 years have meant to me. I have changed so much these 4 years and I have also changed very little. My chi and stamina can be extraordinary at times and other times, like last night, very lackluster. I am still inflexible. I still haven't achieved a middle split or a side split and I definitely haven't kissed my toes. I am afraid to acknowledge it. There is a 4 year plateau. Who am I kidding? There's a daily plateau. How do you break through that ceiling and climb above? Many have quit or left the the temple to pursue other endeavors, training, and start families. Why do I choose to stay? How do I reconcile the many hours I spend a week kicking and jumping? In my mind, it is the best form of exercise; the best form of meditation. Relationships, love, and friends have come and gone from my life. Only One thing has remained constant - my dedication to training at the USA Shaolin Temple. I stay not because I don't have anywhere else to go. I stay because there's so much more to learn.
Showing posts with label aging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aging. Show all posts
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Faster and Higher
As my 4th year anniversary of training at temple approaches, I have been reflecting lately on what these 4 years have meant to me. I have changed so much these 4 years and I have also changed very little. My chi and stamina can be extraordinary at times and other times, like last night, very lackluster. I am still inflexible. I still haven't achieved a middle split or a side split and I definitely haven't kissed my toes. I am afraid to acknowledge it. There is a 4 year plateau. Who am I kidding? There's a daily plateau. How do you break through that ceiling and climb above? Many have quit or left the the temple to pursue other endeavors, training, and start families. Why do I choose to stay? How do I reconcile the many hours I spend a week kicking and jumping? In my mind, it is the best form of exercise; the best form of meditation. Relationships, love, and friends have come and gone from my life. Only One thing has remained constant - my dedication to training at the USA Shaolin Temple. I stay not because I don't have anywhere else to go. I stay because there's so much more to learn.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Age ain't nothin' but a number
I really enjoyed reading this article from The St. Louis Post-Dispatch about this 62 year old man who continues to train harder every day!
Like fine wine, man improves with age
By Harry Jackson Jr.
Posted: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 12:00 am
If Spartan soldiers still trained today, they'd do it in J.R. Moore's basement.
"I call it 'The Dungeon,'" Moore said.
"They say when you reach a certain age, you're done. Well, I'm stronger now than I was at 50, and I was stronger at 50 than I was at 40. That's what I'm telling people, age is only a number; you can always get stronger."
Step into the basement and find the walls lined with exercise weights and pictures of prize-winning bodybuilders, hundreds of both.
In the midst of the photos are proverbs and sayings. His favorite is "Steroid free since 1947."
"I was born in 1947," he said, laughing.
And while his body is in superb condition, the closest he has come to competing has been as an impersonator of Macho Man Randy Savage, a professional wrestling icon. Moore stands about 5 feet 10 inches and has the same muscular, prize-wrestler build. He still has the replica of the championship wrestling belt.
Every few minutes he takes a drink from a bottle of water.
His meals consist of oatmeal every morning, tuna, salmon and fruits and vegetables for lunch and dinner. He sleeps eight hours a night. "Gotta get sleep," he said.
Although he worked at an earlier age in a gym that closed years ago, he has never had professional training. And he still practices the simple resistance exercises that he used in the '60s.
"I'm old school; I compete against myself," he said. "Every year I try to do more than I did the year before. And the only person I have to impress is me."
Why? "I love it; I just love it," he said, curling up a big, smooth muscle from his left biceps.
With all of the memorabilia, weights, photos and benches in the room, something is curiously absent: no electronic entertainment, no TV, no radio, no stereo, no treadmill or other modern "essential."
"I don't want any distractions," he said.
The closest thing to an exercise machine is a 30-year-old bench-press stand that catches the weights when he's done so he doesn't need a spotter.
He ignores trends. One of his three exercise benches he bought when he was 15.
He likes to experience every move he makes. He spends 90 minutes a day exercising.
"This is training," he said. "... Sometimes I have friends down here working with me, but that's it."
A large, institutional clock hangs on the wall.
"You want to work? Compete against the clock. You can't cheat the clock."
Some of the signs on his wall testify to that: 1,033 pushups in one hour in 1990; 1,261 squats in an hour in 2005; 148 bench reps totaling 4,380 pounds in 2008.
