How old is too old? My wife had her debut mma fight in her 40s, and dominated the 22 yr old she fought. .Dada 5000 nearly dies in his last fight. And now this.lady. [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVjnV4vGXl0"]Copie de At 68, she is the oldest MMA fighter in the world in 2016 - YouTube[/ame]
To be honest I am in two minds...the lady is clearly OK at the end, and good on her for trying at her age (although she has a kickboxing background too I believe) but for her opponent this was a no win: she loses she lost to a 68 yr old...she wins she beat a 68 year old Sometimes the Old Dog gets lucky of course.... [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVhAIO8wY9k"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVhAIO8wY9k[/ame]
Yeah she has legit training, but at that age fit someone of similar age. No business fighting young guns. We wouldn't let 64 year old pro boxers fight 22 year old studs, so why is it okay in mma?
I found myself pondering this question recently , after sparring at a new gym . After a couple of rounds which began as light contact only my next partner (when we're stood with our front feet in a tyre to keep us toe to toe ) comes out all guns blazing catching me off guard and before I know it I'm shelled up , rolling trying to limit the damage. Fair enough it happens , I came away with a bit of a shiner but afterwards I thought to myself ; at my age (48) , what am I doing ? I have a wife and three kids to look after and I should'nt be putting myself in a situation where there is potential to suffer some serious brain damage ( as is evident from Ero sennens experience .) Age makes a significant difference to recovery and decline in reflex speed so although I enjoy sparring , from now on only with clear ground rules and people I know and trust. Ultimately martial arts is a hobby for me and as a priority should be sat firmly behind familly and work.
You are right on this ned. I spar regularly with trusted team mates at 42. I have defiantly slowed way down in my wiser years. We recently had a 60 is yr old man join our gym. He spars with us with no fear. Even though we go easy on him his reflexes are defiantly on the sloth side. On the flip side my 42 yr old wife has reflexes of a 20 yr old. Of course she is not the rule. Still I defiantly worry when she steps into the cage.
I think a lot depends on the art...at 42 I throw down better than I ever have done and many of my students are as old or older than me - our nickname in California was "The Silver Horde". Then you also have people like my dear friend James Hundon who at 67 can still throw down with the young pups and teach them a lesson or two Cacoy Canete right up until his passing was still able to move his stick with blinding speed and I need not get into how incredible Guro Dan still moves I think the best analogy would be comparing the blazing flames of youth to the slow burning log of maturity!
I don't have the fitness, but that is because I've let it lapse. My family and work have taken an increasing amount of time over the last decade. I can still move better than most of my students though and teaching isn't an issue. The trick as you get older is to keep moving and make the movements more primal. I describe it two ways. One is the be like a child and the other is to be like an elderly gardener. Squat, twist, roll, lift, push, pull, jump, stretch and so on. Keep that up and you wont go far wrong.
My Grand-dad was still doing running in his 70s, even though he had a bit of senile dementia. My Dad still has biceps and he's in his mid 60s but he is aware that he's getting rickity. He is lifelong PakMei but all his workouts comes from being a chef and cooking for large parties. I'll be lucky that I can last as long as my predecessors. But head impact at 70yrs old is a bit worrying for me.
I would add there is a clear difference between teaching/training with occasional sparring and the volume of sparring needed to fight competitively. (although I think several major gyms I hear are cutting back on the amount of heavy sparring their fighters do.) I guess the question is what your goals are - if you want to be a genuinely competitive high level fighter, ageing is a problem. If you want to train and just have the odd tear up to remind yourself what it takes - no problem.
Id say there a few difference subtopics in this subject. 1) standard recreational training 2) fight training and Competing in well matched MMA matches 3) Training and competing in mismatched MMA matches. 1) Is fine no matter the age, with some consideration of medical / age limitations 2) May be fine, depending on skill level and Consideration of medical / age limitations 3) No-one should be participating in mismatches especially in MMA, but the potential consequences are worse the older you get.
45, I lack the physical endurance to be a competitive anything really. I'd like to take it up, MMA that is. Spending 20 years in the TMA. Completely retired now. Like most I didn't have the skills to go to far. So at this point, think I missed the boat LOL.
You've not missed the boat to train in something competitive, or even compete with an equally matched opponant, there's a whole host of things to compete in that arnt full MMA matches. But you do need to start, to be good.
I definitely made a switch in my 40s from a mix of heavy and light sparring to mostly light sparring with the occasional heavy round to keep it real. I've never really let myself get out of shape, so I feel pretty much the same as I always did in terms of strength, speed, and reaction time... but god knows I take twice as long to heal when I do get injured. I honestly think the wide spread use of TRT- before it was banned- in MMA had more to do with surviving the training camp than anything else.
