What My Fighting Style Has Become

Getting older sucks— don’t do it!  

Yes, the only way to avoid it is to die— which I’m pretty sure I don’t recommend.  I’ve found myself losing speed, stamina, and strength-- in that order.  The amount of time needed to stay in any semblance of fighting shape has drastically increased over time.  And let’s not even get into bounce-back, and healing time.  All of these things have combined over time to alter, by necessity, my armored combat fighting style.

I have broken my current fighting style into the following key components:

• Defense and Awareness: One thing that a lot of people take for granted is having a good defense. It’s popular to learn a fancy guard, or strike, but try learning how to shut down an opponent by being aware of what he’s doing and defending against it. Duke Albert says, “Spend the first 60 seconds of a fight just defending, and a fighter will show you almost everything they have.”
• Make my opponent do all the work: Staying calm is a must. It’s when a fighter is completely panicked that they gas out in a fight. Control the breathing and do not rush. This is where the defensive style comes into play. Rushing to achieve a superior position can cause a loss of position and possibly the fight. Why try to match the superior strength and endurance of a younger opponent? It is a losing battle. Let them do the work, get frustrated, screw up and then improve my position.
• Baiting: When I get my opponent stuck in the position that I’m in control of, I can use all of the techniques that I’ve worked on for years.  I can advance a leg, shift my guard, or offer up a host of other inviting targets to make an opponent move in a way that I wish.
• Capitalizing: Whether by baiting a trap, of just by lucky happenstance an opponent ends up in a position that is beneficial to me, I must capitalize on it.  This is where timing is key. This timing is acquired from years of practice and being able to recognize the right time.

One more thing I’d like to add. With age, the first thing you lose is speed but the last thing you will lose is power. When you feel that you’re slowing down, you can compensate this by focusing on a good strength and conditioning program. If you ask me-- technique, strategy, and strength makes for a very good combination to have in your fighting style. With those three, who needs speed…

At the time of this writing, I was 57 years old.