by Lohan » Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:39 pm
From what I know, building strong supporting muscles and bones AROUND the joint and avoiding high impact excercise are the best ways to preserve your joint's health. Pretty much everything from the waist down, then. Practicing stances will do this, yes, but I would additionally recommend regular resistance training if you're not already doing this, as it will help build and preserve bone density and overall physical health.
High impact excercise to avoid: running, jogging, gymnastics et c.
Flexibility is a requirement for martial arts, but oft overlooked is the related practice of strength development, it is widely thought that horse stance training will accomplish this. The fact is, I have witnessed many a martial artist injure him or herself because of his lack of strength to control his flexibility. I hope I communicate this effectively. Strength and flexibility are very much related to one another, and one without the other is a recipe for injury in any athletic activity.
While you probably won't be able to enjoy your apex of strength or flexibility at 40, you CERTAINLY will be able to improve upon both of these aspects, as well as your overall health. Self improvement is what we're all after anyway, isn't it? Just train carefully! I encourage you and all other martial artists to cross refrence all your techniques and training methods, traditional and otherwise with the information avialable to us in the 21st century.
Enlightenment is eating an orange.