What Taekwondo In My 40s Taught Me About The Age Excuse

Age-TKD after 40

Age Happens

I literally caught myself mid screenshot.

Click.

Please tell me I didn’t just do that. *peer in horror through my fingers at the phone screen.

“AGE IS JUST A NUMBER”

I just took a screenshot of that quote. *gulp.

Don’t know about you, but I’m thinking this is a less than subtle sign that I’ve sailed into a stage of life where clearly age is. Not. Just. A Number.

Since if age was just a number, people of any age would be capturing that same sneaky screenshot to share on Facebook later. Am I right?

Except, I can’t really imagine too many sparky under 25s snap chatting that one about the place.

I admit, there’s been other less than subtle signs too.

  • Listening to podcasts now because the inane chatter on the radio makes me a teeny bit homicidal.
  • Taking a nice cardy with me on the super rare occasion I leave the house after dark ‘just in case it gets chilly’.
  • Talking about the youngsters using snap chat when they most likely moved onto something new at least 18 months ago!?
  • Catching myself using (shock horror!) the age excuse.

So yeah. Ok.

At 41 years, there are people who would call me old. Not to my face ‘cause I got a deadly fierce glare and I ain’t afraid to use it.

For the record, I haven’t yet resorted to taking a thermos with me on a road trip so I don’t need to buy coffee.

That kind of thing is only for the positively ancient.

What to do now?

So as I contemplate this information about my “Old” age, what exactly should I do with it?

Act my age? Wrap it ’round me like a cosy snuggle rug so I never have to step outside my comfort zone again?

I wouldn’t be alone. Plenty of people my age are doing that.

Or maybe I could just pick out a coffin, start planning what music I want played at my funeral and prepare for dying.

Pffffft. No.

Sounds ridiculous when you put it like that. Given modern standards of longevity, I might only be a third of the way through my life right now. A THIRD!!!

And so too are hundreds of people I see every day who (fair enough) might not be preparing for death just yet, but are they really living?

Sat safe and warm in their comfort zone – with no new challenges, no goals and no passion. Just going through the motions of a moderately dull and daily routine.

I know! That comes off as a little smug right? A bit Judgey McJudge Face.

After all, who am I to be dishing out life advice to anyone? Not like I’ve got this whole mess figured out yet.

Mind you, most under 25s probably presume we over 40s must have stuff pretty much sorted by now.

Lol. No.

Do we need the age excuse?

One thing I do have though, (and have become quite prone to sharing in case you hadn’t yet caught on) is my experience over the past 18 months of starting Taekwondo.

It’s brought benefits to my life I could never have imagined. And they caught me quite by surprise.

Turns out, you can Taekwondo at any age!

I’m not super fit, super qualified, super talented or super anything really. I just feel super passionate (and probably also super annoying) about sharing what I have discovered with others so they can realise the amazing body, mind and spirit benefits of martial arts training too.

Truth is, among all this, I have realised that age really is just a number. In the context of just making your life better, more enjoyable, more fulfilling…It literally matters zip.

Since starting this blog, I’ve been in touch with martial artists from all over the world who didn’t start training until their 40s, 50s, 60s even 70s!

And a whole heap of these awesome legends have achieved their black belt and so much more beyond – from becoming instructors to winning medals at international competitions.

My problem

Despite all this ra-ra around it never being too late though, I have to admit I did catch myself using my age as an excuse this past week.

You see, I’m having trouble with my Taekwondo Turning Kick. I can get the head-level height but it’s not technically correct because my knee is pointing down.Is the age excuse holding you back?

That loses me a lot of potential power in a few belts time when (apparently) some crazy ninja kinda magic occurs and my ‘thwack’ becomes more of a ‘POW!!’.

I asked a few people what I was doing wrong, how should I fix it and they couldn’t really give me an answer.

That immediately left me thinking “Humph. Must just be ‘cause I’m old. Guess I’m stuck with it”.

Thing is, blaming age was really just an excuse, not a reason.

Doing so gave me an out, like a path for careful retreat back to the safety of my comfort zone.

No point pushing myself. I could get hurt! Then what?

I’ll tell you THEN WHAT! Defeat. Crushing disappointment. Loss of confidence. Loss of purpose.

I could spew out an ancient Egyptian scroll with a list of things I’ve learned since taking up Taekwondo in my 40s.

But one of the biggest, has been:

  • Practice makes progress.

Maybe I can fix this issue with my kick. Maybe I can’t. But one thing I’m not going to do is tap out on trying.

How I will fix it

I felt a bit self-conscious approaching the issue with our club Master, 6th Dan Black Belt and 5 x Australian Black Belt Open Sparring champion Justin Warren.

But I shoved all that crap to one side because I needed an answer.

Guess what? He had one.

And the best part?

Not even necessarily an age thing! In fact, he’d noticed a similar restriction in movement on my 11-year-old son’s Turning Kick. Good golly!  Could be a family thing.