One secret to longevity is to stay healthy, he said. So he rarely lifts more than 40 pounds per arm.
"I never lift heavy," he said. "You have to avoid injury. One little twinge and I stop.
"Repetitions. Just repetitions."
The light reps also take care of aerobic workouts, he said; he doesn't do roadwork.
He demonstrated his warm up: "Here, sit here and for three minutes." As he sat, he punched, not hard, about 45 degrees upward.
"You can do this sitting on the couch watching TV," he said. "You can do this from a wheelchair.
"Here, you try it."
A short time later, not three minutes, he was laughing.
"See that's tough, ain't it? But you made it to 45 seconds, next time, do 50 seconds, and keep going.
"You'll just keep getting stronger."
Moore is not so unusual, other than his intense enthusiasm, said Dr. Scott Kaar, an orthopedic surgeon and director of sports medicine at St. Louis University. Someone who works out continuously will continue to get stronger, he said. "Keep working safely ... avoid injury, and there's nothing that says you can't continue to (stay strong) your entire life."
Start slow, check with your doctor and don't overdo it, he said.
Meanwhile, Moore said he has no plans to quit; as long as he sets his own records, he plans to break them.
"It's my thing," he said. "Everybody should have a thing, something they love."
He took another drink. "People make it so complicated. They say when you get old you go down hill. Well I'm going uphill."
Like fine wine, man improves with age
By Harry Jackson Jr.
Posted: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 12:00 am
If Spartan soldiers still trained today, they'd do it in J.R. Moore's basement.
"I call it 'The Dungeon,'" Moore said.
"They say when you reach a certain age, you're done. Well, I'm stronger now than I was at 50, and I was stronger at 50 than I was at 40. That's what I'm telling people, age is only a number; you can always get stronger."
Step into the basement and find the walls lined with exercise weights and pictures of prize-winning bodybuilders, hundreds of both.
In the midst of the photos are proverbs and sayings. His favorite is "Steroid free since 1947."
"I was born in 1947," he said, laughing.
And while his body is in superb condition, the closest he has come to competing has been as an impersonator of Macho Man Randy Savage, a professional wrestling icon. Moore stands about 5 feet 10 inches and has the same muscular, prize-wrestler build. He still has the replica of the championship wrestling belt.
Every few minutes he takes a drink from a bottle of water.
His meals consist of oatmeal every morning, tuna, salmon and fruits and vegetables for lunch and dinner. He sleeps eight hours a night. "Gotta get sleep," he said.
Although he worked at an earlier age in a gym that closed years ago, he has never had professional training. And he still practices the simple resistance exercises that he used in the '60s.
"I'm old school; I compete against myself," he said. "Every year I try to do more than I did the year before. And the only person I have to impress is me."
Why? "I love it; I just love it," he said, curling up a big, smooth muscle from his left biceps.
With all of the memorabilia, weights, photos and benches in the room, something is curiously absent: no electronic entertainment, no TV, no radio, no stereo, no treadmill or other modern "essential."
"I don't want any distractions," he said.
The closest thing to an exercise machine is a 30-year-old bench-press stand that catches the weights when he's done so he doesn't need a spotter.
He ignores trends. One of his three exercise benches he bought when he was 15.
He likes to experience every move he makes. He spends 90 minutes a day exercising.
"This is training," he said. "... Sometimes I have friends down here working with me, but that's it."
A large, institutional clock hangs on the wall.
"You want to work? Compete against the clock. You can't cheat the clock."
Some of the signs on his wall testify to that: 1,033 pushups in one hour in 1990; 1,261 squats in an hour in 2005; 148 bench reps totaling 4,380 pounds in 2008.
One secret to longevity is to stay healthy, he said. So he rarely lifts more than 40 pounds per arm.
"I never lift heavy," he said. "You have to avoid injury. One little twinge and I stop.
"Repetitions. Just repetitions."
The light reps also take care of aerobic workouts, he said; he doesn't do roadwork.
He demonstrated his warm up: "Here, sit here and for three minutes." As he sat, he punched, not hard, about 45 degrees upward.
