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Old 03-03-2006, 03:33 PM   #28
MaryKaye
Dojo: Seattle Ki Society
Location: Seattle
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 522
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Re: Training over 50

One thing to remember is that when the older partner sits out to take a breath, he may be imagining the younger partner thinking "Bother, what a wimp, he's interrupting my training"--but pretty often the younger partner is *really* thinking "Whew, I was going to have to call for a break any second now, he's saved my pride!" (At least, I know that's usually what I'm thinking. Or sometimes "Never mind my pride, never mind he's twenty years older than me, I'm beat.")

Another is that the punishingly hard standard of training some younger people set, while it is certainly not great for older students, may not be all that smart for the younger ones either--just because they *can* doesn't mean that they won't pay for it down the road. One thing you may be doing by setting realistic limits on your breakfalls is acting as a role model for younger students who would also benefit from such limits, but haven't figured that out yet.

Mary Kaye
(only 42 but previously unathletic, and facing some physical limitations as a result)
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