On top of that, Master Justin has given me a bunch of kick-ass exercises he’s pretty confident will sort the problem – so long as I persist and have patience.

So here’s another thing off my ancient Egyptian scroll list.

Since starting Taekwondo training, moving through the incremental levels of achievement set out via the mandatory belt system, literally makes me feel like I can achieve anything if I set my mind to it.

I could use my age as an excuse not to push myself but what serious level of amazing would my life be missing if I did?

How about you? Is the age excuse holding you back from trying something new?

 

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kristy@brown
About Kristy Hitchens 3 Articles
Kristy Hitchens took up Taekwondo after watching her son from the sidelines for 5 years and just after she turned 40. As a newspaper journalist and freelance writer of more than 20 years, it felt natural to write about the experience. When she discovered so many other people could relate to her sometimes comical journey, she decided to start blogging as The Mortal Mouse.

12 Comments

  1. Hello Kristy
    I am à 42 years old man from Belgium. Sorry for my english.
    I have the same problem. I starters 3years abo with taekwondo.en have the red band.Can you answer me on my email adress,so you can tell me more
    About it,en tell me what to do.
    Thank you

    • Hi Pascal! Thank you so much for dropping by. And please, no need to apologise. It’s just brilliant to connect with other martial artists from around the world. I’ll touch base with you as requested as I would love to help if I can by passing on what Master Justin has taught me.

  2. As a 44yr old male student of TKD with two children who both practice as well, i must admit some of the concerns entered my head when i first started training, Will i hurt myself? can i remember all my patterns? What if i just look silly?. To be honest 5 yrs on and 1st Dan around my waist i could not imagine doing anything else. I feel stronger, more flexible (to a point) and dare i say it younger in heart and mind. Can Jump as high as the young buck BB, or get my reverse turning kick as high? No!. But i commit 100%, and help others to learn, i get value from helping the other students to learn.

    My only issue is that i get frustrated i can’t do the things the others do in terms flexibility but i give everything 100%. In my BB grading i Sparred with two 4th Dans both of Snr age, and let me tell your, Wise Head on a tough body is something to reckon with.

    In our group we have some other Snr Students and in some cases they are been taught slightly adjusted stances and technics so as not to load up the torque in the knees and hips.

    Basically physical age is not the blocker, belief and commitment to push through some pain is what is needed.

    Keep going Ma’am.

    TaeKwon.

    • Hey Carl! I absolutely love hearing about other parents who train with their kids. I think deciding to start training with my son was literally the best decision I have made so far as a parent. I totally understand your frustrations. I share them but I’m also learning that perseverance does pay off. Best wishes with your training.

  3. I have exactly the same issue. I’m a 2nd degree black belt. 54yrs old. Training for the last 10 years. The high turning kick is a problem. I know if I keep trying and keep training then eventually I will be able to execute it. I will persist and I will get there. But it may take a while. In the meantime I work hard on my upper body techniques and middle kicks as they are less stressful on my body

    • Hi Simon! Amazing to hear how far your taekwondo journey has taken you so far AND that you are having a similar issue with your turning kick. Absolutely every single body is built differently and we have to take these things into account, even though we do get frustrated with ourselves at times. I figure we’re still lapping everyone on the couch! 😉

  4. Hi Kirsty. Thanks for the interesting post. I can come at this from a slightly different/opposing perspective as I started TKD at the age of 14 and am now 38. Having many years of kicking you can imagine the injuries plus age issues which arise. I’m feeling stiffer and slower than I used to be an most of my training is maintaining what I have and pushing myself with competitions. So for me where I’m trying to build skills/capabilities it takes little changes in movement/approaches which make all the difference to adapt to your physical capabilities. A good coach should be able to spot this rather than having age as a limitation at your age.

    • Hi Andrew! Thanks a bunch for adding to this conversation. I really appreciate your alternate perspective on this. Very interesting! One thing I love about all this is you really do see value for effort. 🙂

  5. I’ve switched from referring to age in years to levels, as in gaming. It shifts your perspective from being older to being more experienced. I started my martial arts journey a few years ago at level 55.

  6. So glad I found this blog, I have a similar story, I watched my two sons who were 6 & 8 at the time, train for 3 years before I plucked up the courage to join the adult beginners TKD class in 2014, a female at the age of 44! Thought I was crazy but 5 years on and I have earned my 2nd Dan black belt and last year I qualified as an Assistant Instructor so I teach children now too. It’s a tense weekend as my youngest son who is now 14 is up for 3rd Dan testing over the next 2 weekends. I turn 50 at the end of the year and despite having wear and tear in my knees now which can be limiting at times, I’m proud of what I have achieved so far and will continue to achieve. They say the body won’t go where your mind doesn’t push it and that’s how I roll 🙂

  7. There are many reasons why adults consider practicing taekwondo. It is a art that is never static as we will adapt to update and improve our teaching methods and techniques. It puts a heavier emphasis on kicks and uses hands as backup. Taekwondo is really a great sports to learn.

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