"You can do this sitting on the couch watching TV," he said. "You can do this from a wheelchair.
"Here, you try it."
A short time later, not three minutes, he was laughing.
"See that's tough, ain't it? But you made it to 45 seconds, next time, do 50 seconds, and keep going.
"You'll just keep getting stronger."
Moore is not so unusual, other than his intense enthusiasm, said Dr. Scott Kaar, an orthopedic surgeon and director of sports medicine at St. Louis University. Someone who works out continuously will continue to get stronger, he said. "Keep working safely ... avoid injury, and there's nothing that says you can't continue to (stay strong) your entire life."
Start slow, check with your doctor and don't overdo it, he said.
Meanwhile, Moore said he has no plans to quit; as long as he sets his own records, he plans to break them.
"It's my thing," he said. "Everybody should have a thing, something they love."
He took another drink. "People make it so complicated. They say when you get old you go down hill. Well I'm going uphill."
Saturday, February 21, 2009
All My Remedies
I can't imagine the days that I am free of knee pain. I have been living with it for so long. The pain level fluctuated over the years depending on how much I trained. I tried all kinds of magic potions and nothing seemed to work. This is like a curse. It's like "great flexibility comes with great pain."
My first knee pain was accompanied by a lower back pain in the middle of learning Erluquan. I went to a chiropractor. He said I was fucked. My built-for-child-bearing hips weren't straight and therefore screwed up my knees, spines and neck. I kept going to have my spines adjusted and popped for about 3 months with neither lower back or knee pains going away. So I stopped.
Then I went to an Orthopedist. He felt up my knees for about 2 seconds and pronounced my knees Chodromalacia and gave me a prescription for physical therapy for 3 months. So I went to a physical therapy for 3 months during which I hardly trained at all. The therapist ordered me not to do anything i.e. no walking on the beach, no wearing flipflops, no high-heel shoes, no swimming, no biking, no long walk, no running, and no kungfu. I listened to him 75% of the time. I exercised my knees and iced them half religiously.
After the 3 doing-nothing months, I went back to my orthopedist. The pain still didn't go away. He sent me to an MRI. The result showed that everything was fine except that I had huge inflammation under both kneecaps. So he injected Steroid into my knees. The pain went away completely for 3 days and came back when I went back to training.
I stopped going to that doctor.
Not all was lost however, I found out that my problem was the inflammation under the kneecaps. I just have to get rid of it. Patricia (Heng Zheng) told me about Arnica Gel - a homeopathic that helps reduce inflammation. I started using it religiously. It's great for bruises and other kinds of swell but not my knees. I also started using knee braces while training. They reduced impact on my knees a bit during jumping but they are very cumbersome for moves like Xiebu or Zhengtantui.
By this point, my knees are so swollen that I could not bend my knees totally. I grew up sitting with my legs folded and squatting. I could not do either of that anymore because it would hurt too much. I was losing my Asian squat...
I started taking Glucosamine with Chondroitin and MSM -- without any pain reducing result. I also got into a habit of taking Ibuprofen before training so that I could do certain knee-crunching moves with out too much pain.
Recently, Natalie told me about FlexNow - a supplement made from Shea Butter - that she took and had successful anti-inflammation result. So I started taking that too.
Shifu suggested that I stop using knee braces, stop jumping and do more stretching and kicking. So I did just that. In the past two weeks I only trained Level 1 classes and got out of the lines when other people jumped.
Currently, with all these supplements in my body and no jumping, I think my pain level went down a notch. The pain is still there especially when I walk down the stairs. I still can't totally fold my knees but my Xiebu becomes a little more comfortable. So I guess I'm heading toward the right path.
During my last 2 years combating this knee problem, the only time that I was totally pain free was toward the end of my India trip. I did not train at all for about 5 weeks. I had no problem running up and down steps. I hope it doesn't come to choosing between training and my knees. Hopefully, I will find a middle ground where the knees can make peace with Kungfu.
My first knee pain was accompanied by a lower back pain in the middle of learning Erluquan. I went to a chiropractor. He said I was fucked. My built-for-child-bearing hips weren't straight and therefore screwed up my knees, spines and neck. I kept going to have my spines adjusted and popped for about 3 months with neither lower back or knee pains going away. So I stopped.
