The Way (will age impede your way)
Sunday 16 January 2022
It's a myth. Nothing gets in the way of fitness if you know a few simple principles. It is true, of course, that the body changes metabolically as we age. Muscle turns to fat. Joints become stiff through wear and tear. Some of us find it difficult to avoid putting on weight. Others struggle to put it on. You will already know which category you are in, most likely the first. Obesity increases with age if unattended, frequently followed by diabetes.
At Meiji Martial Arts, we're not qualified to tell you what to put into your body. However, we can show you different physical ways to treat your body, which will make you feel different. This in turn can alter your attitude to diet. As you see and feel an improvement in your physical fitness, you can become very protective of it and see bad diet as your enemy.
You cannot sit in an armchair and wish yourself fit. Neither is there a magic pill. You have to get up and out of that chair. On the other hand, we don't believe in pain for gain. Trying to punish your body with stamina and weights exercises beyond your natural tolerance will make you feel ghastly and put you off continuing. Life is to be enjoyed!
For a start, forget about building muscle, losing weight or counting the number of press-ups you can manage before collapsing. Get the basics sorted - breathing and circulation. Most of us have neglected both of those in our lives. You appear to get away with it when you’re young. But they come to get you as you age. Is it any wonder that older people commonly suffer from breathing and circulation problems? You get out what you put in. That's why it's easy to fix, and doing so can pay big dividends.
We're not particularly conscious of our breathing (until it goes wrong!) and we rarely fill our lungs to capacity. This automatically means our bodies never really function as well as they could. Become conscious of your breathing. Don't take it for granted, let it become an exercise. You know it's a two-stroke process - inhale, exhale. Deliberately fill your lungs from time to time, even when sitting down. Feel the oxygen going in and filling you up. Exhale with a sense of satisfaction.
Relate your breathing to physical effort. If you're lifting something, breathe in before you do so, breathe out while you lift. Just the same when you get up from your armchair. Inhale before you do, exhale as you do. You'll find we also follow this principle when kickboxing. A punch or a kick are accompanied by an exhalation.
As for circulation, one word goes a long way to improving it - WALK. It doesn't have to be strenuous, a stroll will do. It doesn't have to be far, so anything under a mile needs serious consideration. Forgetting the convenience of a car, is that short journey walkable, or strollable? This simple, natural exercise gets the blood up and running, circulating round the body, lubricating those joints. And when you put two things together - breathing and circulation - you'll feel the positive effects. While you're walking, be conscious of your breathing, harmonise them together as an active, life-enhancing being.
All of the above you can do without anybody's help. The Meiji Kickboxing Dojo should be just an extension of your fitness lifestyle. Here, we will introduce you to exercises that stretch your body without straining it, that will chime with your conscious breathing, and movement techniques that harmonise with your capabilities, together with new skills you never realised were just waiting to be released. You don't have to sweat and spar. Our instructors are experts in training the assets you already have. And as you get older, so some of the principles of self-defence are worth learning. We also teach Krav Maga, which you can learn without breaking bones or sweat, but may give you the opportunity to provide an attacker with a nasty surprise!
The best definition of fitness is 'a positive feeling of wellbeing'. This is available to everyone, of any age.