Why you should train karate, when you are "adult"?

By: Michael Lange – IOGKF Denmark

Danish member Michael Lange – only 52 years young – writes a fantastic article on how it is never to start Karate training! Covering both the scientific facts and using his own experiences, the author has put together an article that is a very interesting read...

You know it's probably good. It's Wednesday evening, you have just finished eating dinner with
family. It's raining outside, and most people getting ready for a quiet evening. You can see the couch
from the dining room. Yes you can actually see yourself in your favourite place! If you feel it after your body is too tired!

Now it is time that you must make the important decision. Who decides? Your body or your mind?

Your brain knows that exercise is important, your brain knows that exercise gives you energy, your
brain knows that the body is a machine which must be started:
But what is it that makes exercise good for our body:
1st Blood pressure drops.
2nd Oxygen uptake increases.
3rd The heart muscle gets bigger and stronger so it can send more blood to the body.
4th The good cholesterol, HDL, increases.
5th The small platelet ability to clump together gets smaller. It makes fewer blood clots.
6th The bad blood fats, triglycerides reduces the risk of a blood clot.
7th Hippocampus in the brain is growing, partly affects memory and learning.
8th Appetite regulation will work better.

These 8 points are important to your life. Everything you know may be good! You may choose to find
arguments about age and exercise. The argument can also give many excuses to sit on the couch. ‘You're too old to start something new. Karate is only for young flexible people. It's dangerous!’
Let us just look at the arguments. Medical science tells us it's never too late to exercise. As a new
Karate-ka, you can always improve your fitness, agility and strength.

It's never too late to start.

There is no doubt that physical activity throughout life is a health advantage. If you've been relatively inactive through your adult life, there are still plenty of health benefits by starting more physical activity. Thus, for instance, five years of physical activity almost halves the mortality rate for
adult men who have not previously been physically active. Although it is difficult to prove
scientifically, it is currently the theory that physical activity reduces the period of illness in the elderly and the physically active older people can look forward to more years of life without illness.

If you are starting an instance of regular cardio training at 60 years old, you can still improve your fitness, so your clean condition terms can add between 10 and 20 years of youth to you. So it is never too late ....

"But it will never be like when I was 20 years," you might think. Oh, and thank God for that. With age
comes reflective device, the reflection rather than routine. When you as an adult are about to begin in Karate, you must remember your flaws. The damage that you have with you, you must take into
account. Hips and knees may not be as flexible as before. Your reaction is landsommere, and vision
may have changed.

All these things that life has given you, Karate can help to improve. If we look at Jumbi Undo, warming exercises, they are some of the best exercises you can perform. You start from the bottom, warm toes, ankles, knees and entire body throughly before the "machine" is started. Joints are warmed up, along with the synovial fluid - lubrication between the joints. Your muscles move slowly, making them ready for action.

This kind of ‘heating’ has been tested and proven through generations. When you look at other sports, it's only karate, which is so detailed in its heating and spend so much time on preparing. If you follow the coach's instructions, you will already, after a few training sessions, feel more flexible, your muscle strength will be better and your fitness level somewhat higher.

Modern man sits down and very often in front of a computer. The kind of similar positions are not so good for the body. The body must be kept going. It is safe, but it must be put through different movements so that it keeps going.

Kata is the Goju Ryu Karate-ka’s gift. It is here that we can test all facets of Karate - speed,
strength and co-ordination. Once again Kata is done so that they are" appropriate "for each Karate-ka’s age. As the practitioner learns more of the Kata ‘s, there will be several of them that are appropriate to the individual's age.

Personally I am very happy with Sanchin Kata. It contains many facets, and I never really finished with the fine breathing Kata. In the morning Sanchin wakes the body in a nice way. After a long run, it can remove lactic acid from muscle which are sore. It's a fantastic  Kata, which is so versatile.
It is never too late to start!

Oss
Michael Lange - only 52 years ...
www.karateviborg.dk