Then I went to an Orthopedist. He felt up my knees for about 2 seconds and pronounced my knees Chodromalacia and gave me a prescription for physical therapy for 3 months. So I went to a physical therapy for 3 months during which I hardly trained at all. The therapist ordered me not to do anything i.e. no walking on the beach, no wearing flipflops, no high-heel shoes, no swimming, no biking, no long walk, no running, and no kungfu. I listened to him 75% of the time. I exercised my knees and iced them half religiously.
After the 3 doing-nothing months, I went back to my orthopedist. The pain still didn't go away. He sent me to an MRI. The result showed that everything was fine except that I had huge inflammation under both kneecaps. So he injected Steroid into my knees. The pain went away completely for 3 days and came back when I went back to training.
I stopped going to that doctor.
Not all was lost however, I found out that my problem was the inflammation under the kneecaps. I just have to get rid of it. Patricia (Heng Zheng) told me about Arnica Gel - a homeopathic that helps reduce inflammation. I started using it religiously. It's great for bruises and other kinds of swell but not my knees. I also started using knee braces while training. They reduced impact on my knees a bit during jumping but they are very cumbersome for moves like Xiebu or Zhengtantui.
By this point, my knees are so swollen that I could not bend my knees totally. I grew up sitting with my legs folded and squatting. I could not do either of that anymore because it would hurt too much. I was losing my Asian squat...
I started taking Glucosamine with Chondroitin and MSM -- without any pain reducing result. I also got into a habit of taking Ibuprofen before training so that I could do certain knee-crunching moves with out too much pain.
Recently, Natalie told me about FlexNow - a supplement made from Shea Butter - that she took and had successful anti-inflammation result. So I started taking that too.
Shifu suggested that I stop using knee braces, stop jumping and do more stretching and kicking. So I did just that. In the past two weeks I only trained Level 1 classes and got out of the lines when other people jumped.
Currently, with all these supplements in my body and no jumping, I think my pain level went down a notch. The pain is still there especially when I walk down the stairs. I still can't totally fold my knees but my Xiebu becomes a little more comfortable. So I guess I'm heading toward the right path.
During my last 2 years combating this knee problem, the only time that I was totally pain free was toward the end of my India trip. I did not train at all for about 5 weeks. I had no problem running up and down steps. I hope it doesn't come to choosing between training and my knees. Hopefully, I will find a middle ground where the knees can make peace with Kungfu.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
the Importance of Being Oldest
At dinner last night after the class, we talked about how a lot of people don't show up to Level 1 classes anymore after they passed to Level 2. And how much more fun and more chi the class is when older (Kungfu age) people train.
I think with the style of Kungfu that we train, students become better, movements more natural, the more and longer we train.
This is why it's always a treat when people who've been training for a long time show up to train with us in the class. They are inspiring and full of chi.
But since we are not monks, living in the middle of nowhere, we have other obligations in life as well. Some of us physically moved. Some moved on. Some just have to deal with life vs. training schedule.
For those of us who are still training, I just quit my job and won't be working for a while. You'll see me more regularly at the temple. :)
I think with the style of Kungfu that we train, students become better, movements more natural, the more and longer we train.
This is why it's always a treat when people who've been training for a long time show up to train with us in the class. They are inspiring and full of chi.
But since we are not monks, living in the middle of nowhere, we have other obligations in life as well. Some of us physically moved. Some moved on. Some just have to deal with life vs. training schedule.
For those of us who are still training, I just quit my job and won't be working for a while. You'll see me more regularly at the temple. :)
Friday, February 1, 2008
Combatting aging with training!
Yesterday, the NY Times published an interesting article about the effects of exercise on aging. "Train hard and train often," said Hirofumi Tanaka, a 41-year-old soccer player and exercise physiologist at the University of Texas.
Yes, Train har-dah!
And on our way to soup after training last night, JJ asked Sucheela how old she was turning today on her birthday (yay!), and when she revealed her age, he was surprised and said something like, "Wow, the kung fu works!"
Yes, Train har-dah!
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