Which style for 50 year olds who can't outrun anyone?

I have to echo the sentiments of the others on this thread; at fifty you're still prime for FMA if you decide that's what you want. A few weeks ago I had the real privilege of training for a few hours with GM Lito Concepcion, Kombatan Arnis at the WFMAA expo in Seattle. GM Lito was first introduced martial arts at the age of forty-eight when he joined a Tai Kwon Do class with his sons. Later he met GGM Presas, with whom trained directly. GGM Presas promoted Lito the rank of Grand Master in 2007, when Lito was 62 years old. At the age of 63, GM Lito won the western regional WEKAF tournament in Anyo/Forms/Carenza and Sparring.

Not to put too much emphasis on WEKAF wins or titles here. The message is that at fifty there's still more than enough time to achieve significant success in the FMA. Much of it comes down to just how badly you want it and how hard and consistently you're able to train.
 
He is right. The beauty of FMA is it can be easily catered to the requirements of an individual.

Duller, you are still young! Was watching some FMA footage of a 90, 80 something, and 70 something year old just the other day. They were using canes, sticks, and blades.

As suggested above, watching videos of older practitioners can be very instructive: there are good clips of Cacoy Cañete, Benjamin Luna Lema, Tatang Illustrisimo, etc., available on YouTube. What watching these clips suggests is that older practitioners rely more on a refined practice of efficient body mechanics than exernal muscular strength. Watch the following clip, for instance. The gentleman here is 85 years old:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU7MNGJiLOI

The umbrella is just a surrogate for something else: imagine what he'd accomplish with a three foot razor. He's obviously a little frail but the timing and distancing skills are still there.

I had the privilage of attending a seminar with Cacoy Cañete a few years back; he tossed me on the ground like I was a piece of lint. It was obvious how well he was connected to his core body structure.

A lot depends on how you practice, as well. Momoy Cañete was still training into his late '80's and early '90's. The following clip (at 00:55) shows Momoy when he was about 75 years old. Notice how he takes it nice and slow but demonstrates power on occasion (for example at 01:07):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmmuoZAWyNE

At 48 I don't move as well as I did when I was 17 either. I hope to be practicing martial arts into my '80's however...

Best,

Steve
 
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